See also: Tyr (homonymy)

Tyr (صور, Sour ) is a city of the Lebanon, located in the mouhafaza (district) of the South.

Geography

Old Tyr (also called Arabic Sour) is located in the southernmost Phénicie at a little more than 70 km at the south of Beirut (also called Beryte to supplement the correspondences between names Arab and ancient) and at 35 km at the south of Sidon (also called Arabic Saida), almost halfway between Sidon with North and Acre in the south, and a few kilometers in the south of the Litani (the leontes of the traditional sources).

As it is well-known, there were two Tyr, an insular and the other continental one. The insular city was located on a rock surrounded by the sea on all the sides, from where its name “SR” which means as a phenician " the rocher". The city was separated from the Continent by narrow from 500 to 700 meters broad which bound the insular city to the continental city, and this with Alexandre Large the at the time of the seat of the city in 332 av J. - C. the insular city was equipped with two port S, one in north “the Sidonien port” and one in the south “the Egyptian port”.

On the basis of Tyr towards north in direction of Sidon, one passes close to the source `Ain Babouq, then close to the thermal spring `Ain Habrian, and finally one arrives at Naher el Qasmiyé which is the lower part of Nahr el Litani. This Fleuve constituted the Northern border between the kingdom of Tyr and that of Sidon when they separated, but the northern border exceeded this river several times and it widened until Sarepta and even a little sometimes.

Apart from the Road driving in Sidon, a very important coastal road started from Tyr towards the south, the scale of Tyr, from where one immediately reaches Such el Rachidieh and right after Ras el `Ain. Some Historian S specialists, identified the latter with Palaetyrus or Ushu but this identification did not exclude the other possibilities. The road crosses Ras el Abyad which, on the left leads to Oum El Amed located on a Colline at ten meters above the coastal road, which, towards the south, makes us lead to Akzib and then to Acre and its plain to arrive finally at Haïfa and the Mont Carmel, which constitute the southern border of the kingdom of Tyr with the neighbors.

History

The history of Tyr merges with the history of Sidon especially that, over several periods, the two cities were unified. The history of Tyr is very long and goes up far in the history. Hérodote which visited the city in 450 av. J. - C. was informed by the priests of the temple of Melkart which the city had been at the same time founded as the temple and than Tyr had been inhabited for 2300 years, which gives us the date of 2700 av J. - C. This date was attested by archeology, and especially by the survey carried out by Patricia Bikai in the center of Tyr the islander, this survey having delivered 27 levels whose first level goes back to the first quarter of the third millennium.

Between the third and the end of the thousand-year-old second, Tyr played only one secondary part in the history of the Raising, which explains its omission in the mariotes sources and eblaites. It appears in the Egyptian texts of thousand-year-old IIe for its southernmost strategic situation; but it was only one small port of call between the Egypt and Byblos (Arabic Jbeil, the ancient name referring to the paper used for the Bible) initially and a wearing of transit between the ports Levantines and the interior. The statute of Tyr between the reign of Thoutmosis II and Ramsès III enabled him to benefit from its position to develop its role like strategic port, its trade and its industry, especially by these relations with the other Levantines cities.

The history of Tyr about the 10th century remains conjectural, but it is thought that the union of Tyr and Sidon appears favorable between () and it (). After the defeat of Louli (fine), during the invasion Assyrie, Baalu reigned on Tyr (beginning of the 7th century) and Sidon separates some after the refusal from co-operation with Assyrian. Thus, the back-country of Tyr became an Assyrian province. This marked a political weakening in the two cities, but the marketing activity and maritime continued to evolve/move until the arrival of Alexandre the Large one. Before the 7th century, Litani was the Northern border of the kingdom of Tyr, while Acre was the Southern border. However, the surface of the kingdom decreased with the invasion and Assyrian offered to Baalu My `rub and Zarephath (Sarepta) in the north of Litani, which remained under the Syrian domination until

Thus hegemony phenician on the coast in the south of the Phénicie was spread out until Ascalon which became a “city of Tyriens” at the time Persian. This presence of the phenicians is affirmed by archeology (the excavations of Akzib, Such el fukhar, Such Keisan, Kabri, Mont carmel, `Atlit, Shiqmona, Such Dor, Ascalon, Such el kheleifeh, Arad, Ashdod, Azor).

