The Biblical Cities Of Tyre And Sidon The Biblical Cities Of Tyre And Sidon Non-Technical - Jan 26, 2010 - by Gary Byers MA Share/recommend this article: Excerpt The names Tyre and Sidon were famous in the ancient Near East. They are also important cities in the Old and New Testaments. Both are now located in Lebanon, with Tyre 20 mi south of Sidon and only 12 mi north of the Israel-Lebanon border. Today each is just a shadow of their former selves... Continue reading Explore Related Articles Gemstone depicting Alexander the Great found at Tel Dor Excavations in Tel Dor have turned up a rare and unexpected work of Hellenistic art: a precious ston... Ezekiel 26:1-14: A Proof Text For Inerrancy or Fallibility of The Old Testament? This article seeks to give Ezekiel 26:1–14 a close reading. Special emphasis will be given to its li... The Tyrian Shekel and the Temple of Jerusalem Every year, a Jewish man, 20 years old and older, paid a voluntary half shekel Temple tax to the Jer...

Tags Support Like this artice? Our Ministry relies on the generosity of people like you. Every small donation helps us develop and publish great articles. Please support ABR! This article was first published in the Fall 2002 issue of Bible and Spade. The names Tyre and Sidon were famous in the ancient Near East. They are also important cities in the Old and New Testaments. Both are now located in Lebanon, with Tyre 20 mi south of Sidon and only 12 mi north of the Israel-Lebanon border. Today each is just a shadow of their former selves. Sidon, called Saida today (Arabic for “fishing”), was named after the firstborn son of Canaan (Gn 10:15) and probably settled by his descendants. The northern border of ancient Canaan extended to Sidon (Gn 10:19). Later, Jacob spoke of it as the boundary of Zebulun (Gn 49:13) and Joshua included it as part of the land promised to Israel (Jos 13:6).

Sidon was included in the inheritance of Asher, on its northern boundary (Jos 19:28), but it was not taken by that tribe in conquest (Jgs 1:31, 3:3). Settled from the beginning as a port city, Sidon was built on a promontory with a nearby offshore island that sheltered the harbor from storms. Twenty mi south of Sidon, in the middle of a coastal plain, Tyre (called Sour in Arabic today) was constructed on a rock island a few hundred yards out into the Mediterranean (Ward 1997:247). In fact, the city took its name from this rock island. Tyre comes from the Semetic sr (Hebrew Sor, Arabic Sur, Babylonian Surru, Egyptian Dr,) meaning rock. The port of ancient Sidon is believed to have been located in this area. The Sea Castle in the harbor today was originally built as a Crusader fort to protect the harbor. It is believed the Castle sits over the site of the Phoenician temple to Melkart.

Michael Luddeni Located at the foot of some of the Lebanese mountain’s southwestern ridges and near the gorge of the ancient Leontes River (the modern Litani), the rich and well-watered plain became the fortified island’s primary source or food, water, wood and other living essentials. Apparently the island was fortified first and called Tyre, while the coastal city directly opposite was settled later. It was originally called Ushu in cuneiform texts (Ward 1997:247) and later Palaetyrus (“old Tyre”) in Greek texts (Jidejian 1996:19). The Canaanites Historical and archaeological evidence indicate both cities were settled by the early second millennium BC and were important seaports long before the Israelites settled in Canaan. Yet, while Sidon was mentioned many times during the Canaanite and early Israelite periods in the Bible, Tyre first appeared as part of Asher’s western boundary (Jos 19:29). Specifically called a “fortified city” in this passage, it was noted as a significant landmark.

Tyre does not appear again in the Bible until Hiram, king of Tyre, sends cedar, carpenters, and masons to build David’s house (2 Sm 5:11). While both cities are mentioned in a number of second millennium BC extra-Biblical documents, the most interesting accounts come from the Amarna Letters. Actual letters from the kings of both cities were found among the Amarna Letters (ca. 1350 BC). Zimrida, king of Sidon wrote one (EA [El Amarna] 144, ) or maybe two (EA 145) of the Amarna Letters. Abi-Milki, king of Tyre, sent ten letters to the Egyptian Pharaoh (EA 146–155). This murex shell was fished out of the Mediterranean Sea by a local fisherman and given to ABR director Dr. Bryant Wood when he visited Tyre. Still found in the Mediterranean today, the ancients collected thousands of these mollusks to produce just one ounce of purple dye. It was such a costly process that purple clothing was considered a symbol of wealth and royalty.

Michael Luddeni Although the dates of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are still in dispute, only Sidon and Sidonians are mentioned (17 times: Iliad 6.290–91; 23.743-44; Odyssey 4.83, 84, 618; 13.272, 285; 14.288, 291; 15.118, 415, 417, 419, 425, 473). Yet the failure to mention either Tyre or Tyrians may not be significant. At least some of Homer’s usage appears to relate the term Sidonian with Phoenicians in general (see also 1 Kgs 5:6; Jidejian 1996:60). It would seem that during the second millennium BC, Sidon was the pre-eminent of the two port cities. It also appears, during the first millennium BC, that Tyre eclipsed Sidon.

The Phoenicians While Tyre and Sidon were considered Canaanite during the second millennium BC, scholars call the Lebanese coast after the time of the Israelite Conquest of Canaan, Phoenecia. “Phoenicia” was the name given to the region by the Greeks, from their word for purple. The ancient world’s purple dye industry developed from extracting a fluid from a Mediterranean mollusk, the murex. Not only did the people of the Phoenician coast develop this industry, they specialized in shipping this very valuable commodity all over the Mediterranean world. Beginning with David, the Tyrian connection became prominent. Hiram, king of Tyre, offered cedar trees, carpenters and masons to build David’s palace (2 Sm 5:11). To what extent cedars were used in David’s house is unclear, but David did consider his abode to be a palace of cedar (2 Sm 7:2), and God seemed to agree (2 Sm 7:7). Later David utilized the help of Sidonians and Tyrians to provide cedar trees for the Temple (1 Chr 22:4).

