Ruins, Soap & Sea - Sidon & Tyre

There were so many places we visited while in Lebanon and in Jordan. I will be continuing to share some of the places we toured and I hope you will enjoy reading about them. Many locations in Lebanon are part of Bible stories, such as Qana the city where Christ turned water into wine. Sidon and Tyre are two cities that are mentioned throughout the New Testament and these cities were one of our first stops. Sidon was a significant Phoenician city during the 4th century B.C. and regained significance durint the crusades. Pictured is a castle that was erected by the knights of St. John during the crusades.

In Sidon there is the old souk, which has been restored
and an old olive oil soap factory has been restored and turned into a museum. Parts of the old city have also been restored and it now serves as beautiful living quarters.






It is hard to dig in many places without uncovering ruins and relics such as this site that was discovered in Sidon during recent construction. Now the British Museum archeologists are assisting with excavations. Ruins at this site are determined to be dated around 3rd century B.C.
In Tyre I couldn't help but notice the Bird of Paradise in full bloom. These are exotica available only from the florist in our zone. This city was established as a port city in 2000 B.C. and has been ruled by great leaders such as Alexander the Great, and attacked by Nebuchadnezzar but at least while we were there . . . all was quiet. This is one of the cities in Lebanon where Roman ruins can easily be seen when driving around the city. I thought it was also interesting to note that Tyre discovered a rich purple dye that became highly sought and it is this color that eventually became used by and identified with royalty.



I hope you are enjoying what I have shared so far. Still lots more to come.