BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

The House of Tyre

Ancient Israel’s powerful northern neighbor

Unlike many of ancient Israel’s neighbors, the Phoenicians were often presented favorably by the biblical writers. The city-state of Tyre, in particular, was considered one of Israel’s strongest allies in the period of the United Monarchy, with King Hiram providing materials and architectural know-how to help build the Jerusalem Temple and Solomon’s royal palace (1 Kings 5:1-12). What can history and archaeology tell us about the “House of Tyre” and Hiram’s royal descendants?

Tyre, located about 50 miles south of modern Beirut, was known as Surru in the biblical period (Tsur in Hebrew). The name’s Semitic root means “the rock” and refers to the small, well-protected island where the city was built, just off the Levantine mainland. Greek writers used the name Tyrus, which over the centuries evolved into the more familiar form, Tyre.

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For much of the Iron Age II (tenth–sixth centuries BCE), Tyre and the neighboring Phoenician city-state of Sidon were united under Tyrian rule. While Tyre was the main political power, people living in the realm were called Sidonians. This can be seen in Assyrian inscriptions as well as the biblical text (1 Kings 16:31). Unfortunately, no royal or official documents from Tyre have been discovered, so most of what we know about the kingdom’s history comes from Greek and Roman historians who wrote many centuries later. The most detailed account of King Hiram and his successors was written by Menander of Ephesus, who wrote sometime in the second century BCE. Meander’s original work does not survive, but is quoted at length by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Against Apion 1.123–125).

According to Menander, Hiram came to the throne at the age of 19 when his father Abibaal died and he reigned 34 years. Josephus makes a chronological note that this occurred 12 years before the Jerusalem Temple was built, putting the beginning of Hiram’s reign around 978 BCE. King Hiram is said to have engaged in many building projects, including building temples to Baal-Shamin, Astarte, and the storm god Melqart. Royal inscriptions discovered at the nearby site of Byblos indicate that Phoenician kings and queens also served as high priests and priestesses of Astarte, so it is likely that Hiram and his successors took up these roles as well.

Hiram’s business dealings with Solomon are not mentioned by Menander but he does note that Hiram and the wealthy Israelite king often exchanged letters in which they challenged each other with riddles. Dius, another historian quoted by Josephus, adds that Hiram and Solomon even had money riding on their challenges (Antiquities 8.147–149).

In the Bible, Hiram and Solomon had many business dealings, the most important of which was Tyre providing materials and manpower for the building of the Jerusalem Temple. For these services, Tyre was given lands in the Galilee where they could cultivate precious crops that the island city-state needed to survive. Supporting archaeological evidence for this situation can be found at many sites in the Lower Galilee, where excavated artifacts and features closely resemble the material culture of Phoenicia. Sites like Horvat Rosh Zayit, Keisan, and Abu Hawam show signs of large-scale cereal and olive oil production—commodities the Tyrians would have sorely needed.

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Although definitive evidence of the lucrative trading partnership between Hiram and Solomon has yet to emerge, there are some archaeological indications that such a relationship may have been possible at the time. Copper objects excavated from Phoenician sites dating to the first few centuries of the Iron Age were likely mined in the Wadi Aravah region of southern Israel and Jordan, especially the sites of Timna and Faynan (biblical Punon). Some have suggested that fortresses discovered at these sites were built to protect royal mining interests, possibly even during the reign of King Solomon.

Archaeological evidence also suggests that Phoenician long-distance maritime trade had already begun by the tenth century. At several Phoenician sites, including Acco and Dor, silver hoards dating from the 11th to ninth centuries likely originated beyond the western coast of Italy in Sardinia. Whether or not Solomon’s administration was involved, the Phoenician rulers certainly appear to have begun forging their famous maritime trading operations quite early. At the site of Huelva on Spain’s Atlantic coast, Phoenician pottery often associated with Greek and Cypriot imports attests to a regular Phoenician presence throughout the second half of the ninth century. This would suggest that the initial Phoenician trading expeditions to the far reaches of the western Mediterranean had already begun.