Hiram also offered to bring cedars down from the mountains and float them down the Mediterranean coast to Joppa for Solomon’s royal construction projects (1 Kgs 5:8–11; 2 Chr 2:16), which included both his palace and the Temple. Interestingly, while Hiram continued to be the dominant Lebanese contact, Solomon spoke of the woodworking skills of the Sidonians (possibly just a generic term for Phoenicians?) and builders from Gebal, known by the Greeks as Byblos (1 Kgs 5:18). Ethbaal was the father of Jezebel and king of Sidon (1 Kgs 16:31). Many scholars follow Josephus (Against Apion 1.121-24; Antiquities 8), who was quoting Menander, and identify Ethbaal with Ithbaal (Hebrew “Man of Baal”), priest of Astarte who killed the king of Tyre and seized the throne (Jidejian 1996:73, 306). In fact, during many periods, the king of one city seemed to be considered king of the other city by outsiders.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Tyre for 13 years (585–572 BC), but the precise historical facts of its outcome are still unclear. He evidently did not conquer the city, but it may have surrendered conditionally to him. Both Jeremiah (27:3–11) and Ezekiel (26:7–14) spoke of this event. Apparently both Tyre and Sidon surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, based on a fragmentary Babylonian administrative document which mentions the kings of Tyre and Sidon as receiving rations from the royal Babylonian household (Pritchard 1969a: 308). In the days of Ezra and Zerubbabel, the Jews returning from captivity also sent to the men of Sidon and Tyre for cedars to build the Second Temple. Again cedars were floated from Lebanon along the Mediterranean coast to Joppa, where they could be brought overland to Jerusalem (Ezr 3:7). The golden age of Sidon was still to come.

Beyond its prominence in the second millennium BC, Sidon’s greatest days did not come until after the days of Nebuchadnezzar. The port city reached its peak of power through its worldwide trade in the murex dye and glass industries. At the same time, it continued to be among the eastern Mediterranean’s leaders in shipbuilding and shipping. Alexander the Great While Tyre seemed to withstand Nebuchadnezzar, it was not prepared for Alexander 250 years later. Although every Phoenician city to the north, including Sidon, welcomed Alexander, Tyre would only agree to surrender nominally to him. They would not allow him entrance to the city, which was exactly what Alexander intended to do. Not be denied, after only a seven-month siege of the island city, he did what no one else had ever considered possible. Utilizing stones, timber, dirt and debris from the mainland, Alexander constructed a causeway out into the Mediterranean. At last he reached the island, breached the city wall and slew or put into slavery the defiant Tyrians. An amazing feat, Tyre was changed forever. The city of Tyre was originally an island which Alexander the Great later joined to the mainland by a causeway.

In time the causeway was enlarged by rubble and sand deposits washed up by waves. This 1873 map shows Tyre as it was in 322 BC, and later as a peninsula stretching out into the Mediterranean Sea. Evidence of Tyre’s ancient harbors can still be seen on the peninsula’s north and south sides. Ezekiel referred to this event long before it happened. While also mentioning that God would send Nebuchadnezzar against the city (Ez 26:7), he spoke of the LORD’s promise to destroy Tyre, scrape her dust from her, make her smooth like the top of a rock and a good place for spreading out nets to dry (Ez 26:4, 14). Ezekiel also pointed out that Tyre’s world-wide trade would cease with this event (Ez 27 and 28). Illustrating Ezekiel’s description of Tyre’s destruction, Jidejian (1996:13–14) noted that over the past three centuries, Tyre has served as a “quarry” for the whole coast.

Her stones may be found as far away as Beirut (40 mi north) and Akko (25 mi south in Israel). Ezekiel also prophesied of God’s judgment against Sidon (Ez 28:20–24). God promised pestilence, blood in her streets and death by sword (Ez 28:23). Sidon incurred the wrath of the Persian King Artaxerxes who beat the city into submission. This may have been the event Ezekiel described. The New Testament Period By virtue of its submission to Alexander, Sidon under the Greeks enjoyed relative freedom and an advanced cultural life. In the early days of the Roman Empire, Sidon even had enough autonomy to have its own senate and mint its own coins. Unfortunately for archaeologists, the area of ancient Sidon remains occupied today and only minimal archaeological evidence for New Testament Sidon is available. Meanwhile, Tyre also recovered from Alexander’s devastation. In 126 BC, now a peninsula extending into the Mediterranean, Tyre became a Roman province and later the capital of Rome’s Syria-Phoenician province. The site of the ancient mainland city became a large and ornate Roman necropolis.

Here also was built a typical Roman hippodrome, the best preserved in the world today. An east-west colonnaded street, a huge triple-bay triumphal arch and a water aqueduct also extended from this area toward the sea. On the island of Tyre, near the site of the ancient Egyptian (southern) port today sits impressive ruins from the Roman and Byzantine periods. These include a western extension of the colonnaded street from the mainland site, the agora (market place), an unusual arena, and a huge bathhouse. Thus, New Testament Tyre and Sidon were prosperous Roman port cities. Yet there was great spiritual hunger in the region. Early in Jesus’ ministry, people from Sidon and Tyre heard about the things He did. They came to see Him (Mk 3:8) and be healed by Him (Lu 6:17). Later in His ministry, Jesus visited the region of Sidon and Tyre. There He healed the Canaanite (Syrophoenician) woman’s daughter (Mt 15:21–28; Mk 7:24–31).

This was the same area where God sent Elijah when the widow fed him (1 Kgs 17:9). Elijah’s visit was to the port city of Zaraphath (Serepta to the Greeks and modern Sarafand), almost mid-way between Sidon and Tyre. Both these Old and New Testament visits to the region may be a reminder that the Promised Land extended as far north as Sidon. While full of non- Israelites, it was still part of Israel’s inheritance. Jesus pronounced judgment on Chorazin and Bethsaida suggesting that if the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon had experienced what Chorazin and Bethsaida did, they would have long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes (Mt 11:21–24). The inhabitants of Sidon and Tyre offended Herod Agrippa I and came to visit him at Jerusalem. While both were significant Roman cities on the eastern Mediterranean, their leaders felt the need to keep in Herod’s favor. This visit was the occasion of Herod’s death at God’s hand (Acts 12:20–23). When Paul returned to Palestine from his third missionary journey, he sailed into Tyre.

He met with a group of disciples there and spent seven days in the city (Acts 21:3–7). He probably walked the colonnaded street, passing the hippodrome. After his arrest in Jerusalem and imprisonment in Caesarea, Paul was taken as a prisoner to Rome. From Caesarea his ship stopped at Sidon and Paul was allowed to meet with a group of disciples in that city (Acts 27:3). Sidon and Tyre Today Sidon was the scene of heavy fighting during Lebanon’s civil war and it’s situation only deteriorated during the subsequent 22-year Israeli occupation. Even today, there is only one hotel and few restaurants for tourists. With numerous hammams (Turkish baths), souqs (markets) and mosques, it feels like an old world city. There is little industry and the port services only a minimal number of local fishing vessels. Unfortunately, because the ancient port area has continued to be inhabited over the millennia, there is little archaeological evidence or Bronze and Iron Age Sidon. Ruins of the Castle of St. Louis on a hill south of the port are believed to sit over the ancient acropolis.

