The ruins of ancient Dor are at Tel Dor, north of modern Dor, Israel—satellite view

What is…
Dor

also known as: Dora, D-jr (Egyptian), Dir (Egyptian)

Meaning: dwelling

This is the Dora of the Romans and an ancient royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 11:1-2; 12:23). It was important as a natural harbor, and served as a noted coastal station during the Roman period.

It was the most southern settlement of the Phoenicians on the coast of Syria. The original inhabitants seem never to have been expelled, although they were made tributaries by King David.

The city lay within the Tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 17:11; Judges 1:27).

Dor was later one of King Solomon’s commissariat districts (Judges 1:27; 1 Kings 4:11).

“In the early 40s CE, young men in Dor placed a statue of Emperor Claudius inside a Jewish synagogue, provoking a challenge to Jewish ownership of the space. Agrippa responded by appealing to Petronius, the legate of Syria, who ordered the statue’s removal and reaffirmed Jewish rights to practice their customs freely under imperial decree.”

Archaeology

Dor has been found at Tel Dor (aka Tell el-Burj, Khirbet el-Burj) in Israel. Excavations have uncovered many Roman-period structures, including a theater, public building, baths, and temples. The remains of an ancient purple dye production facility were also found.

The ruins of ancient Dor are close by the remains of an Arab village called Tantura (so named from the supposed resemblance of its tower to a tantur, i.e., “a horn”). This tower fell in 1895, and nothing remains but debris and foundation walls, the remains of an old Crusading fortress. It is about 8 miles north of Caesarea.”

Nearby is the modern cooperative Jewish agricultural community (a moshav) named Dor.

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