| |  Map of Lebanon from the CIA Factbook. Tyre is near the
southern border.
(larger image) Tyre, from Strong's H6865 Hebrew: צור Tsor or Tzor = "a rock."
Tyre is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. With 117,100 inhabitants (it is reported only 10% of the population is left because of the Israel-Lebanon conflict), Tyre juts out from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 23 miles north of Acre, and 20 miles south of Sidon. Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city. Today it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon and houses one of the nation's major ports. Tyre is a popular destination for tourists. The city has many ancient sites, including its Hippodrome which was reportedly used for the film Ben-Hur, and was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1979 (Resolution 459). |  The Triumphal Arch
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 Remains of ancient columns at Al Mina excavation site - supposed palaestra
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 Al Mina excavation area - supposed Roman Agora
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 Main colonnaded street at Al Mina excavation site
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 Rectangular theatre at Al Mina excavation site
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 a typical narrow street in the Christian quarter
(larger image) | History Tyre is near the southern border. "The location of the city of Tyre is not in doubt, for it exists to this day on the same spot and is known as Sur." [ ] (Katzenstein, H.J., The History of Tyre, 1973, p9) Tyre originally consisted of two distinct urban centers, one on an island and the other on the adjacent coast (approximately 30 stadia apart or 3.5 miles according to Strabo in his Geography xvi, 2), before Alexander the Great connected the island to the coast during his siege of the city. One was a heavily fortified island city amidst the sea and the latter, originally called Ushu (later, Palaetyrus, by the Greeks) was actually more like a line of suburbs than any one city and was used primarily as a source of water and timber for the main island city. Flavius Josephus even records them fighting against each other, although most of the time they supported one another due to the island city’s wealth from maritime trade and the mainland area’s source of timber, water and burial grounds. When David took control of Jerusalem, Hiram, the King of Tyre sent cedars for David's house. And David became greater and greater, for the Lord , the God of hosts, was with him. And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house. And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. (2 Samuel 5:11-12 ESV) Foundation Tyre appears on monuments as early as 1300 BC, although according to Herodotus, it was founded around 2700 BC. Philo of Byblos (in Eusebius) quotes the antiquarian authority Sanchuniathon as stating that it was first occupied by one Hypsuranius. Sanchuniathon's work is said to be dedicated to "Abibalus king of Berytus" -- possibly the Abibaal who was king of Tyre. Early history The commerce of the ancient world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. "Tyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring islands of the Aegean Sea, in ancient Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at Gadeira (Cádiz)" (Driver's Isaiah). In the time of David (c. 1000 BC), a friendly alliance was entered into between the Hebrews and the Tyrians, who were long ruled over by their native kings. The city of Tyre was particularly known for the production of a rare sort of purple dye, known as Tyrian purple. This color was, in many cultures of ancient times, reserved for the use of royalty, or at least nobility. It was often attacked by Egypt, besieged by Shalmaneser V, who was assisted by the Phoenicians of the mainland, for five years, and by Nebuchadnezzar the Great (586–573 BC) for thirteen years, apparently without success, although a compromise peace was made in which Tyre paid tribute to the Babylonians. It later fell under the power of the Persians. In 332 BC, the city was conquered by Alexander the Great, after a siege of seven months in which he built the causeway from the mainland to the island, but it continued to maintain much of its commercial importance until the Christian era. Later history A congregation was founded here soon after the death of Saint Stephen, and Paul of Tarsus, on his return from his third missionary journey, spent a week in conversation with the disciples there. According to Irenaeus of Lyons in Adversus Haereses, the female companion of Simon Magus came from here. It was captured in 1124 after the First Crusade and was one of the most important cities of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was part of the royal domain, although there were also autonomous trading colonies there for the Italian merchant cities. The city was the site of the archbishop of Tyre, a suffragan of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; its archbishops often acceded to the Patriarchate. The most notable of the Latin archbishops was the historian William of Tyre. | | After the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187, the seat of the kingdom moved to Acre, but coronations were held in Tyre. In the 13th century, Tyre was separated from the royal domain as a separate crusader lordship. In 1291, it was retaken by the Mameluks which then was followed by Ottoman rule before the modern state of Lebanon was declared in 1920. After 1920 Tyre was badly damaged in the late 1970s (Operation Litani) and early 1980s (1982 Lebanon War) during the war between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The city was a used as a base by the PLO, and was nearly destroyed by Israeli artillery. After Israel's 1982 invasion of southern Lebanon, the city was the site of an Israeli military post. In late 1982, and again on November 1983, buildings housing Israeli headquarters were destroyed by bombs, causing dozens of deaths in both cases and known in Israel as the First and Second Tyre Catastrophies. The 1983 explosion, by a suicide truck, happened only 10 days after similar car bombs exploded in the US Marines and French paratroop barracks in Beirut. Israel and the US blame Iran and Hezbollah for all explosions, but they have denied any involvement. | Biblical references to Tyre | | Old Testament | | Joshua 19:29 | The boundary then turned back toward Ramah and went to the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah and came out at the sea in the region of Aczib, | Joshua 19:28-30 (in Context) | | 2 Samuel 5:11 | Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. | 2 Samuel 5:10-12 (in Context) | | 2 Samuel 24:7 | Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah. | 2 Samuel 24:6-8 (in Context) | | 1 Kings 5:1 | [ Preparations for Building the Temple ] When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. | 1 Kings 5:1-3 (in Context) | | 1 Kings 7:13 | [ The Temple's Furnishings ] King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, | 1 Kings 7:12-14 (in Context) | | 1 Kings 7:14 | whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. | 1 Kings 7:13-15 (in Context) | | 1 Kings 9:11 | King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and pine and gold he wanted. | 