Just south of the castle is Murex Hill, once ancient Sidon’s garbage dump. The mound was formed by tens of thousands of crushed murex shells from the city’s famed purple dye industry. Today Tyre is a depressed city that suffered greatly during Lebanon’s civil war and Israel’s subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon. The modern isthmus that joins the island to the mainland holds streets of houses and shops. There is a picturesque fishing harbor on the north side of the isthmus, adjoining a lively souq. The administrative center for a number of nearby villages and towns, Tyre has a number of unplanned squatter settlements. As important as any industry to modern Tyre are the Greek and Roman archaeological remains which cover the ancient mainland city of Palaetyrus, the accumulated isthmus and the island city. The hippodrome at Tyre is the best preserved in the world. Once seating 20,000 spectators, the course is 480m (525 yds) long. Primarily constructed for chariot races, as in the movie Ben Hur, the ends of this racing oval were marked by turning stones called metae which still sit in place.

The tight high-speed turns at the metae created the most exciting and dangerous part of the race, often leading to dramatic collisions and spills. Modern Tyrians use the hippodrome today as a jogging course. Michael Luddeni Our visit to Lebanon gave me a new appreciation of many Biblical passages. I never really considered the rich historical connections Tyre and Sidon had with Scripture. Outside of modern Israel, it is easy to forget that God specifically mentioned these cities as part of the Promised Land. Even in the New Testament, Jesus and Paul took the time to minister to the people of these cities. Not Israelite by population and pagan by religious practice, God continued to bring to them a witness of His love and power. Bibliography Map of the Eastern Mediterranean Coast with the City of Tyre · The Walters Art Museum · Works of Art Map of the Eastern Mediterranean Coast with the City of Tyre Description Provenance Credit Description This folio from Walters manuscript W.658 contains a map of the eastern Mediterranean coast with the city of Tyre (Sur) (Lebanon).

Provenance Ahmad Afandi [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [see folio 4a]; Ali Afandi [date and mode of acquisiton unknown] [see folio 4a]; Sayyid Ali Qapudan [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [see folio 1a]; Sultan Mahmud Khan [date and mode of acquistion unknown] [waqf seal and followed by a bequest statement (now erased), and the seal of the inspector of wakfs, Mustafá Tahir, see folio 4a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest. Credit Acquired by Henry Walters Assyrian empire builders - Tyre and the other Phoenician city-states Home » Essentials » Countries » Phoenicians Tyre and the other Phoenician city-states Assyria had a long tradition of maintaining economic contacts with the Phoenician city-states but its westward expansion resulted in increasingly closer relations: while Tyre in particular benefited from Assyria's protection and preferential treatment, the representatives of the Assyrian Empire did not hesitate to intervene directly in its affairs when they saw fit.

This detail from one of the bronze bands holding together the leaves of the monumental door leading into the temple of the dream-god Mamu at Imgur-Ellil (modern Balawat) shows the king and queen of Tyre at the shore of their island city seeing off boats with tribute and gifts for Shalmaneser III of Assyria (858-824 BC). Our photo shows only the end of the long line of Tyrian diplomats and tribute-bearers approaching the Assyrian ruler; the goods these men are carrying are copper bars of the typical ox-hide shape which Tyre imported from Cyprus . Photo from L. W. King, Bronze reliefs from the gate of Shalmaneser king of Assyria, London 1915, pl. XIII. View large image . Cultural continuity on the Lebanese coast The great migrations of the 12th century BC changed the population profile of the Middle East, and new groups of peoples such as the Aramaeans, the Philistines and the Phrygians appear in the historical record. Yet we can observe a remarkable continuity in the area of what is today the Lebanese coast.

This narrow strip of land between the sea and the impressive Lebanon mountain range accommodated some of the most important harbours of the eastern Mediterranean, namely Sidon, Byblos and the two island cities of Tyre and Arwad (off the Syrian coast near Tartus), where the Canaanite culture of the Bronze Age continued to flourish. As in the second millennium BC, all these cities were active in maritime trade. They were politically independent, each with its own government headed by a king. They all pursued their own political and especially economic interests but they shared a language and a culture: the Greeks certainly saw them as one people and called them the Phoenicians (Greek Phoinix, pl. Phoinikes). The colour purple and the cedars of Lebanon A cedar in the Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve which accounts for a quarter of the remaining cedar forests in Lebanon. Photo from . While the term Phoinix may ultimately be a loanword derived from Egyptian, it was seen as intimately linked to the identical Greek word used for both the murex snail and the colour purple, extracted from that creature's glandular mucus.

The manufacture of purple dye was a closely guarded Phoenician trade secret, and textiles dyed with it belonged to the most sought-after luxuries among the many precious goods in which the Phoenician merchants traded. The Assyrian court, where purple garments served as a sign of royal recognition , was one of their most important clients. Murex snails were not the only resource that made the Lebanese coast an excellent environment for industry and trade. In antiquity, the Lebanon range was still covered by extensive cedar forests of which only small remnants survive today. Growing up to 40 metres tall and with a very straight trunk, the timber of these cedars was in great demand all over the Middle East as building material: the grandest halls of the Assyrian palaces and temples could only be built by using cedars as roof beams. On the Lebanese coast itself, the timber was used to build the seagoing ships which the Phoenicians used to traverse the Mediterranean Sea and, at least from the 6th century BC onwards, also to sail the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (the latter via the Red Sea).

Collaborating with Assyria, colonising the Mediterranean One of a series of reliefs from the northwest façade of court VIII of Sargon's palace at Dur-Šarruken (modern Khorsabad), showing Phoenician boats with their characteristic horse-head sternposts transporting cedar logs off the coast of Lebanon. Louvre, AO 19889. Drawing from P.-É. Botta and E. Flandin, Monument de Ninive, vol. 1, Paris 1849, pl. 33. View large image . From the 9th century BC, the Phoenician city-states founded permanent settlements beyond the Lebanese coast. The first of these was at Kition on the island of Cyprus where Tyre established a formal colony in order to control the export of the rich Cypriote copper deposits and to cut off their Phoenician competitors who, like Tyre, had pursued their commercial interests on Cyprus for at least the previous two centuries. The Tyrian settlement was surrounded by a network of small city-states under the rule of local kings, whom the king of Tyre considered his vassals.

