Tire (صور, Sour) is a city in Lebanon, located in the southern mouhafaza (district).
Contents
Geography
Ancient Tire (also called Sour in Arabic) is located in southern Phenicia just over 70 km south of Beirut (also called Beryte to complete the correspondence between Arabic and ancient names) and 35 km south of Sidon (also called Saida in Arabic), almost halfway between Sidon in the north and Acre in the south, and a few kilometers south of Litani (the leontes of classical sources).
As is well known, there were two Tyres, one island and the other mainland. The island city was located on a rock surrounded by the sea on all sides, hence its name "SR" which in Phoenician means "the rock". The city was separated from the mainland by a narrow 500 to 700 meters wide which linked the island city to the mainland city, and this with Alexander the Great during the siege of the city in 332 BC. The island city was with two ports, one to the north "the Sidonian port" and one to the south "the Egyptian port".
Starting from Tire towards the north in the direction of Sidon, we pass near the source 'Ain Babouq, then near the thermal spring 'Ain Habrian, and finally we arrive at Naher el Qasmiyé which is the lower part of the Nahr el Litani. This river was the northern border between the kingdom of Tire and that of Sidon when they separated, but the northern border crossed this river several times and it widened to Sarepta and even a little more sometimes.
Apart from the road leading to Sidon, a very important coastal road started from Tire towards the south, the ladder of Tyr, from where one reaches immediately Tell el Rachidieh and just after Ras el ‘Ain. Some specialist historians have identified the latter with Palaetyrus or Ushu, but this identification has not excluded other possibilities. The road crosses Ras el Abyad which, on the left, leads to Oum El Amed located on a hill about ten meters above the coastal road, which, to the south, brings us to Akzib and then to Acre and its plain. to finally arrive at Haifa and Mount Carmel, which constitute the southern border of the kingdom of Tire with the neighbors.
History
The history of Tire merges with the history of Sidon especially since, over several periods, the two cities were unified. The history of Tire is very long and goes back a long way in history. Herodotus who visited the city in 450 BC. J.-C. was informed by the priests of the temple of Melkart that the city had been founded at the same time as the temple and that Tire had been inhabited for 2300 years, which gives us the date of 2700 BC. date was attested by archaeology, and especially by the survey carried out by Patricia Bikai in the center of Tyr the island, this survey having yielded 27 levels, the first level of which dates back to the first quarter of the third millennium.
Between the third and the end of the second millennium, Tire played only a secondary role in the history of the Levant, which explains its omission in the Mariote and Eblaite sources. It appears in the Egyptian texts of the 2nd millennium for its southern strategic location; but it was only a small port of call between Egypt and Byblos (Jbeil in Arabic, the ancient name referring to the paper used for the Bible) in the first place and a port of transit between the Levantine ports and the inside. The status of Tire between the reign of Thutmose II and Ramses III enabled it to take advantage of its position to develop its role as a strategic port, its trade and its industry, above all through its relations with other Levantine cities.
The history of Tire around the 10th century remains conjectural, but it is thought that the union of Tire and Sidon appears favorable between the (10th century BC) and the (9th century BC). .). After the defeat of Louli (late 8th century BC), during the Assyrian invasion, Baalu reigned over Tire (early 7th century) and Sidon separated from it after refusing to cooperate with the Assyrians. Thus, the hinterland of Tire became an Assyrian province. This marked a political weakening in both cities, but commercial and maritime activity continued to evolve until the arrival of Alexander the Great. Before the 7th century, the Litani was the northern border of the kingdom of Tyr, while Acre was the southern border. However, the area of the kingdom decreased with the invasion and the Assyrians offered Baalu Ma'rub and Zarephath (Sarepta) north of the Litani, which remained under Syrian rule until the 4th century BC. AD
Thus the Phoenician hegemony on the coast south of Phenicia extended to Ascalon which became a "city of the Tyrians" during the Persian period. This presence of the Phoenicians is affirmed by archeology (the excavations of Akzib, Tell el fukhar, Tell Keisan, Kabri, Mont carmel, 'Atlit, Shiqmona, Tell Dor, Ascalon, Tell el kheleifeh, Arad, Ashdod, Azor).
