In Lebanon, it’s never over for anyone. You cannot write off anyone or anything in this country. – Saad Hariri
28JUL13. Tyre, Lebanon.
Category: TYRE
TYRE, LEBANON: “JESUS VISITED”
It is stated in the Bible that Jesus visited the “coasts” of Tyre and Sidon and healed a Gentile (Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24) and from this region many came forth to hear him preaching (Mark 3:8; Gospel of Luke 6:17, Matthew 11:21–23). A congregation was founded here soon after the death of Saint Stephen, and Paul of Tarsus, on his return from his third missionary journey, spent a week in conversation with the disciples there. According to Irenaeus of Lyons in Adversus Haereses, the female companion of Simon Magus came from here.
After a first failed siege in 1111, it was captured by the Crusaders in 1124, becoming one of the most important cities of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was part of the royal domain, although there were also autonomous trading colonies there for the Italian merchant cities. The city was the site of the archbishop of Tyre, a suffragan of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; its archbishops often acceded to the Patriarchate. The most notable of the Latin archbishops was the historian William of Tyre.
After the reconquest of Acre by King Richard on July 12, 1191, the seat of the kingdom moved there, but coronations were held in Tyre. In the 13th century, Tyre was separated from the royal domain as a separate crusader lordship. In 1291, it was retaken by the Mameluks which then was followed by Ottoman rule before the modern state of Lebanon was declared in 1920. (wiki)
28JUL13. Tyre, Lebanon.
TYRE, LEBANON: “275o BC”
Tyre was founded around 2750 BC according to Herodotus and its name appears on monuments as early as 1300 BC. Philo of Byblos (in Eusebius) quotes the antiquarian authority Sanchuniathon as stating that it was first occupied by Hypsuranius. Sanchuniathon’s work is said to be dedicated to “Abibalus king of Berytus”—possibly the Abibaal who was king of Tyre.
There are ten Amarna letters dated 1350 BC from the mayor, Abimilku, written to Akenaten. The subject is often water, wood, and the Habiru overtaking the countryside, of the mainland, and how it affected the island-city. (wiki)
The first picture below features two U.N. peacekeepers from China. They were also sightseeing this day:
28JUL13. Tyre, Lebanon.
TYRE, LEBANON: “SAD-EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS”
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Tyre is also prominently featured in the Shakespeare play Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
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In nineteenth century Britain, Tyre was several times taken as an exemplar of the mortality of great power and status – both by John Ruskin in the opening lines of The Stones of Venice, and by Rudyard Kipling‘s “Recessional“. Oscar Wilde referred to Tyre in his poetry: “…my tyrian galley waits for thee, come down the purple sail is spread…” The children’s writer E. Nesbit devotes a chapter to Tyre in The Story of the Amulet.
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The third verse of Bob Dylan‘s Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands begins “The kings of Tyrus with their convict list / Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss” (wiki)
28JUL13. Tyre, Lebanon.
TYRE, LEBANON: “BIRTHPLACE OF DIDO”
Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city and the legendary birthplace of Europa and Elissa (Dido). Today it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon and houses one of the nation’s major ports. The city has a number of ancient sites, including its Roman Hippodrome which was added to UNESCO‘s list of World Heritage Sites in 1979. (wiki)
29JUL13. Tyre, Lebanon.