Foundations in northern Africa (most famously Carthage, "the New City"), Sicily, Sardinia and Spain followed. Tyre can certainly be seen as the motor of the westward expansion, and this close ally of Assyria benefited from the treaties between the two states which guaranteed Tyre privileged access to all harbours under Assyrian control and gave it an invaluable advantage over its competitors, including the other Phoenician states. One of these treaties survives in the original, albeit in a very fragmentary state ( SAA 2 5 [ and from this document drawn up between Esarhaddon of Assyria (681-669 BC) and Ba'alu of Tyre we learn that this privilege came at the price of admitting the Assyrian ambassador (qēpu) to all Tyrian bodies of political decision-making. Detailed photo of the same relief. Note the discrepancies between the drawing and the original, such as the missing sea turtle between the two facing ships. Louvre, AO 19889; photo by Karen Radner. For the entire scene see the Louvre's website . View large image .

Such an arrangement was already in place during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC), as shown by some letters from the king's correspondence with the governor of Ṣimirra, the Assyrian province bordering on the territory of Tyre (NL 13 = SAA 19 23 , NL 21 = SAA 19 24 ). Another letter (NL 12 = SAA 19 22 ) highlights that the Assyrians monitored and taxed Tyre's and Sidon's trade and controlled access to the Lebanon wood supplies, outlawing any timber deliveries to the Philistines and the Egyptians: while Assyria's relations with these regions were not yet openly hostile, neither had they formally accepted Assyrian sovereignty at that time, and this course of action was designed to make them suffer the consequences. In exchange for accepting Assyrian interference, Tyre and the other allied Phoenician city-states were in a position to ask their overlord to support them against their enemies.

Hence, Sargon II (721-705 BC) provided troops to Tyre in 715 BC in order to fend off Ionian pirates who were threatening its maritime network, and again in 709 or 708 BC in order to regain control over its local vassal rulers on Cyprus . These troops were shipped aboard the Tyrian fleet, as Assyria did not maintain a navy of its own. But these first experiences of naval warfare clearly left a lasting impression and the use of Phoenician ships in the wars in the marshes of southern Babylonia during the reign of Sennacherib (704-681 BC) can be seen as their direct result. The Phoenician alphabet Their trade networks made the Phoenicians rich but also enabled cultural exchange and transfer between East and West in an unprecedented way: the most significant was the spread of the alphabetic script which was adopted all over the Mediterranean.

The left-hand side of this slave sale document from Nineveh (dated 636 BC), which is otherwise written in the Neo-Assyrian language and cuneiform script, bears a brief incised inscription in the Aramaic language and alphabetic script which summarises the document's content as "deed of Arbail-šarrat" (the name of the woman sold). The tablet is a testament to the co-existence in the Assyrian Empire of the alphabetic script and the traditional cuneiform writing systems. British Museum, K. 309A; photo by Karen Radner. Edition: SAA 14 29 . View large image . The Phoenician alphabet is a writing system consisting of only 22 signs representing exactly one sound (phoneme) each. The term "alphabet" derives from the names of the first two signs in the sequence, aleph ("cattle") and beit ("house"): these names also reflect the letters' shapes, each derived from the picture of an object whose name starts with the relevant sound. The alphabetic script is simple enough to learn quickly, without the years of dedicated training required to master writing systems such as cuneiform or Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Specialised schooling was unnecessary, and literacy was therefore disengaged from the institutional context of palaces and temples where the traditional scripts continued to be used. The alphabet suited the needs of long-distance merchants who needed to be able to record their business affairs on the go and who, for reasons of confidentiality and money, often preferred to write themselves rather than employ a specialist scribe. As the script could easily be used to record any language, it was, in the course of the first millennium BC, adapted for Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Phrygian, Lydian, Etruscan and Latin, to name but a few. Further reading: Tyre Phoenician Tyre was queen of the seas, an island city of unprecedented splendor. She grew wealthy from her far-reaching colonies and her industries of purple-dyed textiles. But she also attracted the attention of jealous conquerors among them the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great. Five Millennia of History Founded at the start of the third millennium B.C., Tyre originally consisted of a mainland settlement and a modest island city that lay a short distance off shore. But it was not until the first millennium B.C.

that the city experienced its golden age. In the 10th century B.C. Hiram, King of Tyre, joined two islets by landfill. Later he extended the city further by reclaiming a considerable area from the sea. Phoenician expansion began about 815 B.C. when traders from Tyre founded Carthage in North Africa. Eventually its colonies spread around the Mediterranean and Atlantic, bringing to the city a flourishing maritime trade. But prosperity and power make their own enemies. Early in the sixth century B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, laid siege to the walled city for thirteen years. Tyre stood firm, but it was probable that at this time the residents of the mainland city abandoned it for the safety of the island. In 332 B.C. Alexander the Great set out to conquer this strategic coastal base in the war between the Greeks and the Persians.Unable to storm the city, he blockaded Tyre for seven months. Again Tyre held on. But the conqueror used the debris of the abandoned mainland city to build a causeway and once within reach of the city walls, Alexander used his siege engines to batter and finally breach the fortifications.

It is said that The public baths Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defense and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. The town's 30,000 residents were massacred or sold into slavery. Tyre and the whole of ancient Syria fell under Roman rule in 64 B.C.. Nonetheless, for some time Tyre continued to mint its own silver coins. The Romans built great important monuments in the city, including an aqueduct, a triumphal arch and the largest hippodrome in antiquity. Christianity figures in the history of Tyre, whose name is mentioned in the new testament. During the Byzantine era, the Archbishop of Tyre was the primate of all the bishops of Phoenicia. At this time the town witnessed a second golden age as can be seen from the remains of its buildings and the inscriptions in the necropolis. Taken by the Islamic armies in 634, the city offered no resistance and continued to prosper under its new rulers, exporting sugar as well as objects made of pearl and glass.

With the decline of the Abbasid caliphate, Tyre acquired some independence under the dynasty of Banu 'Aqil, vassals of the Egyptian Fatimides. This was a time when Tyre was adorned with fountains and its bazaars were full of all kinds of merchandise, including carpets and jewerly of gold and silver. Thanks to Tyre's strong fortifications it was able to resist to onslaught of the Crusaders until 1124. After about 180 years of Crusader rule, the Mamlukes retook the city in 1291, then it passed on to the Ottomans at the start of the 16th century. With the end of the World War I Tyre was integrated into the new nation of Lebanon. View of Tyre (19th century engraving) Archeological Tyre For a period of nearly 50 years the General Directorate of Antiquities excavated in and around Tyre, concentrating on the three major Roman archaeological sites in the town, which can be seen today. The most important recent archaeological find in a Phoenician cemetery from the first millennium B.C.

