TYRE. 



minatfd Sor, whence it derived its name (fee Sur), and was 

 called the daughter of Sidon. It was fituated upon the fea. 

 Tyre has been diftinguifhed, in the order of time, into three 

 cities ; as Tyre on the continent, or Pxle-Tyr (old Tyre), 

 Tyre on the ifland, and Tyre on the peninfula, after the 

 ifland was joined to the main land. There were four differ- 

 ent places in Phoenicia which bore the name of Tyre. 

 Tyre, of which we are now fpeaking, had two havens, 

 one looking towards Sidon, the other towards Egypt. 

 Thefe havens were formed by the ifthmus which joined the 

 ifland to the main land, and were called, the one open, the 

 other clofe. The former looked towards Egypt, and was 

 the moft fouthern of the two : it was accordingly called the 

 Egyptian port. The fherif Edriii fays, that one of thefe 

 ports had an arch over its entrance, through which the 

 /hipping pafTed ; and that it was fortified with a chain drawn 

 acrofs it. Thefe bays or ports are ftill pretty large, and, in 

 part, defended from the ocean by a long ridge, refembhng a 

 mole, ftretching direftly out on both fides from the head of 

 the ifland ; but whether thefe ridges are walls or rocks is 

 uncertain ; they were moft probably walls. ( See SuR. ) 

 Tyre, including Palx-tyrus, was 19,000 paces in circum- 

 ference, whence it is plain, that Tyre on the ifland, and 

 old Tyre on the main, were confidered as but one city, after 

 the ifthmus was thrown up between them ; and pofPibly they 

 might have had buildings contiguous to each other. If 

 Pliny's numbers are right, the old city muft have been by 

 much the moft extenfive part of the whole, and efpecially 

 as the place appears at this day. According to Pliny, the 

 ifland was but 700 paces from the continent : whereas Strabo 

 fays that it was 30 ftadia, or fomewhat more than three of 

 our miles from Palas-tyrus ; and according to the fame geo- 

 grapher, Tyre was wholly an ifland, like Aradus, excepting 

 the artificial ifthmus, which formed it into a peninfula. The 

 city by itfelf, according to the ftatement of Pliny, meafured 

 only twenty-two furlongs, or not quite three of our miles, 

 and this is too great an allowance, if we may rely on our 

 modern accounts ; which reprefent Tyre itfelf as a fmall city 

 in extent, though it covered the whole ifland ; and the fcanti- 

 nefs of the fpace on which it ftood, induced the inhabitants 

 to raife their buildings fo high, which plan they would have 

 otherwife avoided, from fear of earthquakes, that threatened 

 them with deftruftion. At prefent the ifland appears to 

 have been, in its natural ftate, of a circular form, hardly con- 

 taining forty acres of ground ; and the foundations of the 

 wall which furrounded it are ftiU to be feen at the utmoft 

 margin of the land. If it be true then, that the whole cir- 

 cuit of the old and new Tyre amounted to 19,000 paces, or 

 19 Roman miles, and that they were diftant from each other 

 but 33 ftadia, or 3I of the lame miles, it is evident that the 

 old city ftood upon a much greater fpace of ground than 

 the new. A confiderable part of the ifland was, what we call, 

 made ground. The buildings were in general fpacious and 

 magnificent ; and above the reft appeared the temples 

 built by Hiram to Jupiter, Hercules, and Aftarte. The 

 walls of Tyre were 1 50 feet high, proportionably broad, and 

 firmly built of large blocks of ftone, bound together with 

 white plafter. For its prefent reduced and ruinous ftate, 

 fee Sur. 