According to Menander, Hiram was succeeded by his son, Baal-Eser I, and then his grandson Abd-Astart, who was apparently assassinated in a plot orchestrated by the sons of his nurse. These four brothers, Astartus, Delastartus, Astarymus, and Phelles, ruled in succession until the last brother was killed by Ithobaal I, a priest of Astarte. Known as Ethbaal in the Bible (1 Kings 16:31), he was the father of the notorious Jezebel, whom he gave in marriage to Ahab, king of Israel. According to Menander, Ithobaal also established Phoenician cities and colonies at Botrys (modern Batroun, north of Byblos) and Auza in Libya (yet to be identified). His reign corresponds with what we know of the earliest Tyrian colonial initiatives on Cyprus and Crete, perhaps making Jezebel’s father the king who began the first extensive colonization of the Mediterranean. By the late ninth century, the Phoenicians had established their presence at Utica on the Bay of Tunis in North Africa and at Gadir (modern Cádiz) on Spain’s Atlantic coast.

Ithobaal is notably absent from the list of kings that formed the anti-Assyrian coalition that fought at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BCE, which included the Phoenician kings of Byblos and Arwad, and Ithobaal’s son-in-law Ahab. Whatever the reason for his absence, his successor Baal-Eser II paid tribute to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III alongside King Jehu of Israel, as famously depicted on the Black Obelisk.

Baal-Eser’s son Mattan ruled after him and was the father of Pumiyaton (Pygmalion) and Elissa, also known as the legendary Phoenician princess Dido, founder of Carthage. According to the legendary tale, found most famously in an account in Virgil’s Aeneid, the king made Dido and the young boy Pygmalion co-heirs upon his death, but political intrigues made Pygmalion sole ruler instead. Sometime later, Pygmalion had Dido’s wealthy and influential husband assassinated and she was forced to flee Tyre, eventually settling in North Africa to found Carthage. Most ancient historians dated the founding of this famous Phoenician colony to 814 BCE, though recent archaeological evidence suggests it was actually founded in the early to mid-eighth century. Also, contrary to Virgil, the former queen of Tyre lived several centuries after Aeneas’s day, meaning their great romance was a literary creation of the Roman poet.

Pygmalion’s direct successor is not mentioned in Greek sources. Once Josephus achieves his goal of chronologically linking Hiram and Solomon to the founding of Carthage, he no longer uses Menander’s history. According to Assyrian records, an unnamed king of Tyre (possibly Pygmalion’s successor) paid tribute to Adad-nirari III (r. 811–783 BCE) alongside King Joash of Israel at the beginning of the eighth century. Three Tyrian kings are also mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III (r. 745–727 BCE): Ithobaal II, possibly the unnamed king and a contemporary of Rezin of Damascus and Menahem of Israel; Hiram II, who plotted with Rezin against Assyria; and Mattan II. For his transgressions, Hiram II was forced to pay heavy tribute to the king of Assyria, as did Mattan after him.

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The eighth century saw the Phoenicians’ colonial efforts rewarded with strategic occupations that gained them access to diverse and sorely needed resources, as well as access to the gold and ivory of the African interior. New colonies were established across the Mediterranean at sites along the eastern coast of Andalusia, as well as in Sardinia and Sicily. This economic power and prestige would help protect Tyre from coming political turmoil.

Tyre spent the majority of the eighth century contending with the power of Assyria. King Luli revolted against the Assyrians on several occasions, resulting in a five-year siege of Tyre (724–720 BCE) under Shalmaneser V at roughly the same time that the Israelite capital of Samaria was besieged. After deposing Shalmaneser, Sargon II pulled the Assyrian forces from Tyre to focus on finishing off the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Luli must have paid considerable homage to the new Assyrian ruler because he was allowed to continue ruling Tyre and Sidon throughout the reign of Sargon II (721–705 BCE). Many neighboring rulers were not so fortunate. When Sargon’s son Sennacherib ascended to the throne, many of the Levantine vassal states rebelled against Assyria, including the Phoenician city-states and the Kingdom of Judah. In response, Sennacherib launched a campaign famously depicted on reliefs from Nineveh (now on display in the British Museum), which included sieges of Azekah, Lachish, and Jerusalem. While geography allowed King Hezekiah to be “trapped like a bird in a cage” in Jerusalem, Luli was able to flee to Cyprus. The Assyrian king then put Ithobaal III on the throne.