Discovered in 1991 during clandestine excavations, this is the first cemetery of its kind found in Lebanon. Funerary jars, inscribed steles and jewelry were among the objects retrieved from the site. The importance of this historical city and its monuments was highlighted in 1979 when UNESCO declared Tyre a world Heritage Site. In the meantime, government efforts have stopped much of the wartime pillaging that Tyre's archaeological treasures have suffered because of economic stress in the area and international demand for antiquities. Grassroots campaigns have also drawn attention to the importance of the city's antiquities. Project MUSE - The Crusader City of Tyre: A Rich Archaeological Heritage The Crusader City of Tyre A Rich Archaeological Heritage Patricia Antaki-Masson (bio) ABSTRACT The Lebanese coastal town of Tyre was a major Frankish Levantine city. Until recently, the archaeological evidence of this period was neglected in favor of the more impressive Roman and Byzantine monumental ruins. This article attempts to fill this gap by exploring, in light of recent studies, Crusader architectural remains, mainly defensive and religious structures, that are still standing today.

KEYWORDS Tyre, Lebanon, Crusader topography, Crusader church, medieval fortifications, Crusader castle On July 7, AD 1124, 25 years after the conquest of Jerusalem, the Crusader army victoriously entered the coastal town of Tyre after a five-month blockade. The city thus became part of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and remained so until it fell into Mamluk hands in AD 1291. The city was then demolished by the ruling sultan and progressively abandoned until a modest revival during the Ottoman period in the middle of the eighteenth century AD. The continuous Frankish settlement of Tyre, which spanned almost two centuries, undoubtedly marked the urban landscape. Since the city witnessed neither a significant rebuilding program nor any substantial destruction since the Ottoman period, some of the remains dating to the Crusader period have—luckily— been preserved, while others still lie beneath the present Ottoman Old Town.

Historical studies relying on a rich contemporaneous literature have unveiled parts of the layout and topography of the city ( Chéhab 1979 ; Pringle 2009: 177–82 ; Mack 2007 ; Antaki-Masson 2011 ), but only a handful of ruins survive today, standing as a testament to this flourishing medieval period. 1 A Well-Fortified Town Even though the Crusaders inherited an already well-defended Arab city upon their arrival in Tyre, they still strengthened its fortifications further. In fact, Tyre was renowned as one of the best fortified Crusader cities in the Levant ( Antaki-Masson 2010 ). According to one famous eyewitness, archbishop and historian William of Tyre, it was the “… boulevard de tout le pays, et les forces d’aucune autre place ne pouvaient être comparées aux siennes” (“[It was regarded as] a matchless bulwark, an incomparable tower of strength, without an equal in the entire region”) ( William of Tyre 1943: XIII, 5 ).

[End Page 1] This is clearly the reason why it was the only city in the Kingdom of Jerusalem not to fall to the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in AD 1187. Its impregnable defenses allowed the Frankish armies to regroup within its walls and prepare for the deliverance of the nearby city of Acre, after which the Crusaders were able to remain in the Holy Land for another century. Tyre’s defenses consisted primarily of a wall surrounding the peninsular city on its four sides ( Fig. 1 ). The east front, which protected the sole land access to the city, was the best fortified. It ran across the entire 500 m-wide sandy artificial isthmus (the original causeway built by Alexander the Great in 332 BC in order to capture the island of Tyre) and was made of three concentric walls, totaling 150 m in width. These precincts were further strengthened by several 20–25 m-high towers, 12 altogether according to the pilgrim Burchard of Mount Sion (1864: 25). One of these towers still stands on the northern side on a slightly elevated hill ( Fig.

2 ). It has been known since the nineteenth century AD as the ‘Ain Hiram Tower, after the most famous Phoenician king of Tyre. It shelters a water source, as mentioned by the Andalusian geographer Ibn Jubayr in the twelfth century AD (1884: 456), which was still in use until the twentieth century AD. The rectangular tower measures 15 by 12 by 10 m. It has two stories connected by a staircase and was originally covered on the upper floor with an ogival vault. It has two doorways, one of which was defended by a murder hole (assommoir). The openings in the walls are arrow slits. The walls are about 1.5 m thick, and the masonry is made of irregular limestone blocks integrating spolia, suggesting that the building was constructed in several phases. Click for larger view Fig. 1. A map of Crusader Tyre with the location of surviving monuments. (Map by P.

Antaki-Masson .) At the other end of the isthmus stands the Algerian or Maghrebi Tower, which was still visible during the nineteenth century AD but disappeared until it was rediscovered in 2009 ( Fig. 3 ). Excavations carried out by the Directorate General of Antiquities have uncovered the outer 2 m-wide facing of a 7 m-long-by-4 m-high wall. It is made of large rusticated sandstone (ramleh) ashlar stones with drafted margins, some of which still bear the Crusader masons’ marks ( Fig. 4 ). Another tower, now gone, was recorded in the 1930s by the French Jesuit archaeologist Antoine Poidebard on the southern seashore (1939: pl. XVII). It apparently was square-shaped with 8 m sides and solidly built walls, which incorporated Roman columns used as horizontal reinforcements.

According to historical sources, two other towers, the [End Page 2] Green Tower and the Tanners’ Tower (so called because it was located in the tanning industrial area [see below]), flanked the well-fortified gateway to the Sidonian Entrance, which was made up of four to five doors and located (most probably) on the northern side. These eastern enclosure walls were additionally defended by large deep ditches. Click for larger view Fig. 2. The ‘Ain Hiram Tower, from the southwest. (Photo by K.-P. Habet.) The other three sides of the peninsula are surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, which forms a natural defensive front, and were fortified with a double precinct also strengthened by several towers. According to the written descriptions and maps of nineteenth-century explorers, there were at least nine of them on the western front and six on the southern one ( Bertou 1843: pl. 1 ; Conder and Kitchener 1881: 72 ). On the northern seaside front, a piece of monumental masonry still stands today—probably from antiquity—as well as the Mubarakah Tower (Blessed Tower), which was recently restored ( Fig. 5 ).

Tis tower is located at the northeastern-most corner of the original northern precinct. Square in shape, its sides measure 8 m, and it stands at a height of 7 m. Its two stories were originally covered with a groin vault. The upper one still contains arched niches with arrow-slit openings to provide surveillance over the northern maritime front. Tyre’s renowned fortress, the masterpiece of its defensive system, was also the symbol of the lord’s power. [End Page 3] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 4. An example of a mason’s mark on the west façade of the Crusader cathedral. (Photo by P. Antaki-Masson .) [End Page 4] Mentioned by Eugène de Rozière (1894: 56–57, no. 30) and the twelfth-century chronicler Ernoul (1871: 179), sources from AD 1125 note the fortress, and later texts state that it was heavily destroyed by a massive earthquake in 1202.

