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Baalbeck History
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Tyre in History |
Historical Timeline |
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Five Millennia of History
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Founded at the start of the third millennium B.C., Tyre originally
consisted of a mainland settlement and a modest island city that
lay a short distance off shore. But it was not until the first
millennium B.C. that the city experienced its golden age.
In the 10th century B.C., Hiram, King of Tyre, joined two islets by
landfill. Later, he extended the city further by reclaiming a
considerable area from the sea. Phoenician expansion began about
815 B.C., when traders from Tyre founded Carthage in North Africa.
Eventually, Phoenician colonies spread around the Mediterranean
and Atlantic, bringing to the city a flourishing maritime trade.
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Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, laid siege to the walled city for
thirteen years. Tyre stood firm, but it is probable that at this
time the residents of the mainland city abandoned it for the
safety of the island.
In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great set out to conquer this strategic
coastal base in the war between the Greeks and the Persians.
Unable to storm the city, he blockaded Tyre for seven months.
Again Tyre held on. But the conqueror used the debris of the
abandoned mainland city to build a causeway, and once within reach
of the city walls, Alexander used his siege engines to batter and
finally breach the fortifications.
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It
is said that Alexander was so enraged at the
Tyrian's defense and the loss of his men
that he destroyed half the city. The town's
30,000 residents were massacred or sold into
slavery. Tyre and the whole of ancient Syria
fell under Roman rule in 64 B.C.
Nonetheless, for some time Tyre continued to
mint its own silver coins. The Romans built
a great many important monuments in the
city, including an aqueduct, a triumphal
arch and the largest hippodrome in
antiquity. |
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Christianity figures in the history of Tyre, whose name is mentioned in the New Testament. During the Byzantine era, the Archbishop of Tyre was the Primate of all the bishops of Phoenicia. At this time the town witnessed a second golden age, as can be seen from the remains of its buildings and the inscriptions in the necropolis.
Taken by the Islamic armies in 634
A.D., the city offered no resistance
and continued to prosper under its
new rulers, exporting sugar as well
as objects made of pearl and glass.
With the decline of the Abbasid
caliphate, Tyre acquired some
independence under the dynasty of
the Banu ‘Aqil, vassals of the
Egyptian Fatimids, and its bazaars
were full of all kinds of
merchandise, including carpets and
jewelry of gold and silver.
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Thanks to Tyre's strong fortifications, it was able to resist the onslaught of the Crusaders until 1124. After about 167 years of Crusader rule, the Mamlukes retook the city in 1291, then it passed on to the Ottomans at the start of the 16th century. With the end of World War I, Tyre was integrated into the new nation of Lebanon. |
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Archaeological Tyre
For a period of nearly 50
years, the General
Directorate of Antiquities
excavated in and around
Tyre, concentrating on the two
major archaeological sites
in the town, which can be
seen today. Those sites are
the City Site and Al-Bass
area site.
The importance of this
historical city and its
monuments was highlighted in
1984 when UNESCO declared Tyre a
World Heritage Site.
In the meantime, government
efforts have stopped much of
the wartime pillaging that Tyre's archaeological
treasures suffered due to
economic stress in the area
and international demand for
antiquities. Grassroots
campaigns have also drawn
attention to the importance
of the city's antiquities.
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