Ziddim (Hastings' Dictionary)

See Zer. ZIDON (jiTV and [rv ; ^{c)iiiiv, Arab. Saida).— Till' ancient city of Zidon lay 20 miles to the S. of Bervtus (BejTout), and about the same distance to tlie N. of its great rival Tyre. It was situated behind a small promontory, and, like T3're and Jatla, owed its maritime existence and commercial prosperity to a ledge of rock lying oil' a short distance from the shore. In the case of Zidon, this reef, with its detached islets rounding the N.

side of tlie promontory, presented half a mile of break- water, and alibrded an excellent protection to its shipping. On the S. side of the promontory there was another harbour, more capacious, but le.ss sheltered. The section of Phoenician plain belong- ing to Zidon stretched from the river Tamyras, Arab. Dmnt'ir, half-way between Zidon and Berytus, down to Zarepliath, 8 miles S. of Zidon. i. Early Ascendencv. — Zidon is considered to have been the most ancient of the Phoenician cities.

On her coins she claims to be the mother of Hippo, Citium, and Tjre, and the name of Zidon is mentioned in the Egyptian records as far 'back as B.C. 1500. It is referred to as a city in Gu 10", and Josephus {Ant. I. x. 2) states that it received its name from the eldest son of Canaan (Gn 10"). According to another derivation it owed its name, like Bethsaida of Galilee, to the fishing carried on in its waters. This is in agreement with the allusion to Zidon in Anast. Pnp. i.

to the ell'ect that the fish at Zidon were as numerous as grains of sand. Zidon appears to have taken the lead in the develojiment of industrial exchange among both the civilized and barbarous nations bordering on the middle and eastern divisions of the Medi- terranean. In this way the vessels of Tyre on their longer and more perilous voyages still con- tinued to be spoken of as vessels of Zidonian commerce. When the Phoenician trattic in cloth, brass, slaves, etc.

, is referred to in the Homeric poems, it is to Zidon, not Tyre, that reference ia made {11. vi. 2m', xviii. 743 ; Ocl. iv. 618, xiv. 272- 285, xvi. 117, 402, 404). Vergil {yEn. i. 446) in the same way calls Dido Zidonian, though he mentions Tyrian colonists, and gives his hero a Tyrian steers- man, Palinurus. It may have been in this sense, a-s referring to the general protectorate of Zidon, that it is spoken of in Gn 49'^ as reaching down to tlie border of Zebulun.

This early pre-eminence of Zidon continued from the time of Egyptian decline after Ramses II. down to the unsuccessful conflict with the Philistines (B.C. 1252), provoked by the seizure of Dor as a dj'eing station. For an account of the colonial expansion of the Phoenicians see art. Phcexicia. ii. Political History. — The public fortunes of Zidon were closely connected with those of Arvad and Tyre.

These and the other Phoenician cities, although constantly attacked by one or other of tlieir powerful military neighbours, seldom united under any leadership for the welfare of all. The town of 'Tripoli is said to have been occupied by residents originally belonging to three seijarate Phoenician towns, and to have been named from their three permanentlj" separate quarters.

They some- times, however, combined against one of their own cities, as when Alexander sailed down upon devoted Tyre with a fleet of over 200 vessels, chiefly Phoe- nician, collected from the ports of Zidon, Cyprus, and Rhodes. One reason for such independence was that each town wa.s nominally under the pro- tection of its own deity, who, as his name, Ba'al- Zidon, 'Lord of Zidon,' or Melkarth, ' King of the city,' implied, was expected to defend its rights and promote its fortunes.

In the case of lyre and Zidon, commercial jealousy also had an im- portant influence. {I) Zidon under Assi/ria. — Zidon came into relationship with Assyria by acknowledging the suzerainty of Asliur-bani-pal in B.C. 877. Tliia position of nonunal depen(lence, with permission to trade with Assyria, soon changed into a more exacting tributary relationship under Shalma- ne.ser U. and Tiglath, pileser, and led to open rebellion in the reign of Shalm.aneser iv. (B.C.

727), and to the complete subjugation of the country by Sennacherib in n.C. 701. About B.C. 676 Esar- haddon conquered Zidon, and, after beheading its king, 'Abd-Melkarth, demolishing the citadel and palace, and killing most of the inhabitants, trans- ported the remainder of the population to Assyria, and called the town 'Ir-Esarhaddon (' city of Esar- haddon '). (2) Zidon under Babylon. —Tho authority ol ZIDON ZILLAH 981 Assyria came to an end with the Scythian invasion (B.C.

G30-61U) and the attack <if tlie Medes in tlie year 606. The interval of respite gave the I'Ikj;- nicians an opportunity of consulting for their own better protection against Babylon and Egypt, and at this time Zidon and the other cities agreed to follow the leadership of Tyre (Ezk 21'). The alliance seems to have e.\tenaed beyond the coast towns to I'Mom, Moab, and Ammon ; and Jeremiah was instructed to give the Lord's nies.sage to the deputation sent to Jerusalem (Jer 27').

When Pharaoh • neco marched out of Egypt to invade Mesopotamia in D.C. tiUS, kin" Josiahof .lerusalem, in fidelity to the cause of Babylon, eiuleavoured to arrest 1iim, and lo.'^t his life in doing so. Soon after, when in G0.5, at the great battle of Car- chemish, Nebuiliadnu/zar defeated Neco, Phoenicia ■was overrun and laid waste by the savage soldiery of Babylon.