This monument likely occupied the northeastern corner of the city, where a tiny portion of a 5 m-long wall as well as some scattered blocks—all made of large rusticated sandstone ashlars with drafted margins possibly belonging to the fortress—were found ( Fig. 6 ). Click for larger view The Mubarakah Tower as seen from the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo by P. Antaki-Masson .) A Well-Protected Harbor When the Crusaders settled in Tyre, the harbor—like the city precinct—had already been well defended since the seventh century AD by earlier Islamic dynasties. It appears from Frankish-period accounts and descriptions that the Crusaders continued its maintenance. The famous Jewish scholar and traveler Benjamin of Tudela expressed his admiration for it: “A port equal to this is met with nowhere upon earth” (1840: 63). Moreover, recent studies proved that it was—technically speaking—a better harbor than the one at Acre, which was considered to be the main port of the Crusader kingdom ( Gertwagen 1996 ). The interior basin was twice as large as it is today ( Marriner 2007: 259 ) and measured about 4 ha.

It was protected by two jetties, a northern and an eastern one, built with walls and towers, one of which was named after Saint Catherine. The northern jetty was recently excavated and revealed traces of two massive walls built with large ashlar blocks: the first wall is 13 m long and 4 m wide, and the second—probably a section of an original circular tower— is 25 m long and 9 m wide ( Noureddine and El-Hélou 2005: 114–21 ). A large number of granite columns were found scattered on the floor around these structures. The [End Page 5] entrance to the basin was well defended with two towers and an iron chain suspended between them to prevent unwelcomed boats. An outer harbor extended farther north and was bound by a line of reefs to the west, thus ensuring further protection for large boats. On the harbor shore, a protective wall was equipped with two entrances: a main one, Porta Magistra, and a secondary one, the Saint Peter. Furthermore, a butchers’ postern (Posterne de la Boucherie) seems to have existed on the oriental jetty.

Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 6. The sole remains of the northeast tower that might be part of the citadel. (Photo by P. Antaki-Masson .) A Diversity of Quarters The Tyrian population, estimated at around 10,000 residents, 2 was very diversified. It included, on the one hand, the native inhabitants among whom were Muslims, Christians, and Jews and, on the other, the Franks, divided into nobles and burgesses. Among this second group were a great number of Italians, mainly Venetians, Genoese, and Pisans, as well as Provençals from southern France. Numerous ecclesiastical communities also resided in the city in addition to members of the main military orders, namely the Hospitallers, the Templars, and the Teutonic knights. All of these groups occupied specific parts of the rather considerable peninsula area, which covered 43 ha.

Despite the lack of contemporaneous plans from the period and previous archaeological investigations, a thorough analysis of the site’s topography combined with the existence of a certain number of informative documents, chief among which is a Venetian report written in AD 1243 by the state representative Marsilio Zorzi ( Berggötz 1991 ), have allowed us to assign certain quarters of the city to some of these groups ( Mack 2007 ; Pringle 2009: 177–82 ; Antaki-Masson 2011: 230–41 ). Not surprisingly, it appears that there was a heavy concentration of people around the harbor—just as it would be later during the Ottoman period ( Fig. 7 ). The Venetians, who received one-third of the city (and of its hinterlands), were located to the south of the harbor and possessed properties around the cathedral. The Pisan neighborhood lay to the east of it. As for the Genoese, it appears they were present in the western part of the peninsula. Indigenous communities could be found in various [End Page 6] sections of the city.

Unfortunately, except for the assumption that these quarters lay beneath the present Ottoman Old City, no remains from the Crusader period have been found except for some medieval arches and decorative elements inserted into the masonry of modern dwellings. Click for larger view Fig. 7. The modern harbor of Tyre. (Photo by K.-P. Habet.) In addition to the extreme southern part of the peninsula (located south of the Venetian Quarter) being devoid of structures, many empty spaces were scattered around the city, occcupied by ruins, resulting from the aforementioned earthquake, gardens—particularly along the city walls—or public spaces (platea). Apart from the vast territory, which was part of the suzerainty of Tyre and comprised all of the surrounding villages, the area lying directly outside of the city walls was also exploited and extensively planted. It was called the Sabulone since it resulted from the accumulation of sand on the isthmus and is still discernible today under modern constructions where urban excavations took place.

One monumental feature ran across it—the aqueduct, originally Roman, which continued to bring water from the Ras el-‘Ain, the famous springs of Solomon, located on the coast, 15 km south of the city (see Kahwagi-Janho [pp. 15–35] in this issue). As for the network of roads, we can assume it roughly corresponds to the modern one, despite minor Ottoman-period alterations done. However, the road’s level was lower than the present surface by 2–3 m as can be observed in the Greek Catholic Cathedral of Saint Thomas, which was partially built over a Crusader church. One of the major thouroughfares which led into the city lies with certainty below Hamra Street, originally the Roman east–west decumanus maximus. Sacred Buildings of Crusader Tyre Some of the Crusader churches of Tyre reused older religious structures, but most were built ex nihilo. By the end of the twelfth century AD, the city boasted more than 24 churches belonging to the Italian communities, the several monastic orders present in the city, and the indigenous Christian communities. Of these sacred buildings, only three survive today.

[End Page 7] The Cathedral The principal church at Tyre was the cathedral since Tyre was a metropolitan see and the most important one within the patriarchate of Jerusalem, although with only four suffragan bishops subject to it ( Figs. 8 – 9 ). The cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Cross (“ecclesiam Sancte Crucis Tyrensem”), was erected some time during the second half of the twelfth century AD. During its existence, it hosted all types of events: bishops’ consecrations, royal weddings, and coronation ceremonies but also the excommunications and funerals of prominent figures. The site of the cathedral was first excavated in 1874 by a German expedition team in an unsuccessful search for the bones of Emperor Frederic I Barbarossa ( Sepp 1879 ) and later in the 1960s by the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities ( Chéhab 1969: 57–61 ). Currently, its remains consist of only foundations and lower stone courses, which are being studied by a Lebanese-French team ( Gatier et al. 2010 ).

