Tyre
Tyre is a Phoenician city about 30 miles north of
Ptolemaïs, built on a rocky island that Alexander
the Great connected to the mainland with a half-mile causeway [333
BCE]. As the first Canaanite city to attain independence from Egypt [12th c. BCE] it took the lead in the Phoenician colonization of the
Mediterranean including the founding of Carthage.
Tyrian purple dye from shellfish was so-highly prized
in ancient times that it gave these seafaring traders their name: Phoenician
["purple people"]. Hiram [mid-10th c. BCE] built a breakwater
that gave Tyre the best harbor on the eastern Mediterranean coast &
established a mutually beneficial trade-alliance with David and Solomon. Hiram supplied
the craftsmen and cedar wood for the temple at Jerusalem and other building
projects of Solomon. But a century later the marriage of Jezebel, the
daughter of Eshba'al of Tyre, to Ahab provoked a cultural crisis in
Israel that challenged Mosaic tradition and led Elijah to launch a holy war.
Tyre's island location made it hard for ancient empires
to subdue, until Alexander conquered it [333 BCE]. Under Hellenistic and Roman empires, Tyre continued
to flourish. Tyrian silver coinage was so pure that it was the only
currency accepted in the temple at Jerusalem. According to the synoptic
gospels [Mark 7], Jesus traveled through the region around Tyre & found supporters among
its inhabitants. According to Acts 21, Paul landed there & stayed with local Christians on his way
to Jerusalem.
Sources: Into
His Own |