Tyre Archaeological Phoenician and Roman Ruins
August 21, 2016 by AlainLocated on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut, one of the oldest cities in the world. Tyre was the great Phoenician city that reigned over the seas. From the 5th century B.C., when Herodotus of Halicarnassus visited Tyre, it was built for the most part on an island reportedly impregnable, considered one of the oldest metropolises of the world, and according to tradition founded in 2750 B.C. Tyre succumbed to the attack of Alexander of Macedonia who had blocked the straits by a dike. First a Greek city, and then a Roman city were constructed on this site, which is now a promontory. Tyre was directly associated with several stages in the history of humanity, including the production of purple pigment reserved for royalty and nobility, the construction in Jerusalem of the Temple of Solomon, thanks to the material and architect sent by the King Hiram of Tyre; and the exploration of the seas by hardy navigators who founded prosperous trading centres as far away as the western Mediterranean, that ultimately assured a quasi-monopoly of the important maritime commerce for the Phoenician city. The historic role of Tyre declined at the end of the period of the Crusades. Metropolis of Phoenicia in past times, sung about for its great beauty, Tyre rapidly became the most important centre for maritime and land commerce in the eastern Mediterranean. The Phoenician remains reflect the power, influence and wealth of the merchants of Tyre who navigated the Mediterranean waters and filled their warehouses with goods from their extensive colonies all around the Mediterranean coasts. #tyr #sour #tyre #Phoenicia #roman #romanruins #ruins #lebanon #lebanoninapicture #livelovelebanon #livelovetyr #livelovesour #livelovesouthjebanon