The cathedral’s dimensions (70 by 41 m) make it the second-largest church of the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the Holy Sepulcher. It is a three-aisled basilica, divided into six bays and ending on the eastern end in three apses with a barrel vault covering the nave and groin vaults over the aisles. The projecting transepts that characterize it are a rare feature of Levantine churches of this period; they were also barrel-vaulted. The cathedral was entered via three doors placed on the western façade. Two secondary doors faced each other in the middle of the lateral walls. All five door thresholds consisted of reused antique granite columns. A cruciform baptismal font was found in the first bay of the southern side. Various masonry elements scattered on the site suggest that it was a richly decorated Romanesque church built of sandstone ashlars, some of which are incised with various masons’ marks ( Pringle 2001 ; Antaki-Masson 2011: 230–41 ).

The Church under the Cathedral of Saint Thomas Another church still standing today was discovered in 1971 beneath the nineteenth-century Greek Catholic Cathedral of Saint Thomas ( Bikai 1971 ; Pringle 2009: 227–29 ). It measures 20 by 15 m and is also a triapsidal basilica, initially roofed with three corresponding barrel vaults and divided into three bays ( Fig. 10 ). The eastern end is composed of a central apse flanked by two smaller ones, enclosed in a flat chevet (exterior wall chapel). Two entrances located in the western and northern sides lead inside the church. Masonry changes involving the erection of a new apse as well as alterations in the apse floors and altars indicate a subsequent construction phase. The Holy Savior Chapel Outside the town walls, “at a distance of two bowshots” ( Burchard of Mount Sion 1864: 25 ) as travelers have described it, an isolated chapel stood in a most unusual place—in the middle of the spina of the Roman-Byzantine hippodrome ( Fig.

11 ) ( Pringle 2004 ; Alpi and Antaki-Masson 2012 ). Originally dedicated to the Holy Savior, it was believed to contain the stone upon which Jesus sat as he spoke to his followers in Tyre. This object of pilgrimage may have been a column, the location of which is still visible in front of the apse ( Fig. 12 ). According to various contemporary accounts, the sacred stone was reportedly damaged by the Franks and the Venetians. This chapel, which still survives at a height of 2 m, measures 9 by 6 m, has a single aisle that was originally covered by a barrel vault ending with an east-facing apse. The base of the altar is still visible in front of the apse. A single doorway is found in the north wall. The most interesting features, however, are the graffiti, mostly in Latin, incised by the pilgrims on the plastered walls. These include some names and drawings such as crosses, shields, horses, and galleys ( Fig. 13 ).

Over the course of the thirteenth century AD, the church progressively disappeared below the sand dunes and survived only in memory until its rediscovery in the late 1950s. The Mosques and Synagogues The archaeological remains and textual sources for other religious buildings, such as mosques and synagogues, are scant. Although most of the mosques were converted into churches, Ibn Jubayr mentions several (1884: 454). The Jewish community was rather large and consisted of 400 families in the 1170s according to Benjamin of Tudela (1840: 63). Textual sources (e.g., Rabbi Jacob 1966: 126) state that this community had a rabbinical court and at least one important synagogue. Unfortunately, we know neither the names of the mosques and synagogues nor their location within the city. [End Page 8] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 10. Latest phase of the church underneath Saint Thomas (after Bikai 1971 and Pringle 2009 ). (Drawing by H.

Kahwagi-Janho.) Various Industrial Facilities Several industrial activities were carried out inside and outside of the city. Documents refer to local products such as honey and wax ( Berggötz 1991: 167,140 ). The production of bread and of highly sought-after sugar from Tyre necessitated the use of mills (maassara) to crush cereals and canes respectively. A number of them, mainly of the hydraulic type, operated particularly in the Ras el-‘Ain area, where a large one is still standing under the main pool ( Fig. 14 ). Other types of stone presses were used for the manufacture of olive oil and to a lesser extent for the making of a type of beer (vino cervese). Bread baking required the use of ovens, which were at that time public and communal. These were scattered throughout the different quarters of the city. A tanning industry (which gave its name to a nearby tower [see above]) was likely located on the north shore, outside but close to the city walls. It was a necessary activity, but it required a large open area away from residential quarters because it polluted water and created noxious odors.

3 Tyrian textile manufacture was celebrated by Muslim geographer Al-Idrīsī ( Le Strange 1890: 344 ). The Tyrian purple-red dye industry 4 continued into the medieval period in one of the major city markets (fondaci), where a soap workshop is also known to have existed. Another famous traditional Tyrian industry was the manufacture of glass, the famous vitrum Tyrus as it was called. 5 An industrial complex that produced raw glass in the tenth–twelfth centuries AD was found to the south of the cathedral ( Jennings et al. 2001 ). The other glass-making facilities consist of three working areas, each fitted with tank furnaces for melting raw glass, which must have produced a large amount of the green glass for which Tyre was famous. The glass manufacturing industry was carried out by the Jewish community as stated by Benjamin of Tudela (1840: 63). On top of the discovered glass furnaces, there is evidence for metal working—a circular construction which comprises several crucible bases was used likely for melting copper alloys.

Goldsmiths, manufacturing mainly liturgical objects for pilgrims, must have been numerous since a street (Ruga Auri Fabrorum) was named after the art. Not surprisingly, this street was established in the vicinity of the cathedral that was the focus of pilgrimage to Tyre. [End Page 10] Click for larger view Fig. 11. The Holy Savior Chapel in the middle of the antique hippodrome, looking south. (Photo by K.-P. Habet.) [End Page 11] A boat graffito incised on the wall of the Holy Savior Chapel. (Photo by P. Antaki-Masson .) [End Page 12] View full resolution Fig. 14. A surviving hydraulic water mill in Ras el-‘Ain area used to crush cereals and canes. (Photo P.

Antaki-Masson .) The Decline of Crusader Tyre: A Once Thriving Commercial City Other than the remains described above, all other vestiges of the prosperous medieval city of Tyre described in the texts, such as the fondaci, which was both a commercial and residential area; the sugar manufacturing area; the harbor market (catena); the qaysariya of musical instruments; the shops (stationes), among them the apothecaries selling drugs and spices; the cattle market (macella); the fishery (piscaria); the bread stalls at one of the harbor entrances; and the money exchanges (tabulas cambii) have disappeared. Sources tell us that due to its position as a coastal city within the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Tyre was a major commercial center. Benjamin of Tudela writes: “The city of New Tsour is very commercial, and one to which traders resort from all parts” (1840: 63). However, all of the surviving commercial (now deserted) caravanserais or khans located in the Old Town seem to have all been built in the Ottoman period ( Badawi 2004: 114–18 ).

