Sidon was probably the more ancient of the Phœnician cities. Its richly
embroidered robes are mentioned in the Homeric poems. It was the
greatest maritime city of the ancient world until its colony, Tyre,
surpassed it, and it seems to have been subject to Tyre in the time of
David and Solomon. About 700 B. C., it became independent again, but was
taken by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, about 600 B. C., and became
subject to Persia about 500 B. C. Under the Persian rule, it was a great
and populous city, and, coming into the hands of Alexander the Great in
333 B. C., helped him with a fleet in his siege of Tyre. Its history
ends with submission to Roman power, 63 B. C.
Tyre was a powerful city as early as 1200 B. C. The friendship of its
king, Hiram, with Solomon is well known from the Hebrew Scriptures; and
at this time the commerce of Tyre was foremost in the Mediterranean, and
its ships sailed into the Indian Ocean from the port of Elath on the Red
Sea. Tyre is celebrated for its obstinate resistance to enemies. Sargon,
king of Assyria, besieged the city in vain for five years (721-717 B.
C). Nebuchadnezzar took thirteen years (598-585 B. C.) to capture it
only partially, and it was taken by Alexander the Great after a seven
months’ siege, in 332 B. C. The old glory of Tyre departed with the
transfer of its chief trade to the newly created city of Alexandria,
though the indomitable energy of the Phœnicians again, in Roman times,
made it a great seat of trade.