city state · Anatolia and the Levant
Tyre
Origins
Tyre was built on an offshore island with a mainland suburb, giving it a nearly impregnable harbour. It was a vassal of the Egyptian Empire New Kingdom in the Amarna age under King Abimilki, and after the Late Bronze Age collapse it emerged in the 10th century BCE as the strongest Phoenician city.
Rule and society
Its kings, such as Hiram I, ally of Solomon of the United Kingdom of Israel, ruled a merchant state with the temple of Melqart at its heart. Tyre produced murex purple dye and glass, and its sailors founded colonies across the western Mediterranean, including Carthage, traditionally in 814 BCE.
Decline and legacy
Tyre paid tribute to the Assyrian Empire and survived a 13-year siege by Nebuchadnezzar II of the Chaldean Empire. Under the Achaemenid Empire it kept its kings. In 332 BCE Alexander of the Macedonian Empire built a causeway, stormed the island and sold its people into slavery.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (5)
- Tyre was a vassal of Egyptian Empire New Kingdom1450 BCE – 1150 BCE
- Tyre paid tribute to Assyrian Empire870 BCE – 640 BCE
- Tyre was a vassal of Chaldean Empire573 BCE – 539 BCE
- Tyre was a vassal of Achaemenid Empire539 BCE – 332 BCE
- Tyre was conquered by Macedonian Empire332 BCE
More states of Anatolia and the Levant →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Tyre. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tyre
- MLA
- “Tyre.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tyre. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Tyre.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tyre.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Tyre’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tyre (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