Zidon is mentioned several times in the New Test. Jesus went once to the coasts of Tyre and Zidon (JIatt. XV, 21); Sarepta,a city of Sidon, is referred to (Luke iv, "itj l ; and Paul touched at Zidon on his voyage from Caesarea to Home (Acts xxvii, 3). Whatever be the doom of Tyre and Zi- don, it shall be '• more toleral)le in the day of judgment" than tlvat
of CJioraziu and Bethsaida, which saw the Saviour's mighty works, but were unconvinced by them; for had these towns been so privileged, '"they would have re- pented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."
Zidon was sometimes dignilied with the(ircek title of NaiKirchis (commander of ships), and was also called by the luimans Colimia Anr/usta and Mdrojxi/is. Chris- tianity appears to have been introduced here at an early period (Acts xxvii, 3), and a bishoj) of Zidon attended the Council of Nica-a in 325. After the ciuKpiest of Syria by the Moslems (in G3(!), Zidon surrendered to her new masters without resistance, and it was then in an enfeebled condition. It shared generally the fortunes of Tyre, with the exce|ition that it was several times taken and retaken during the wars of the Crusades, and suffered, accordingly, more than Tyre previous to the fatal year B.C. 12'.U. Since that time it never seems to have fallen (piite so low as Tyre. Through Fakhr ed-Dui, emir of the Druses between 1691 and lt)34, and the settlement at Saida of French commer- cial houses, it had a revival of trade in the 17th and part of the IStli century, and became the principal city on the Syrian coast for commerce between the East and the West (see Memoires du Chevalier d'Ar-
Map of the Euvirons of Zidon.
ZIDON
1096
ZIDON
vieux [Paris, 1735], i, 294-379). This was put an end to at the close of last century by violence and op- pression (Kitter, Krdkumle, 17. Theil, 1. Ahth. o. Uuch, p. 405, lOG), closing a period of prosperity in which the population of the city was at one time estimated at '20.000 inhabitants. Under the Egyi)tian rule the place agaiii somewhat revived, but in 1810 its fortress was destroyed by the European allies.
3. Present Condition.— IhQ town still shows signs of former wealth, and the houses are better constructed and more solid than those at Tyre, being many of them built of stone. Its chief exports are silk, cotton, and nutgalls (Robinson, Bibl. lies, iii, 418, 419). The trade between Syria and P^urope, however, now mainly passes through BeirCit. as its most important commercial centre; and the natural advantages of Beiriit, in this respect, for the purposes of modern navigation, are so decided that it is certain to maintain its present superiority over.Zidon and Tyre.
The modern Saida has thus lost all and everything, and has once more become a poor miserable place, without trade or manufactures worthy of the name. To add to its desolation, an earthquake, which took place in 1837, destroyed about one hundred of its insigniticant houses. Yet such is its favorable natural position, and the fruit- fulness of the surrounding country, that in 1840 the dis- trict of Saida contained about 70,000 inhabitants (above 36,000 Christians andJews), whose annual tax amount- ed to about $570,000. It only requires some favorable turn in the tide of its affairs to make it once more lift up its head again as of yore. 1 he population of Saida is estimated at 10,000, of whom about 7000 are Mos- lems, 500 Jews, and the rest Catholics, JIaronites, and Protestants. The city that once divided with Tyre the empire of the seas is now almost without a vessel, and its commerce is so insigniticant that it would not repay even a periodical call of one of the passing steamers. Silk and fruit are its staple products; the latter is not surpassed in variety or quality by any other place in Syria. The harbor was formed by a low ridge of rocks running out from the northern point of the peninsula, parallel to the shore line. On one of these stands an old castle, which is connected with the town by a bridge of nine arches, forming the picturesque group so well known from engravings. The harbor was counted large in the days of ancient commerce, being sufficient to con- tain fifty galleys ; but the Druse chief Fakhr ed-Din, fear- ing the Turks, caused it to be tilled up with stones and earth, so that now only small boats can enter. Larger vessels, when they come here at all, anchor off to the northward, sheltered only from the south and east winds. A.. Antiquities. — Around the island, on which stand the ruins of the mediaival castle, particularly on the south-west side, are remains of quays built of large hewn stones, and similar remains flank the whole of the ridge which forms the northern harbor. The broad ( tongue of land which bounds the harl)or on the west also bears remains of ancient walls, and on the east side there are two artificial square basins. Antiquities, chief- ly of the Christian period, consisting of sarcophagi, cip- pi, statuettes, trinkets, and tear -vessels, are frequent- ly dug up in the gardens around the town. The ne- cropolis, situated in the limestone rocks adjacent, con- tains tombs of various plans and styles, which are mi- nutely described by Kenan (Mission en Pkenicie,\). 117). Saida, however, possesses another most vital interest, apart from its faded historical memories. It is the only spot in Phoenicia where Phoenician monuments with Phoenician inscriptions have been found as yet. While the great bulk of paheographical relics of this most im- portant people had been found in its colonies, Saida alone has furnished no less than three of the most an- cient and lengthv inscriptions extant. On Jan. 19, 1855, one of the many sepulchral caves near the city was opened by chance, and there was discovered in it a sarcophagus, the lid of which represented the form of a mummy with the uncovered face of a man. Twenty-