Tyre

(ruins at Sur ). One of the greatest and most famous cities of the ancient world, stood on the coast of Phœnice, about 20 miles south of Sidon. The A yrian king Shalmanezer laid siege to Tyre for five years (713 B.C. ), but without succe . It was again besieged for thirteen years by Nebuchadnezzar, and there is a tradition that he took it (572 B.C. ), but the matter is not quite certain. At the period when the Greeks began to be well acquainted with the city, its old site had been abandoned, and a new city erected on a small island about half a mile from the shore, and a mile in length, and a little north of the remains of the former city, which was now called Old Tyre. In 322 B.C. the Tyrians refused to open their gates to Alexander, who laid siege to the city for seven months, and united the island on which it stood to the main land by a mole constructed chiefly of the ruins of Old Tyre. After its capture and sack by Alexander, Tyre never regained its former consequence. It recovered, however, sufficiently to be mentioned as a strong fortre and flourishing port under the early Roman emperors; it even took an active part (193) in the contest between Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, which, resulting in the succe of the former, brought back to it some of its ancient distinction. In St. Jerome’s time it was again one of the noblest and most prosperous 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. On February 11, 1124, the Christian army encamped before it, and on June 15 it fell into their hands. The strength of its fortifications, the splendor of its houses, and the excellence of its harbor, excited their admiration. On the evening of the day on which Acre was taken by the Mohammedans (May 19, 1291), Tyre was abandoned by the Crusaders, and the Saracens entered it the following morning. It was captured by the French, April 3, 1799; and by the allied fleet, during the war against Mehemet Ali, 1841.