So cruel was their treatment of the conquered cities that the yoke of Egypt seemed light in comparison, and in 598 they all rebelled, including Judipa. Another invasion followed, with its attendant sufferings. Judoea hastened to sub- mit (2 K 24'- ", 2 Ch 36«), but Tyre justified the hegemony committed to her by enduring a long siege, .submitting to Nebuchadnezzar in 585. By this humbling of Tyre (Ezk 28), Zidon was brought once more to the front, and maint.

iined her position as chief of the cities till the overthrow of the Bab. kingdom by the Persians under Cyrus in 538. (3) Zidon under Persia, Greece, and Home. — A period of rest was enjoyed during the reign of Cyrus (B.C. 540-529). Afterwards the Phoenician cities were required to pay a light annual tax, and on demand to supply transport ships and war vessels to the king of Persia.

Tliey were allowed to have their own kings and administration, and their con- dition was much better tlian it had been under the Assyrians and Babyloni.ins. In B.C. 351, as the power of Persia began to wane, Zidon took the lead in organizing a Phonician revolt against Arta- xerxes Ochus, king of Persia. In the punitive in- vasion that followed, Zidon was captured and reduced to ashes, as many as 40,000 perishing in the flames (Uiod. Siculus, xvi. 40-44). After the battle of I.ssus (D.C.

333), Zidon, with the other cities of Phoenicia, except Tyre, surren- dered to Alexander, and Zidon contributed a large contingent of ves.sels to assist Alexander in his attack on the insular fortress. During the con- fusion that followed the death of Alexander, Zidon was at did'erent times under Egyptian and Seleucid rule until, in A.D. 198, it pa.ssed to the latter, and became rapidlj' Hellenized.

A school of Philosophy sprang up at Zidon, to which was added the school of Law and Jurisprudence trans- ferred from Berytus after the earthquake there in A.D. 551. Under the Bomans Zidon enjoyed, along with Tyre, the rights of a free city, having its own magistrates and muiiici]>al government. During the 12th and 13th cents, it was fre(iuently taken and retaken by the Crusaders and the Saracens. The modern Arabic town of 10,000 inhabitants lies along the shore of the N.

harbour, with its ancient wall, crowded houses, narrow streets, and shaded ba/^iars. The gardens adjoining the town are irrigated from the river Awaly (IJostrenus), which enters the sea two miles N. of Zidon.

These gardens arc covered with fruit-trees, cfiielly oranj^e, and in early spring, when the dark foliage is vane- gated with fragrant blossom and golden fruit, and the banks of the water channels are beautiful with violets, Zidon may still claim the epithet of the Greek poet Dionysius, who called her ivBeiibiaaa, 'the flowery city.' In these gardens pillars and blocks of carved stone and ancient coins are con- tinually Iwing found.

In 1H55 the tomb of king Eshinunazar, pro\)ably of the 3rd cent. B.C., was discovered. A few j'ears ago a much larger and more important di.scovery was made of a sub- terraneaTi burial chamber, with side-rooms contain- ing ornamental sarcophagi, one of which was at first pronounced that of Alexander the Great. iii. Bini.E Allusions.

— Except during the time of friendly contact jjroduced by the buildin" of tlie temjile (1 Ch 22^'), and its restoration in the time of Ezra ( Ezr 3'), the general tone of reference to Zidon is that of hostility. ' Great Zidon ' was on tlie border of the portion assigned to Asher (Jos 19-''), but the Zidonians remained unconquered, and jiroved a source of danger and temptation to Israel (Jos 13», Jg 1" 3' 10«).

They are mentioned with Amalek and Midian as having aggressively oppressed Israel (Jg 10'-, where perhaps Phoenicians in general are meant). The marriage of Ahab with the Zidonian .Jezebel is denounced as a sin surpass- ing that of Jeroboam (1 K 16^'). The Zidonians are held up to abhorrence as having sought to make merchandise of captured Israelites, and of using the sacred vessels of the Lord at their heatlien shrines (Jl 3°).

Zidon, with the other world powers, is to drink the cup of the Lord's fury (Jer 25, ), and it is seen lying cast away and forgotten along with its companions in oppression, Asshur, Elam, and Egypt (Ezk 32'*). Zidonians were among the multitudes who went fortli to hear Christ (Mk 3"), and the sin of Tyre and Zidon is made to compare favourably with that of the impervious cities of Galilee (Mt lPi-22, Lk 10"-").

The Syro-Phojnician woman whose daughter was healed came from the coasts of Tyre and Zidon (Mt 1521-2, Mk "=■'■'), and Jesus, after this miracle, passed through Zidon (Mk 7^')- Zidon again appears with Tyre in the conciliatory interview with Herod in A.D. 44 (Ac 12-"), and, finally, was visited by St. Paul on his voyage to Rome (Ac 27'). Zidonians (d-i'itv, or, more commonly, D'JT!i ; 'ZiOiivLot, <t>o/m«s).

— From originally meaning the inhabitants of the city of Zidon (1 K lP-*>, 2 K 23") the name came to be api)lied generally to all the cities of the same race, being thus = Phoenician. LiTKRATtTRR. — Kenrick, Phnni-ina: Bawlinson, £/w(. of Phot- nicia ; Thomson, Land and the touk. G. M. Mackie.