When Nebuchadnezzar acceded to the Babylonian throne, after the fall of Nineveh in 612, he besieged Tire for 13 years (635-610), but some hypotheses presume that a kind of compromise had been established between the Tyrians and the Babylonians at the end of which Tire would retain some autonomy.
In 539, Cyrus returns to Babylon as victor over the Babylonians and a new period begins. Integrated into the Persian Empire, the Phoenicians began to mint coins (Tyre was the first towards the beginning of the 5th century BC, followed by the other Phoenician cities towards the end of the 4th century BC). and Tire provided fleets to the Achaemenid rulers (especially for their wars against the Greeks).
After Alexander's victory over the Persians, at Issos around 333 BC. BC, he headed for the Phoenician coast. Thus, the Phoenician cities began to rally voluntarily and peacefully to the new lord. Only Tire resisted Alexander in 332, who besieged it for 7 months and who, in the end, managed to build a pier which caused the conquest of the city under Greek domination. It must be said that at that time Tire was still an island that was sometimes called Ancharadus. The fall of Tire was catastrophic.
After the death of Alexander the Great in June 323, the East began to suffer the consequences of the conflicts between his successors (the Diadochi) who were at war in order to share the empire created by their master. Ptolemy I founded the Lagide dynasty in Egypt around 305-304. Having adopted the ancient Egyptian policy, he turned to Phenicia. He occupied Tire and the other Phoenician cities.
Seleucus I, having participated in the wars of the Diadochi, conquered Babylon, founded the Seleucid state and named himself king of Syria in 305 before relocating it to Antioch. Then a war broke out between the Lagids and the Seleucids which would only end with the battle of Ipsos in 301. Phenicia, which had become Seleucid under Demetrios Poliorcetes, would become Lagid with Ptolemy I in 290 BC. It was under the reign of the Lagids that the first Tyrian era began (275/4 BC).
The weakening of the Lagid state after the death of Ptolemy IV (203/2 BC) will mark the end of the Lagid domination over southern Phenicia and the domination passes under the tutelage of the Seleucids around the year 200 av. The second Tyrian era will begin with the Lagides around the year 126 BC. J.-C. and will end around the year 69-70 AD. AD
Around the middle of the first century BC. The decadence of the Seleucid state caused conflict between dynasties. Thus, the birth of a new Sassanid state marked the end of Seleucid rule in the East. On the other hand the Romans find the right moment to join the East under their domination.
In -64, Tire passes under the pax romana. It becomes a peaceful provincial town. It is beginning to regain some of its past under the Romans (the racecourse of Tire is one of the largest Roman racecourses already built but unfinished!!). The general situation of the empire and especially the problems of the generals in orient leaves him no chance to regain his glory. The New Testament places a journey of Jesus there (Mark 7:24). A Christian church was then founded there, and the Acts of the Apostles declare that Saint Paul spent seven days there on his return from Cyprus (Acts 21:3). A bishopric is attested from the end of the 2nd century. A council was held there in 355. According to Saint Jerome, the father of the Church Origen died there, and was buried in the basilica.
In 636, Tire fell into the hands of the Arabs. It then passes to the Seljuks (1089), then is taken by the Crusaders (1124). In 1291 it was taken by the Mamluks.
List of kings of Tire
* -990/-978:Hanibaal
* -978/-944:Hiram I the Great
* -944/-927:Baal-Ezer I
* -927/-918:Abdrastratum
* -918/-906:Methusastartus
* -906/-897:Astarte
* -897/-896:Phelles
* -896/-863:Ithobaal I
* -863/-829:Baal-Ezer II
* -829/-820:Mattan I
* -820/-774:Pygmalion
* -774/-750:Paphos
* -750/-739:Ithobaal II
* -739/-730:Hiram II
* -730/-729:Mattan II
* -729/-694:Elulated
* -694/-680:?
* -680/-660:Baal I
* -660/-590:?
* -590/-573:Ithobaal III
* -573/-564:Baal II
* -564/-564:Yakinbaal
* -564/-563:Chelbes
* -563/-562:Abbar
* -562/-556:Mattan III and Ger-Asthari
* -556/-555:Baal-Ezer III
* -555/-551:Makarbaal
* -551/-539:Hiram III
...
* -.../-332:Azemilcos, contemporary of Alexander the Great