1 Kings 9:10-12 (in Context) | | 1 Kings 9:12 | But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. | 1 Kings 9:11-13 (in Context) | | 1 Chronicles 14:1 | [ David's House and Family ] Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him. | 1 Chronicles 14:1-3 (in Context) | | 2 Chronicles 2:3 | Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: "Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. | 2 Chronicles 2:2-4 (in Context) | | 2 Chronicles 2:11 | Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king." | 2 Chronicles 2:10-12 (in Context) | | 2 Chronicles 2:14 | whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my Lord , David your father. | 2 Chronicles 2:13-15 (in Context) | | Ezra 3:7 | [ Rebuilding the Temple ] Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia. | Ezra 3:6-8 (in Context) | | Nehemiah 13:16 | Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. | Nehemiah 13:15-17 (in Context) | | Psalm 45:12 | The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, men of wealth will seek your favor. | Psalm 45:11-13 (in Context) | | Psalm 83:7 | Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. | Psalm 83:6-8 (in Context) | | Psalm 87:4 | "I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush — and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.' " | Psalm 87:3-5 (in Context) | | Isaiah 23:1 | [ A Prophecy About Tyre ] An oracle concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them. | Isaiah 23:1-3 (in Context) | | Isaiah 23:3 | On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations. | Isaiah 23:2-4 (in Context) | | Isaiah 23:5 | When word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre. | Isaiah 23:4-6 (in Context) | | Isaiah 23:8 | Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth? | Isaiah 23:7-9 (in Context) | | Isaiah 23:15 | At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: | Isaiah 23:14-16 (in Context) | | Isaiah 23:17 | At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. | Isaiah 23:16-18 (in Context) | | Jeremiah 25:22 | all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; | Jeremiah 25:21-23 (in Context) | | Jeremiah 27:3 | Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. | Jeremiah 27:2-4 (in Context) | | Jeremiah 47:4 | For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor. | Jeremiah 47:3-5 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 26:1 | [ A Prophecy Against Tyre ] In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: | Ezekiel 26:1-3 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 26:2 | "Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,' | Ezekiel 26:1-3 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 26:3 | therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. | Ezekiel 26:2-4 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 26:4 | They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. | Ezekiel 26:3-5 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 26:7 | "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. | Ezekiel 26:6-8 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 26:15 | "This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you? | Ezekiel 26:14-16 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 27:1 | [ A Lament for Tyre ] The word of the LORD came to me: | Ezekiel 27:1-3 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 27:2 | "Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre. | Ezekiel 27:1-3 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 27:3 | Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'You say, O Tyre, "I am perfect in beauty." | Ezekiel 27:2-4 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 27:8 | Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, O Tyre, were aboard as your seamen. | Ezekiel 27:7-9 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 27:32 | As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: "Who was ever silenced like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?" | Ezekiel 27:31-33 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 28:1 | [ A Prophecy Against the King of Tyre ] The word of the LORD came to me: | Ezekiel 28:1-3 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 28:2 | "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. | Ezekiel 28:1-3 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 28:12 | "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. | Ezekiel 28:11-13 (in Context) | | Ezekiel 29:18 | "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw. Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre. | Ezekiel 29:17-19 (in Context) | | Hosea 9:13 | I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer." | Hosea 9:12-14 (in Context) | | Joel 3:4 | "Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. | Joel 3:3-5 (in Context) | | Amos 1:9 | This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath . Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, | Amos 1:8-10 (in Context) | | Amos 1:10 | I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses." | Amos 1:9-11 (in Context) | | Zechariah 9:2 | and upon Hamath too, which borders on it, and upon Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful. | Zechariah 9:1-3 (in Context) | | Zechariah 9:3 | Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. | Zechariah 9:2-4 (in Context) | | New Testament | | Matthew 11:21 | "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. | Matthew 11:20-22 (in Context) | | Matthew 11:22 | But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. | Matthew 11:21-23 (in Context) | | Matthew 15:21 | Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. | Matthew 15:20-22 (in Context) | | Mark 3:8 | When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. | Mark 3:7-9 (in Context) | | Mark 7:24 | [ The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman ] Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. | Mark 7:23-25 (in Context) | | Mark 7:31 | [ The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man ] Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. | Mark 7:30-32 (in Context) | | Luke 6:17 | [ Blessings and Woes ] He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, | Luke 6:16-18 (in Context) | | Luke 10:13 | "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. | Luke 10:12-14 (in Context) | | Luke 10:14 | But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. | Luke 10:13-15 (in Context) | | Acts 12:20 | [ Herod's Death ] Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king's country for their food supply. | Acts 12:19-21 (in Context) | | Acts 21:3 | After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. | Acts 21:2-4 (in Context) | | Acts 21:7 | We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. | Acts 21:6-8 (in Context) | The traditional king-list of Tyre, the ancient Phoenician city in what is now Lebanon, is derived from Josephus, Against Apion i. 18, 21, and his Jewish Antiquities viii. 5.3; 13.2. His list was based on a lost history of Menander of Ephesus, who had drawn his information, Josephus asserts, from the chronicles of Tyre itself. Ancient Tyrian rulers based on Hellenic mythology - Agenor c. 1500 BC
- Phoenix
- Eri-Aku (Herakles) c. 1400 BC, Eri Aku may be the model for such figures as the Greek Heracles, the Biblical Arioch king of Ellaser, and the Homeric Erichthonius king of Troy and Pontus.
