Abdalonymus
king of Sidon, ca. 330 BCE
Abdalonymus (Greek: Ἀβδαλώνυμος; Phoenician: 𐤏𐤁𐤃𐤀𐤋𐤍𐤌, romanized: ʿAbd-ʾĪlōnīm, lit. 'Servant of the highest gods') was a Phoenician botanist and gardener of royal descent, who became King of Sidon under Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
Life
After Alexander the Great had subdued Sidon, he gave permission to Hephaestion to bestow its crown on whom he pleased. Hephaestion offered it to two brothers with whom he lodged, but they declined it, alleging that according to their laws it could only be worn by one of royal blood. Instead, they named Abdalonymus, who, notwithstanding his birth, had fallen into such poverty that he supported himself by the cultivation of a kitchen garden.
Hephaestion directed the brothers to carry the royal crown and robes to Abdalonymus. They obeyed and found him weeding in his garden. After causing him to wash, they invested him with the ensigns of royalty and conducted him to Alexander. This prince, who discerned in him an aspect not unworthy of his origin, turning to those around him, said "I wish to know how he bore his poverty."—"Would to heaven," replied Abdalonymus, "I may as well bear my prosperity! These hands have ministered to all my necessities, and as I possessed nothing, I wanted nothing." Alexander was so well pleased with this reply, that he confirmed the nomination of Hephaestion, and gave the new king the palace and private estate of Strato his predecessor, and even augmented his dominions from the neighboring country.
The so-called "Alexander Sarcophagus", discovered near Sidon and now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, is now generally thought to be that of Abdalonymus, depicting him hunting alongside the eponymous general, though some scholars now believe the sarcophagus was that of Mazaeus, a Persian noble and governor of Babylon.
While Quintus Curtius confirms this story, as does Justin, Diodorus calls this person Ballonimus, and says he was made king of Tyre, not Sidon.
“Abdalonymus” enters the record as king of Sidon, ca. 330 BCE. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Abdalonymus, king and Sidon can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Abdalonymus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Abdalonymus, king and Sidon provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q307688. VIAF identifies the subject as 35298421. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Abdalonymus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.