Dora Dor

C6 on the Map

et-Tantura. Dora was the Greek name of Dor. It was a coastal town, eight miles north of Caesarea. It was one of the important Canaanite city-states in the league of Jabin, king of Hazor (Josh. 11:2). According to ancient Egyptian documents the city fell into the hands of the Philistines early in the 12th century B.C. Though it was allotted to Manasseh it was located in Asher according to Josh. 17:11, according to Judg. 1:27 it was not conquered by them. Solomon appointed the son of Abinadab as overseer of the region of Dor (I Kings 4:11).

It was at one time it part of the Assyrian province of Duru, and in the Persian period Dor became a Sidonian colony. In Hellenistic times it was a harbour town and a Ptolemaic royal fortress. It was also besieged by Antiochus VII, 1 Macc. 15. 11-14. Under the Romans, the city was freed and that freedom continued throughout the reign of Herod and his successors. The

The excavations at Dor, which is identified with Tell el Burj near Tantura, have revealed that this city was founded by the Canaanites in the 20th-century B.C. It was an important harbor which had close connections with Cyprus and the Aegeans countries. Other important discoveries, belonging to the Hellenistic-Roman period were temples to Zeus and Astarte, and also a theatre. According to Josephus a synagogue existed there before the destruction of the second Temple. There is also a church which represents the Byzantine period.