Tyre – WMU HIST 3495: Ancient Near Eastern History

Founding of City

By Leo Cooper

Very ancient city; excavations have found settlement as old as 2900 BCE
Before the need for massive trade it was likely only a small fishing village
As other powers such as Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria rose, Tyre was used as an important half-way point and center of trade. It was during this time that purple dye began to be produced
During Bronze Age Collapse, Tyre and related Phoenician cities found great success in the subsequent power vacuum, in which time the Phoenician script was also invented
Tyre became recognized as the mother-city of the massive Phoenician trade network

Hercules’ Dog discovers Purple Dye, by Peter Paul Rubens c. 1636

Brief General History of City

By Isabella Sussmann

Built on an island in the eastern Mediterranean
It controlled two natural harbors
Tyrians were known for being great seafarers and explorers
Replaced Sidon as the most important city in the region
Had prosperous trade networks
- Constant target of looting and pillaging
- Played an important role in Phoenician expansion
- Founded several cities (Carthage, Kition, Utica, Lixus, and Gades)
- Known for working with highly valued purple dye from Murex shellfish

Tyrian Purple Shroud of Charlemagne — Shroud of Charlemagne made with Tyrian purple and gold.

The Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Macedonians all fought for control of the city
- Tyre successfully withstood a siege by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II
City had close ties with Israel which encouraged their great wealth
- King Abibaal had a trade agreement with King David for timber
- King Hiram provided building materials for Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem
Religious revolution brought further prosperity to the palace and the city as a whole
- The god known as Melqart which is a deified version of Hercules took precedence over traditional Phoenician deities

Votive statue of Melqart from Gades (Cadiz, Spain), 7th century BCE.

Siege of Tyre led by Alexander the Great (332 BC)
- Macedonian army could not capture the city using conventional means because it was on an island and it had walls
- After a period of about seven months of besieging the old city of Tyre (Ushu) on the mainland he used his man-made causeway to bring down the walls and take the city
- Most Tyrians were either killed or sold into slavery – many of those who escaped fled to Carthage
- City was later rebuilt and then destroyed again

Intriguing Features and Events

Tyre in Greek Mythology

By Isabella Sussmann

Europa was a Phoenician princess of Tyre who was abducted by Zeus (in the form of a bull) and taken to the island of Crete
Europa, after sleeping with Zeus, becomes the first queen of Crete and later gives birth to King Minos
Continent of Europe is named after her

Europa being abducted by Zeus disguised as a bull, detail from an Attic krater, 5th century; in the Tarquinia National Museum

Dido, also a Phoenician princess of Tyre, is known as the founder and first queen of Carthage
Falls in love with Trojan hero Aeneas
Some historians believe that Dido was deified, but there is not enough evidence to prove this

A silver tetradrachm from Carthage. The female head has been identified by some historians as Dido (Elissa), the legendary founder of the city.

Question: Just how many empires ruled over Tyre over its almost 5000 year history?

By Leo Cooper

Tyre was only ruled by native Tyrians or their descendants during 5 periods of this history: its earliest founding, Phoenician golden age after Bronze Age Collapse, a short independent period between Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian domination, a short independent period after the fall of the Seleucids, and modern Lebanon.
Since its founding, Tyre has been ruled by: Egypt, Neo-Assyria, Neo-Babylonia, Persia, both Alexander’s empire and the Seleucid successor state, Rome, Byzantium, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, as well as both French and British colonial control.
With well over a dozen different rulers over many thousands of years, one can see why Tyre is so important!

Tyre’s Famous Purple Dye

By: Nina LoGrasso

The dye that made Tyre famous was a dark-reddish purple had many religious connotations

The shell of the sea snails used to make the dye

The making of this dye was a skilled trade that was centered in Tyre
The people of Tyre would use a species of sea snails called the Bolinus Brandaris that produced a vibrant purple mucus
- This mucus was so rare that it became worth its weight in gold
The dye makers would crack open the shells of the snails and extract the mucus and expose it to sunlight for a precise amount of time
In order to make an ounce of usable dye the dye makers needed about 250,000 sea snails
The clothes, cloth, and fabrics dyed this vibrant and long-lasting purple was very expensive and naturally became popular amongst the wealthy class
- A pound of this wool cost more than an average person earned in a year
Royalty from all over can be seen wearing Tyrian purple (and now why purple is usually associated with them) because the color reminded them of clotted blood
- The color of clotted blood held divine/religious connotations amongst many different cultures
The monopoly of Tyre’s purple dye lasted until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century
The shade did not come back onto the market until the 1850s

Visit Our Home!