When Nabuchodonosor reaches the Babylonian throne, after the fall of Ninive into 612, it besieged Tyr during 13 years (635-610), but some assumptions suppose that a kind of compromise had been established between Tyriens and the Babylonians at the end which Tyr would preserve a certain autonomy.

In 539, Cyrus returns to Babylon like winner on the Babylonians and a new period starts. Integrated in the Persian empire , Phéniciens started to beat currency (Tyr was the first towards the beginning of followed other cities phenicians towards the end of) and Tyr provided fleets to the sovereigns Achéménides (especially for their wars against Greek).

After the victory of Alexandre over Persians, with Issos towards 333 av. J. - C., it moved towards the coast phenician. Thus, the cities phenicians started to be joined voluntarily and peacefully the new lord. Seule Tyr resisted Alexandre into 332, who besieged it for 7 months and which, at the end, managed to build a pier what caused the conquest of the city under the Greek domination. It should be said that at that time Tyr was still an island which one called sometimes Ancharadus. The fall of Tyr was catastrophic.

After the death of Alexandre the Great in June 323, the East started to undergo the consequences of the conflicts between its successors (the Diadoque S) who were made the war in order to share the empire creates by their Master. Ptolémée I {{er}} founded the dynasty Lagide in Egypt towards 305-304. Having adopted the old Egyptian policy, it turned to the Phénicie. It occupied Tyr and the other cities phenicians.

Séleucos Ier having taken part in the wars of Diadoques conquered Babylon, founded the state séleucide and appointed king de Syrie into 305 before delocalizing it with Antioche. Then a war burst between the Lagides and Séleucides which will not finish that with the Bataille of Ipsos into 301. Phénicie, become séleucide under Démétrios Poliorcète, will become lagide with Ptolémée Ier in 290 av. J. - C. It is under the reign of Lagides that the first era tyrienne will begin (275/4 av. J. - C.).

The weakening of the state lagide after the death of Ptolémée IV (203/2 av. J. - C.) will mark fine with the domination lagide on southern Phénicie and the domination passes under the supervision of Séleucides about the year 200 av. J. - C. the second era tyrienne will begin with Lagides about the year 126 av. J. - C. and will finish about the year 69-70 apr. J. - C.

About the middle of the first front century J. - C. decline of the state séleucide because of the conflicts between the dynasties. Thus, the birth of a new state sassanide marked the end of the domination séleucide in Orient. In addition the Roman find the moment suitable to join the East under their domination.

In -64, Tyr passes under the Pax romana . It becomes a peaceful provincial town. It starts to regain a little its past under the Romans (the Hippodrome of Tyr one of the largest Roman hippodromes is already built but, unfinished!!). The general situation of the empire and especially the problems of the generals in the East do not leave him any chance to take again its glory. The New Testament places there a voyage of Jesus (Mc 7:24). A Christian church is then founded there, and the Acts of the Apostles declare that holy Paul spends seven days there while returning from Cyprus (ac 21:3). A évêché is attested as of the end of the 2nd century. A Concile is held in 355 to with it. According to Holy Jerome, the Père of the Church Origène there dies, and is buried in the Basilique.

In 636, Tyr fall to the hands from the Arab S. It passes then to the Seldjoukides (1089), then is taken by the cross (1124). In 1291 it is taken by the Mamelouks.

List kings de Tyr

…

Twinning

The town of Tyr is twinned with

See too

  • List of the archbishops of Tyr

Sources

A. Poidebard, a large disappeared port - TYR - air and underwater Research 1934-1936. Libr. Orientalist Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1939.

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