Editing Sidon (section)

===Late Bronze===
Around 1350 BC, Sidon was part of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|Egyptian Empire]] and ruled by [[Zimredda of Sidon]]. During the Amarna Period, Egypt went into decline, leading to uprising and turmoil in the Levant. There was rivalry between Lebanese coastal city-states fighting for dominance, with [[Abimilki|Abimilku of Tyre]] in the south, and [[Rib-Hadda|Rib-Hadda of Byblos]] in the north. Byblos became significantly weakened as the dominant city on the Lebanese coast. Further north, the Akkar Plain rebelled and became the [[Amurru kingdom|kingdom of Amurru]] with Hittite support. The Mitanni Empire, an ally of the Egyptians, had dominated Syria but now fell apart due to the military campaigns of [[Šuppiluliuma I|Suppiluliuma I of Hatti]]. Tutankhamun and his general Horemheb scrambled to keep Egyptian control over southern Levant, as the Hittites became overlords in the north.

The oldest testimony documenting words in the [[Phoenician language]] of Sidon, is also from this period. The Book of Deuteronomy (3, 9) reads: "the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion". In other words: [[Mount Hermon]] was called "Sirion", in (the Phoenician language of) Sidon.