Tyre (Phœn. Sûr or Sôr, 'rock'), a city of ancient Phœnicia, situated in 33° 12' N. lat., which probably derived its name from the double rock on which it was first founded. There were two towns of Tyre closely connected together in historical times; one on the continent, the other on the island opposite, with an area of 200 acres. The more important of the two was the continental town, called Pale Tyrens. 'It stands out in the sea, as the palm of the hand does from the wrist,' says an old writer. The situation of the entire city was one of the most fertile, and its magnificent combination of land and sea scenery formed the theme of many an ancient poet and seer.
Its ancient history is fully dealt with under PHŒNICIA. Tyre was a city on an island in the sea in the 14th century B.C., when it is described in an Egyptian papyrus: 'Tyre the double port is its name; water is carried to it in boats; it is richer in fish than in sands.' There is a list of places that traded with Tyre in Ezekiel xxvii., with the names of the articles of commerce, including its famous purple dye. Isaiah called it the 'mart of nations.' Explorations were made here in 1874, 1877, and 1881. Its two ports—the Sidonian to the north, and the Egyptian to the south, each about 12 acres—have been identified by Major Conder, as also the probable site of the old cemetery. Alexander the Great made a causeway from the shore, which has increased in breadth to a quarter of a mile by drifting sand. An aqueduct bringing water from the springs at Ras el Ain existed previous to 724 B.C. The population of the island city seems to have been crowded together, the houses rising story upon story, so that a larger number might be accommodated. Tyre was enlarged and beautified by Hiram, and sustained sieges by Shalmaneser, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander (332 B.C.), and Antigonus. Under the Romans, Cleopatra received Tyre as a present from Antony; but the last trace of its independent existence was taken from it by Augustus. A Christian community was founded there at an early period. In St Jerome's time it was again the noblest and most beautiful city of Phœnicia, nay, one of the most prosperous and noble cities of the whole East. In the 7th century it came under the dominion of the Saracens, and so remained until taken by the Crusaders, who defended it till 1291. Soon after it was destroyed by the Moslems; a visitor in 1355 found it a mass of ruins. From the settlement of the Metaweleh or Persian schismatics, in 1766, the town began to be rebuilt. About 5000 inhabitants now dwell among the ruins of its ancient glory, finding scanty livelihood in its insignificant exports. Here Origen and the bones of Frederick Barbarossa are buried.