what happened to the ancient city of tyre
Tyre
Q3991738Tyre (Phoenician צר , ṣūr, "rock"; Greek Τύρος ; Latin Tyrus ): port in Phoenicia and one of the principal cities in the eastern Mediterranean.
Origins
Tyre was i of the well-nigh important cities in the ancient Near East. Built on an island in the eastern Mediterranean, it controled two natural harbors. It was sufficiently close to the shore to be supplied from its hinterland, merely sufficiently far enough from the mainland to exist nearly impossible to capture.
It was larger than the area that is now occupied by the Old Urban center; parts have been swallowed by the sea. The aboriginal city also controled a fertile coastal strip, some two kilometers wide, with several modest towns, sanctuaries, and farms. On the shores were the villages of beat collectors, in the east was an occupied colina named Al Ma'shook, and well-nigh Al-Rashidiyeh in the due south was a very old town, which is probably identical to the Ušu mentioned in Assyrian texts, and the Palaityros, "Old Tyre", of our Greek sources. This was, according to Arrian, the site of a very aboriginal sanctuary of Heracles (the Greek proper noun of Melqart), annotation [Arrian, Anabasis 2.xvi.] and archaeologists accept institute several Bronze Age tombs over hither.
In that location were two sources near Ušu: one at Al-Rashidiyeh itself and the other a bit further southward, at Ras el-Own ("head of the source"). A 3rd source was at Al-Bagbog, north of Tyre. So, the area was rich in water, and in Antiquity, this meant that there was a base for swell agricultural prosperity.
The Bronze Age
In the mid-fifth century BCE, the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus visited Tyre, spoke to a priest, and learned that the boondocks and the temple of Melqart were, at that fourth dimension, believed to be 2,300 years onetime. notation [Herodotus, Histories 2.44.] In other words, the urban center was founded in the twenty-8th century. This is more or less confirmed by archaeological finds on the Al Ma'shook colina, which are even older.
In the second millennium, Tyre is mentioned several times in the Amarna Letters. For instance, king Abimilki asks Egyptian support in a conflict with Sidon. The shrine of the goddess Aširat (or Asherah) in Tyre is mentioned in the Epic of King Keret, note [Epic of Male monarch Keret iv.198.] which is known from Ugarit. Messages from the same town show that the inhabitants were interested in Tyrian textiles. No dubiety, royal played a role, the product for which Tyre was well-known.
Tyre is mentioned in a list of places from the reign of the Egyptian king Sety I (r.1293-1279), while a stela has been plant in Tyre that commemorates a victory past Sety'southward son and successor Ramesses Ii (r.1279-1213). The region was barely touched during the crunch that is commonly associated with the arrival of the "Sea People", making the Phoenician cities total of conviction. This is illustrated by the Story of Wen-Amun, the ill-fated Egyptian diplomat who, at the terminate of the twelfth century, was sent out to buy lumber in Byblos. He mentions Tyre in passing.
King Hiram
At the beginning of the Atomic number 26 Historic period, Tyre replaced Sidon as the almost of import metropolis in the region. There is no dubiety nigh that. Information technology is likewise certain that the new leading city played a very important role in the Phoenician colonization move. Tyre is mentioned as founder of Kition on the copper island Cyprus, of Carthage, Utica, and Lixus, and of Gades in Andalusia. The Roman author Pliny the Elder mentions Tyre as mother town of Lepcis Magna, but this is probably a error. annotation [Pliny the Elder, Natural History five.76.]
What is less certain, is what or who caused these successes. Modern historians often refer to the Tyrian kings Abiba'al and Hiram, who probably lived in the tenth century BCE. The problem is that the main evidence for their activities can exist plant in the Bible, especially the books of Samuel and Kings, and in sources that are derived from the Biblical account. The general impression is that Hiram had good relations with king David and king Solomon, helped building Jerusalem's temple and palace, and contributed to naval expeditions.
The Jewish author Flavius Josephus already understood the problem: although he loved the Bible, he realized that non-Jews might reasonably enquire questions nigh its reliability. Therefore, when Josephus wrote his Jewish Antiquities, he supported the Biblical account with quotes from i Menander of Ephesus, who claimed to take studied Tyrian sources. This Menander not just confirmed the Biblical business relationship, but too added some bits and pieces: for instance, that Hiram promoted the cult of Melqart/Heracles (text). This appears to have been a existent religious revolution.
The trouble is still with the states today. It is far from articulate how much the writer(due south) of Samuel and Kings knew virtually the Early Atomic number 26 age - this is the debate about minimalism and maximalism - and we cannot establish how reliable Menander of Ephesus was. And so, we do not really know how of import male monarch Hiram was. It is likely that he was, similar rex Solomon, a really existing person, but some of his deeds may be legendary.
Still this may be, information technology is a fact that Tyre became an of import city, and it is also certain that in the Fe Historic period, old gods similar Aširat/Asherah were less important than Melqart.
Assyria
The colonization movement was stimulated by external force per unit area. From the northeast, Tyre and the other Phoenician cities were threatened by the Assyrians. In order to buy them off, Tyre needed to obtain precious articles from the west. Of grade, its prosperity made the city attractive to attack, simply the island could not be captured. This created a situation in which Tyre flourished, expanded its influence to the western colonies, but was often watched its possessions on the state being looted and pillaged. An Assyrian king would boast that he had defeated Tyre, and subsequently some fourth dimension, more than peaceful weather arose, allowing Assyro-Tyrian trade to flourish. So, in both war and peace, Assyria benefitted from Tyre'south trade network.
