Sidon is supposed to have been built by Canaan’s first-born, whose name was Sidon[225]. It is, therefore, celebrated as the most ancient of the cities of Phœnicia. It is frequently mentioned in holy writ. It is named by Jacob[226], in his prophetic speech concerning the country which his sons were to inhabit; and it is stated as a place for some of the kings who were driven out by Joshua. Its remote origin, however, is perhaps still uncertain, though Justin speaks of it in the following manner:—“The nation of the Tyrians, descended from the Phœnicians, being shaken by an earthquake, and having abandoned their country, did first inhabit the Assyrian marsh; and, not long afterwards, the shore next unto the sea, where they built a city, and called it Sidon, from the abundance of fishes that were there: for the Phœnicians call a fish _sidon_. After the process of many years, being overcome by king Ascalon, they took shipping again, and built Tyre in the year before the destruction of Troy.” “I cannot help thinking,” says Mr. Drummond, “that the city, called Tsidon by the Hebrews; Tsaid or Tsaida, by the Syrians; and Said or Saida, by the Arabians; originally received its name from the language of the last. The Tsidonians were celebrated for their skill in metallurgy, and for the art with which they worked in gold, silver, and brass. Much iron and brass existed in Phœnicia, and the possession of this country having been once intended for the tribe of Ashur, Moses said to that tribe, ‘under thy shoes shall be iron and brass:’ (Deut. xxxiii. 25.): that is, the soil under thy feet shall abound with iron and brass. Now I consider Sidon, or rather Saida, to have been so called from its abounding with _saidi_ or _saidan_, viz. brass.”[227] During the administration of Joshua, and afterwards, Sidon was governed by kings. He calls it “Zidon the great.”[228] In the division of Palestine it was allotted to Ashur; but this tribe could never get possession of it.[229] The inhabitants are said to have assisted Solomon, in his preparations for the building of the temple; their skill in hewing timber being superior to that of all other nations.[230] That Sidon was celebrated for its women being skilled in embroidery, we learn, in the first instance, from several passages in Scripture; and secondly, from a curious passage in Homer: The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went, Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent. There lay the vestures of no vulgar art, Sidonian maids embroider’d every part, Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore, With Helen touching on the Tyrian shore. Here as the queen revolved with careful eyes The various textures and the various dyes, She chose a veil that shone superior far, And glow’d refulgent as the morning star.[231]