Herodotus afcribes to Tyre fituated on the ifland a very 

 ancient epocha : and its priefts, according to his account, 

 reprefent that their temple, which was of greater anti- 

 quity than the city, fubfifted about 450 years before the 

 Chriftian era. Jofephiis refers the foundation of this city 

 to 1255 years B.C., whilft the Ifraelites were under the 

 government of judges. But thefe dates cannot be applied 

 to infular Tyre, which was more modern than that of con- 



tinental Tyre, which is faid to have been built and known 

 before the Ifraelites took pofTelTion of Canaan. ( See Jofhua, 

 xix. 29. ) The Sidonians, with a view of extending their com- 

 merce, fent out a colony to ancient Tyre, which contributed 

 very much to its augmentation ; and hence it became pow- 

 erful, eclipfed the metropolis, and became itfelf the metro- 

 polis of feveral cities, which it furnifhed with colonies. The 

 Tyrians were not known in the time of the Trojan war, 

 according to Strabo (hb. xvi. ) and Homer, who often fpeaks 

 of the Phoenicians, mentions only the Sidonians, under 

 which general appellation the Tyrians were probably com- 

 prehended. 



Jofephus and Theophilus Antiochenus begin the fuccef- 

 fion of kings of Tyre with Abibal, upon the authority of 

 Menander the Ephefian, and Dius a Phoenician, authors of 

 credit. Abibal was contemporary with David, and his reign 

 is referred to 1056 B.C. He was fucceeded by his fon, 

 Hiram (1046 B.C.), who maintained an intimate friend- 

 fhip witli David and Solomon : under this prince the king- 

 dom of Tyre was very profperous and flourifhing ; the city 

 was enlarged, and by means of a dam, joined to the temple 

 of the Olympian Jupiter, Handing in an ifland. He alfo 

 built two temples, one to Hercules and another to Aftarte, 

 enriching them with donations. Befides ereAing a ftatue 

 to Hercules, he repaired the temples of other gods, and en- 

 dowed them to a very great value. Tatian relates, on the 

 authority of three Phoenician hiftorians, that he gave his 

 daughter in marriage to king Solomon, who, by her influ- 

 ence, was induced to worfhip Aftarte, the goddefs of the 

 Sidonians. Hiram, having lived fifty-three years, and reigned 

 thirty-four, was fucceeded by his fon, and a feries of other 

 princes, until Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, laid fiege 

 to the city, in the reign of Ithobal II. 585 years B.C. 

 Tliis fiege lafted thirteen years (fee Ezekiel, xxvi. 8, &c.) ; 

 and at laft it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar and utterly 

 deftroyed. Some Phoenician hiftorians have faid, that Itho- 

 bal was fucceeded by Baal ; nor is it improbable, tliat the 

 inhabitants of Tyre, during the fiege, retreated with their 

 efFefts to an ifland about half a mile diftant from the fhore, 

 where they built for themfelves a new city ; which, after the 

 deftruftion of the old town, fubmitted to Nebuchadnezzar, 

 who appointed Baal to be his viceroy ; and that, upon Baal's 

 death, in order to render the government more dependent 

 on the Affyrians, he changed the royal dignity into that of 

 temporary naagiftrates, called fuffetes, or judges, 562 years 

 B.C. After Tyre had been thus governed for fome years, 

 the royal dignity was reftored, and Balator created king, 

 556 B.C. Both he and his fucceffors were dependent on, 

 and tributary to the Affyrians for feventy years ; at the 

 expiration of which they recovered, according to the pro- 

 phefy of Ifaiah (ch. xxiii. 15. 17), their ancient liberty. 

 In the year 480 B.C., under the reign of Marten, the Ty- 

 rians, as well as the other Phoenicians, were tributaries to the 

 Perfians, though they had a king of their own, being fa- 

 voured by the Perfian monarchs on account of the fervices 

 which they rendered to them in their naval expeditions. 

 About this time reigned Strato, whofe acceflion to the throne, 

 in confequence of an infurreftion of the flaves, is particularly 

 related by Juftin, lib. xviii. cap. 3. He was fucceeded by 

 his defcendants, among whom was Azelmic, in whofe reign 

 happened the memorable fiege and reduftion of Tyre by 

 Alexander the Great. This fiege commenced about the 

 year 333 B.C. which was rigoroufly carried on and as ob- 

 ftinately refifted by the Tyrians. At length Alexander, 

 having battered down the walls, took the city by ftorm, 

 332 B.C., after feven months fiege, and fully executed the 

 fentence which the Tyrians bad, by their pride and other 



viceSj 