Nosotros tin can meet both approaches during the reign of the Assyrian king Aššurnasirpal II (r.883-859). According to the text published as ANET 3 276, he reached the Mediterranean, and accepted tribute from the littoral cities, including Tyre, where the people understood that they had to pay or face their land beingness looted. Later, more than peaceful conditions returned, and Aššurnasirpal invited his subject kings to exist present when he inaugurated his palace at Kalhu (Nimrud). note [ANET three 560.]
Probably, the Tyrian guest was king Ithoba'al I, whose reign was, according to Menander of Ephesus, also remembered for a keen famine. The Bible mentions him every bit the male parent of Jezebel, the wife of rex Ahab of State of israel. This verse note [1 Kings sixteen.31.] calls "Ethbaal" male monarch of Sidon, and is not the only piece of bear witness suggesting that the two cities were at times united in a personal union. This would be a necessary precondition is Tyre was indeed, as Menander of Ephesus states, the mother metropolis of Bathrun and the (unidentified) Libyan city of Auza (text).
Aššurnasirpal's son and successor Šalmaneser Three (r.858-824) fought a large war against the towns west of the Euphrates. A coalition, led past Damascus (but non including Ithoba'al of Tyre), came close to victory at Qarqar (853), but in 841, the Assyrians were sufficiently in control of the state of affairs to isolate Damascus, and demand tribute from State of israel, Sidon, and Tyre. This is described in the text called ANET 3 280 and shown on the Balawat Gate. According to the Blackness Obelisk, Šalmaneser insisted on receiving tribute once again in 838. Although the tributes must accept been quite heavy, Tyre was capable of founding Carthage, and although story (text) says that in that location was a conflict between the colonists and the government, relations soon improved - if the story about the refugees is not a piece of fiction.
The adjacent to insist on tribute was rex Adad-Nirari Iii (r.811-783). The Tell al-Rimah Stela and the Nimrud Slab record tributes paid at the beginning of the eighth century. In his Annals, Tiglath-pileser III (r. 745-727) mentions that he received tribute on at least two occasions. From his successor, Šalmaneser V (r.726-722), few texts survive, but if we are to believe the study by Menander of Ephesus, the Tyrian ruler Lulli/Eulaeus was faced with a revolt in the colony of Kition and found himself besieged by the Assyrians. Menander's account of the Assyrians trying to deny the Tyrians access to fresh h2o, looks as if the enemy for the starting time time tried to capture the island. The result of the siege is not recorded, just it is likely that the Tyrians paid another tribute.
A bit later on, we discover king Lulli as ruler of Sidon, which again confirms that both cities were at times united in a personal union. According to the Sennacherib Prism, the Assyrian king Sennacherib campaigned in Lulli'south lands prior to his famous advance to Lachish and Jerusalem in Judah (701 BCE). The Assyrian conquered Sidon and subjected information technology to a regular system of taxation. If his list of looted towns is correct, Tyre's territories still included Sarepta, Akzib, and Acre.
In spite of the loss of Sidon and Kition, Tyre recovered from Sennacherib's looting and pillaging, because a generation later, information technology could support king Esarhaddon of Assyria (r.680-669) when he suppressed a defection in Sidon (677/676; mentioned in the Esarhaddon Chronicle). From the text known as Prism B, we learn that in 676/675, Esarhaddon ordered the kings of the land west of the Euphrates to participate in a projection in Nineveh. Later, the Assyrian king ended a treaty with king Ba'al I of Tyre, in which Tyre's sphere of influence was recognized merely the king had to accept that there was a permanent Assyrian official at his court.
For Esarhaddon, it was important to prove that he was in command, considering the area was of great strategic importance if he wanted to attack Egypt. It is possible that the Sidonian revolt had been acquired by Egyptian agents, and even if this was not actually the example, the coastal cities were easy to attain for Egyptian visitors. The state of war bankrupt out in the spring of 674, and an Assyrian relate admits that Esarhaddon was defeated. note [ABC 1, 4.sixteen.] The same source mentions that three years afterward, the Assyrians had more success. note [ABC 1, iv.23.] On stelas establish in Zincirli and the Nahr al-Kalb, Esarhaddon also boasts about his glorious achievements.
However, in the concurrently, pharaoh Taharqo (r. c.690-664) had been able to incite revolts in Esarhaddon's rear, and the Assyrian king was forced to punish Ashkelon and Tyre. This seems to have happened in the offset weeks of 671, before the second attack on Egypt. Again, the island city was non captured: it was also far from the coast and the army was in a hurry. Nevertheless, Esarhaddon had shown his teeth, and could proceed to Arab republic of egypt.
However, the situation remained uneasy. Esarhaddon's son and successor Aššurbanipal (r.669-631?) was as unsuccessful every bit his male parent: in his third year, he managed to occupy the mainland, but he was unable to capture the city itself. From Aššurbanipal's own account, the usual boast of an Assyrian kings, the list of tribute received, is absent; information technology seems that a marital brotherhood was concluded. Kition appears to have returned to Tyre's sphere of influence. Still, mutual relations continued to oscillate between cooperation and war.
The primary point is that capturing Tyre was non in the Assyrian interest. Information technology was more lucrative to every now so seize the mainland and need tribute, and continue to benefit indirectly from Tyre'southward international trade, than to curtail the city'due south freedom. Although our sources give a very different impression, Assyria'south policy was in fact far from hostile. It sheared its sheep, but did not skin them.
Source: https://www.livius.org/articles/place/tyre/
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