Youssef Hourani, an expert on the history of Sidon, told The Daily Star that “we weren’t surprised by the pictures that Mr. Sareji showed us, but we can prepare ourselves for an important surprise for Lebanon and the world” if the discovery turns out to be one of the city’s most significant pre-Christian era finds.
Mr. Hourani said history was filled with references to an underwater city off the coast of Sidon, and both the public and experts alike were hoping the discovery would shed light on the link between the ancient city of “Sidoun” and the modern city.
“While there are references to another city, ‘al-Azza’ or ‘Ouzou’ off the shores of Tyre, some pre-Christian era historians say that two-thirds of the city of Sidoun was buried in the sea. In Phoenician mythology the name means ‘daughter of the sea,’ while some sources from that period say that one of the city’s quarters was called ‘Sidoun of the sea’,” he said.
The Greek historian Strabo, Mr. Hourani continued, mentioned a huge tidal wave hitting the coast in the area in 146 B.C., while his countryman Poseidonos said that an earlier earthquake “swallowed up” a town above Sidoun and also caused the gradual burial of two-thirds of the city in the Mediterranean.
Sidoun’s link to the Assyrian era also provide clues, as Mr. Hourani pointed out that a document attributed to an emperor from the 7th century BC declares: “I’m Assurhidon, conqueror of Sidoun that is located on an island in the middle of the sea, whose houses I leveled to the ground. I destroyed it and cast its walls and foundations into the sea.”
Despite the bravado, the majority of the sources indicate that natural disasters, and not the Assyrian army, were responsible for the city’s destruction.
For her part, Sidon MP Bahiya Hariri said she would alert the UN’s Scientific and Educational Organization (Unesco) about the find, hoping that it would spur further interest in Sidon by international organizations. “Since the find was made, we at the Sidon Heritage and Environmental Association have been aware of the importance of following this up. We’ve begun preparing a study accompanied by documents and photographs on the discoveries. We’ll send it to Federico Mayor, Unesco’s director-general, so that a scientific delegation can be sent to determine the period of the ruins,” she said.
Ancient Undersea Ruins Discovered off Lebanon Coast
While judicial authorities continue investigations into the “antiquities case” above ground, the discovery this week of undersea ruins off Sidon has the potential to vastly enrich Lebanon's archaeological heritage.
After Mohammed Sareji, one of the country’s leading divers, returned with photographs of a monument buried in the seabed, only meters from the Sidon citadel and harbor, experts and politicians agree that the find should be capitalized on immediately.
[Source: The Daily Star / Lebanon / by Mohammed Zaatari - April 30 1999 ]