- Abimilki 1300's
- Aribas fl. c. 1230
- Baal-Termeg fl. c. 1220
- Baal c. 1193
- Pummay c.1163-1125
Kings of the Phoenician city state of Tyre, 990 - 532 BC - Abibaal 990 - 978 BC
- Hiram I 978 - 944 BC
- Baal-Eser I (Balbazer I) 944 - 927 BC
- Abdastratus 927 - 918 BC
- Methusastartus 918 - 906 BC
- Astarymus 906 - 897 BC
- Phelles 897 - 896 BC
- Eshbaal I 896 - 863 BC — 887 - 856 BC
- Baal-Eser II (Balbazer II) 863 - 829 BC — Baalmazzar, 849 - 830 BCE
- Mattan I 829 - 820 BC
- Pygmalion 820 - 774 BC
- Eshbaal II 750 - 739 BC
- Hiram II 739 - 730 BC
- Mattan II 730 - 729 BC
- Elulaios 729 - 694 BC
- Abd Melqart 694 - 680 BC
- Baal I 680 - 660 BC
- Tyre may have been Under control of Assyria and/or Egypt for 70 years
- Eshbaal III 591 - 573 BC — Carthage became independent of Tyre in 574 BCE
Under control of Babylon 573 - 539 BC - Baal II 573 - 564 BC
- Yakinbaal 564 BC
In the 560's the monarchy was overthrown and a oligarchic government established, headed by "judges" or shoftim (cf. Carthage). Shoftim of Tyre - Chelbes 564 - 563 BC
- Abbar 563 - 562 BC
- Mattan III and Ger Ashthari 562 - 556 BC
- Baal-Eser III 556 - 555 BC
The monarchy was restored with the ascension of Hiram III to the throne. Under Persian control 539 - 411 BC - Mattan III
- Boulomenus
- Abdemon c.420 - 411 BC
Under control of Cypriot Salamis 411 - 374 BC Under Persian control 374 - 332 BC - Eugoras
- Azemilcus, King of Tyre c.340 - 332 BC - king during the siege by Alexander the Great
Under Macedonian control 332 - 301 BC - Abdalonymus 332 BC - ?
- Alexander the Great 329 BC - 329 BC (LATE)
Under the Roman republic, Marion (c. 42 BC) was tyrant of Tyre. After the fall of Jerusalem, Tyre acted as the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem until its fall in 1291. References - Lebanon - City Population
- Lebanon Population
- (Bikai, P., "The Land of Tyre," in Joukowsky, M., The Heritage of Tyre, 1992, chapter 2, p. 13)
- Tyre City, Lebanon
- Lebanon's Archaeological Heritage
- Katzenstein, H.J., The History of Tyre, 1973, p.9
- Tyre, Columbia Encyclopedia Sixth Edition
- Lorenzi, Rossella (May 21, 2007). Sandbar Aided Alexander the Great. Discovery News.
- 'Tyre' from Encyclopedia Britannica 11th ed.
- Historical references to Tyre
- Vance, Donald R. (March 1994) "Literary Sources for the History of Palestine and Syria: The Phœnician Inscriptions" The Biblical Archaeologist 57(1) , pp. 2-19
- from 'Tyre' in Easton's Bible Dictionary
- Nick Marriner, Christophe Morhange, and Samuel Meulé (May 2007). "Holocene morphogenesis of Alexander the Great's isthmus at Tyre in Lebanon". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 104 (22): 9218–9223. doi:10.1073/pnas.0611325104. PMID 17517668.
- 315 B.C. - events and references
- 314 B.C. - events and references
- 126 B.C. - events and references
- 64 B.C. - events and references
- The toll of three cities, The Economist June 19, 1982. p.26.
- Butcher, Tim. Rebels were ready for attacks. Sydney Morning Herald 27 July 2006.
- Engel, Richard. Desperation descends on Tyre, Lebanon. MSNBC 25 July 2006.
- Israeli commandos stage Tyre raid BBC 5 August 2006.
- [http://bobdylan.com/#/songs/sad-eyed-lady-lowlands Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, Blonde on Blonde, 1966.
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