Tyre (Ṣūr in Phoenician) travel brochure. Created by James Ross.

Later and Modern History

By: Nina LoGrasso

64 BCE Tyre and all of the rest of ancient Syria fell under Roman Rule
- This time period is known as the Second Golden Era
- During this time the people of Tyre began minting their own coins
- The Romans built Tyre an aqueduct, triumphal arch, and the largest hippodrome
In 634 CE Tyre was taken over by Islamic armies (showed no resistance and continued to prosper under the new rule)
- Gained more independence under the Banu ‘Aqil Dynasty
- The people of Tyre continued to thrive and built fountains, bazaars, carpets, and jewelry
In 1124 Tyre fell under Crusader rule for 180 years
In 1291 the Mamlukes took over as the rulers of Tyre
At the start of the 16th century Tyre was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire
By the end of World War 1 in 1918, Tyre was added into the new nation of Lebanon
Today, Tyre is the 5th largest city in Lebanon with approximately 200,000 inhabitants
Major tourist attraction in Lebanon and is often called “the city of ruins,” or the “city built of ruins”
Has recently been named a World Heritage Site in UNESCO in 2016, and the government has stepped in to protect Tyre’s ruins to prevent pillaging

Tyre (Sur), Lebanon today (taken on 03/23/2017)

Bibliography

Andrews, Evan. “Why is purple considered the color of royalty?” The History Channel. (August 22, 2018) Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/why-is-purple-considered-the-color-of-royalty

Artist, U. (2016, July 20). Tyrian Purple Shroud of Charlemagne. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/image/5393/

Cartwright, Mark. “Melqart.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, April 7, 2020. https://www.ancient.eu/Melqart/.

DK, Arthur. “Tyrian Purple” Triskelion Yarn (2020) Retrieved from https://www.triskelion-yarn.com/product/arthur-dk-tyrian-purple/

G, Dominque. “Tyre, Hippodrome” A Lovely World. (2019) Retrieved from http://www.alovelyworld.com/webliban/htmgb/tyre-hippodrome.htm

Herodotus. The Histories. Accessed April 8, 2020. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/2A*.html.

Jidejian, N. (2008, August 25). Tyre through the Ages 3rd edition. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/Tyre_through_the_ages.html?id=znJtAAAAMAAJ

Mansour, Mohamed. “Tyre, Lebanon” Lebanon In A Picture (February 23, 2017) Retrieved from http://www.lebanoninapicture.com/pictures/tyre-tyr-sour-tyrecity-sourcity-tyrepage-southlebanon-b_92#1

Mark, Joshua J. “Tyre.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, September 2, 2009. https://www.ancient.eu/Tyre/.

Museum, T. B. (2016, June 29). Dido, Carthaginian Tetradrachm. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/image/5271/

Raddato, C. (2016, May 04). Votive Statue of Melqart. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/image/5032/

Rubens, P. P. “Hercules’ Dog discovers Purple Dye.” 1636. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules%27s_Dog_Discovers_Purple_Dye

Tersakian, Krikor. “Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre.” Blogspot (December 28, 2010) Retrieved from https://krikor-tersakian.blogspot.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2015, August 25). Tyre. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Tyre

The Editors of Discover the Middle East. (2016) Tyre. Discover the Middle East. Retrieved from http://www.middleeast.com/tyre.htm

“Tyre.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UN. Accessed April 8, 2020. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/299/.

“Tyre, City, Temple of Melqart.” Livius. Accessed April 8, 2020. https://www.livius.org/articles/place/tyre/tyre-photos/tyre-city-temple-of-melqart/.