Arabic Ṣaydā
Seaport (pop., latest est.: 140,000), southwestern Lebanon.
Located on the site of a city founded in the 3rd millennium BC, it was a principal city of Phoenicia from the 2nd millennium BC and a parent city of Tyre . Ruled successively in ancient times by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, it was conquered by Alexander the Great (с 330 BC). Under Roman rule by the 1st century BC, it was an important centre for the manufacture of glass and purple dyes. It changed hands several times during the Crusades and fell to the Muslims in 1291. It flourished for a while under Ottoman rule after 1517.