̣

The Sidon’s/Saydā Northern Hinterland during

the Early Byzantine–Early Islamic Transition

MARIUSZ GWIAZDA, JOANNA PIĄTKOWSKA-MAŁECKA, URSZULA WICENCIAK,

PIOTR MAKOWSKI, AND TOMASZ BARAŃSKI

The paper focuses on the archaeological evidence for settlement, cultural, and economic change in
the Sidon’s (S ̣aydā) northern hinterland in the period of transition from early Byzantine to early Is-
lamic times (7th–8th century). The changes were reconstructed based on the outcome of archeological
research at the sites of Porphyreon (modern Jiyeh) and Chhîm in the Sidon’s/S ̣aydā economic hinter-
land. The evidence confirms a continuity, although in reduced form, of occupation after the Arab con-
quest and a complete abandonment in the second half of the 7th or the beginning of the 8th century.
The situation here bears similarity to other parts of Phoenicia, which was struck at the time with a
settlement crisis that resulted in a reduction of the population and a decline in the importance of cities,
among others. These events were not sudden; they resulted from a process lasting several decades
and impacting mainly the coastal area.

Keywords: early Byzantine period; early Islamic period; Phoenicia; transition; village; settlement;
Sidon

T
he twilight of late antiquity in terms of settlement
continuity and change in the Syro-Palestine region
has evoked extensive research interest in the past
few decades (e.g., Foss 1997; Walmsley 2012; Avni 2014, with
further references). The Arab conquest of the eastern part
of Byzantium in the second quarter of the 7th century C.E.,
at least according to the current state of research, did not
Mariusz Gwiazda: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology,
University of Warsaw, 4 Nowy Świat Street, 00-497 Warsaw;
mariusz.gwiazda@gmail.com
Joanna Piątkowska-Małecka: Faculty of Archaeology, Univer-
sity of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927 War-
saw; jmalecka@uw.edu.pl
Urszula Wicenciak: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology,
University of Warsaw, 4 Nowy Świat Street, 00-497 Warsaw;
u.wicenciak@uw.edu.pl
Piotr Makowski: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology,
University of Warsaw, 4 Nowy Świat Street, 00-497 Warsaw;
p.makowski.piotr@gmail.com
Tomasz Barański: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology,
University of Warsaw, 4 Nowy Świat Street, 00-497 Warsaw;
tomaszbaranski@uw.edu.pl
Electronically Published Month XX, 2020.
BASOR 385 (2021). © 2020 American Schools of Oriental Research. 0003-097X/2021/385-00X$10.00. All rights reserved. DOI 10.1086/712931.
directly impact the life of the inhabitants of the region. The
influence of the new rulers from the Arabian Peninsula on the
appearance of settlements in the 7th and 8th centuries C.E.
was fairly limited, hence the processes that led to urban
change in the region are generally believed to be rooted in
the early Byzantine period. The situation, especially with
regard to the rural hinterland where most of the popula-
tion lived in antiquity, does not seem to be as clear-cut
in light of the body of evidence coming from regional sur-
veys and site excavations. On one hand, continuity of set-
tlement in regions such as the Negev and northern Syria
appears not to have been interrupted (Magness 2003: 195–
214; Avni 2014), but on the other hand, many areas of Pal-
estine and Transjordan seem to have suffered a regress in
the number of occupied sites (Watson 2006: 190; Zertal
and Mirkam 2016: 48).1 The same can be said of the Syrian
steppe (Geyer and Rousset 2011: 92). Therefore, it may be
assumed that the settlement situation in the Syro-Palestine
region after the Arab conquest was not the same every-
where (cf. Walmsley 2012: 110–11; Avni 2014: 191–299;
MacDonald 2014: 151–53).
1
It cannot be ruled out that the interpretation of the data was im-
pacted by difficulties with distinguishing ceramics from the 6th–8th cen-
turies C.E.

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