Conclusion This examination of what does remain as a physical testament to Tyre’s significance under Frankish rule, together with the contemporaneous accounts, tells us that while the city was on the fringe of the main pilgrimage routes, it was still considered a remarkable city, [End Page 13] admirably fortified—a feature not to be underestimated during that period of turmoil. It was fitted with an excellent well-protected harbor and offered all kinds of services to both residents and visitors. The scant remnants of this glorious past bear witness to this flourishing period considered as the last important period that has marked—so far—the history of this celebrated antique city. Patricia Antaki-Masson patricia antaki-masson is a medieval archaeologist affiliated with Centre d’études supérieures de civilisation médiévale Laboratory of the University of Poitiers, France, and the Centre Louis Pouzet d’étude des civilisations anciennes et médiévales of Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. Her research interests are Lebanese medieval monuments and their material culture. (Centre d’Etudes Supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale Laboratory of the University of Poitiers, Bât.

E13, 24 Rue de la chaîne TSA 81118, 86073 Poitiers cedex 9, France; antakipatricia@gmail.com ) Notes 1. It is beyond the scope of this article to deal with the material culture, which includes mainly pottery, coins, seals, and epitaphs. 2. This figure must have fluctuated during the Crusaders’ presence in Tyre depending on political events. For example, in AD 1187, a large number of people from Jerusalem and nearby cities, who had managed to escape Saladin’s army, came to Tyre seeking refuge behind its walls. 3. A related industry was that of the butchers, which lay close to the tanning quarters. 4. For more on this industry, see Frangié (pp. 36–56) in this issue. 5. For more on Tyrian glass making, see Aldsworth et al. 2002 . References Aldsworth, F., G. Haggarty, S. Jennings, and D. Whitehouse. 2002. Medieval Glassmaking at Tyre, Lebanon.

Journal of Glass Studies 44:49–66. Alpi, F., and P. Antaki-Masson. 2012. La chapelle franque Saint-Sauveur. In L’histoire de Tyr au témoignage de l’archéologie: Actes du séminaire international, Tyr 2011, ed. A.-M. Maïla-Afeiche, 360–61. Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaise, horssérie 8. Beirut: Directorate General of Antiquities. Antaki-Masson, P. 2010. Les fortifications de Tyr à la lumière des sources médiévales. In Sources de l’histoire de Tyr: Textes de l’Antiquité et du Moyen Âge, ed. P.-L. Gatier, J. Aliquot, and L. Nordiguian, 179–200. Beirut: Presses de l’IFPO; Presses de l’Université Saint-Joseph. _______. 2011.

Tyr à l’époque des Croisades: Topographie urbaine d’une ville majeure de Terre sainte. PhD diss., University of Poitiers. Badawi, A. K. 2004. Tyre. 2nd edn. Lebanon: Al-Athar. Benjamin of Tudela. 1840. The Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, Vol.1. Translated and edited by A. Asher. London: Asher. Berggötz, O. 1991. Der Bericht des Marsilio Zorzi: Codex Querini-Stampalia IV3 (1064). Kieler Werkstücke, Reihe C, Beiträge zur europäischen Geschichte des frühen und hohen Mittelalters 2. Frankfurt am Main: Lang. Bertou, J. de. 1843. Essai sur la topographie de Tyr. Paris: Didot. Bikai, P. M. 1971. A New Crusader Church in Tyre. Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 24:83–90.

Burchard of Mount Sion. 1864. Descriptio Terra Sanctae. In Peregrinatores Medii Aevi Quatuor, ed. and trans. J. C. M. Laurent, 1–100. Leipzig: Hinrichs. Chéhab, M. 1969. Tyr: histoire, topographie, fouilles. Beirut: Librairie Antoine. _______. 1979. Tyr à l’époque des croisades. Part 2: Histoire sociale, économique et religieuse. Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 31–32. Conder, C. R., and H. H. Kitchener. 1881. The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography and Archæology, Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Ernoul. 1871. Chronique d’Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier. Edited by L. Mas-Latrie. Paris: Renouard. Gatier, P.-L., A.

Baud, A. Devillechaise, P. Ferreira, and C. Piaton. 2010. La cathédrale médiévale. Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaise 14:166–87. Gertwagen, R. 1996. The Crusader Port of Acre: Layout and Problems of Maintenance. In Autour de la première croisade: Actes du colloque de la Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (Clermont-Ferrand, 22–25 juin 1995), ed. M. Balard, 553–81. Paris: Sorbonne. Ibn Jubayr. 1884. Extrait du voyage d’Ibn Djobeïr. In Historiens orientaux. Vol. 3 of Recueil des historiens des croisades, 445–56. Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Jennings, S., F. Aldsworth, G. Haggarty, D. Whitehouse, and I. Freestone.

2001. The Glass-Making Area on the Island Site at Tyre, Southern Lebanon. Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaise 5:219–40. Le Strange, G., trans. 1890. Palestine under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. London: Watt for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Mack, M. 2007. The Italian Quarters of Frankish Tyre: Mapping a Medieval City. Journal of Medieval History 33:147–65. Marriner, N. 2007. Paléoenvironnements littoraux du Liban à l’Holocène: Géoarchéologie des ports antiques de Beyrouth, Sidon et Tyr; 5000 ans d’interactions nature-culture. 2 vols. PhD diss., University of Aix-Marseille I. Noureddine, I., and M. El-Hélou. 2005.

Tyre’s Ancient Harbor(s): Report of the 2001 Underwater Survey in Tyre’s Northern Harbor. In La mobilité des paysages portuaires antiques du Liban, by C. Morhange and M. Saghieh-Beydoun, 111–28. Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaise, hors-série 2. Beirut: Directorate General of Antiquities. Poidebard, A. 1939. Un grand port disparu, Tyr: Recherches aériennes et sous-marines 1934–1936. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 29. Paris: Geuthner. Pringle, D. 2001. The Crusader Cathedral of Tyre. Levant 33:165–88. _______. 2004. A Crusader Chapel in the Hippodrome of Tyre. Archaeology and History in Lebanon 20:2–8. ________. 2009. The Cities of Acre and Tyre with Addenda and Corrigenda to Volumes I–III.

Vol. 4 of The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rozière, E. de. 1894. Cartulaire de l’église du Saint-Sépulcre de Jérusalem. Paris: Imprimerie nationale. Sepp, J. N. 1879. Meerfahrt nach Tyrus zur Ausgrabung der Kathedrale mit Barbarossa’s Grab. Leipzig: Seemann. William of Tyre. 1943. A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. 2 vols. Translated by E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey. Records of Civilization, Sources and Studies 35. New York: Columbia University Press. [End Page 14] Copyright © 2016 The Pennsylvania State University

Question: In which Eastern Mediterranean country is the city of Tyre ?
Answer: LEBANON