Around this time, Sidon broke away from Tyrian control. The context of the separation isn’t known but it certainly relates to the political turmoil surrounding the Assyrian invasions. Regardless, after the reign of Ithobaal III, the Assyrian annals mention a king of Sidon, Abdi-Milkuti, and Baal I, king of Tyre. Baal I signed a treaty with the Assyrian king that regulated Tyrian shipping and trade. This treaty shows that Tyre was still a prominent economic force, so much so that Baal I had rebelled against Assyria on multiple occasions. On the last occasion, he was supposed to support the Assyrian king in his campaign against Egypt. Alongside many other kings, including Manasseh of Judah, Baal I agreed to the Assyrian request but reneged on his promise. For this treachery, Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BCE) surrounded Tyre with a naval blockade, starved the people, and took Baal’s family hostage. After the Tyrian king apologized and submitted to Assyria, Ashurbanipal let everyone go and peacefully returned to Nineveh. The Assyrian king’s reaction to Baal’s multiple betrayals is telling and shows Tyre’s importance as a political and economic ally. Although Ashurbanipal left Tyre in peace, he did annex its mainland territories, renaming them Usu, and appointed judges to rule over them.

Tyre isn’t mentioned again until the days of Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605–562 BCE). The city likely experienced a similar political situation to what Judah faced in the south. While Ashurbanipal warred with his brother Shamash-shum-ukin, who ruled over Babylonia, Egypt consolidated its power in the Levant and took control of much that had been in the hands of Assyria. The civil war severely weakened the Assyrian Empire and when the Babylonians rebelled and established their own kingdom, the Assyrians looked to the newly strengthened Egypt for support. Fearing the rising power of Babylon, the Egyptians agreed to join forces with Assyria. This is the backdrop for King Josiah’s death at Megiddo in a vain attempt to stop the forces of Pharaoh Necho II from reaching their allies in the north (2 Kings 23:29–30). What reason Josiah had to oppose the Egyptian-Assyrian alliance isn’t given but it resulted in Judah and the royal family firmly in the hands of the Egyptians until Nebuchadnezzar II invaded a few years later.

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In the first four years of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar marched against the cities on the Levantine coast. The siege of Tyre is described in the writings of Josephus, who reports that it lasted for 13 years, during the reigns of Ithobaal IV and Baal II. Afterwards, Tyre was ruled by a series of judges on behalf of Babylon. Sometime after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the Tyrian throne was restored by Neriglissar (r. 560–556 BCE) as a reward for the city’s maritime support, and the royal family was allowed to return from their Babylonian exile.

The turmoil of the Assyrian and Babylonian wars weakened Tyre considerably and the city lost much of its accumulated wealth and prosperity, including its western colonies. In the Persian period, Tyre slowly regained some of its maritime power, and the kings of Tyre and Sidon commanded Phoenician fleets on behalf of Persia. The House of Tyre would meet its final fate at the hands of Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE), who laid siege to and destroyed the island city, massacring its residents and enslaving survivors. To achieve this victory, Alexander used the ruins of demolished cities on the mainland to create a causeway to the island fortress. Since then, Tyre has remained a peninsula, removing the city’s notable defense as an island. After Alexander’s conquest, the once-great city-state was no longer ruled over by a Tyrian dynasty and would become just another territory in the hands of various empires.

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The Histories of Flavius Josephus

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Sennacherib’s Siege of Lachish

Necho and Josiah at Megiddo

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Sennacherib’s Siege of Jerusalem: Once or Twice?

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The Black Obelisk