DOR dôr (דֹּ֣אר, דֹּ֖ור; LXX Δωρ, 1 Macc 15 Δωρα; this name may be related to Akkad. duru, “fortress”; KJV 1 Macc 15 DORA, dô’ re). A fortified city on the coast of Pal. S of Mount Carmel c. eight m. N of Caesarea. It was settled in very ancient times by the Phoenicians because of the abundance of shells along the coast which were the source of a rich purple dye. Near the end of the 2nd millennium b.c. Dor was inhabited by the Tjekker, one of the sea peoples. Dor is mentioned in the Egyp. story of Wen-Amon, an emissary of Pharaoh who stopped at Dor on his way to Phoenicia.

The king of Dor supported Jabin, king of Hazor, in his unsuccesful battle against Joshua at the waters of Merom (Josh 11:2ff; 12:23). Dor was one of the cities within the borders of Issachar and Asher which were assigned to Manasseh although Manasseh was unable to capture it. In later years when it was captured, its Canaanite inhabitants were subjected by Israel to forced labor (Josh 17:11ff.; Judg 1:27). Dor is listed also among cities possessed by descendants of Ephraim (1 Chron 7:29). Dor and the neighboring territory were made the 4th administrative district by Solomon.

Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 b.c.) conquered Dor and established an Assyrian governor over it. In 219 b.c. the city was besieged by Antiochus the Great. He did not capture Dor, however, for rumors of an approaching Egyp. army caused him to agree to a truce. The Phoen. cities were subject to the Ptolemies until c. 200 b.c. when they were taken by the Seleucids who made Dor and several other cities independent. In 139 b.c. Dor was besieged by Antiochus VII (1 Macc 15:10-25). Trypho, her governor, fled to Apamia where he was captured and killed. The city was rebuilt, made free, and made a part of the province of Syria by Pompey in 64 b.c.

The site of Dor is identified with modern el-Burj N of Tanturah.

Bibliography CAH (1954), VII, 190, 192; Jos. Antiq. V. i. 22; XIII. viii. 2; XIV. iv. 4; XIX. vi. 3; J. Pritchard, ANET (1955), 26; D. Baly, Geography of the Bible (1957), 131-133; J. Simon, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the OT (1959), 272, 418, 419, 433.