The King of Tyre was the ruler of Tyre, the ancient Phoenician city in what is now Lebanon. The traditional list of 12 kings, with reigns dated to 990–785 BC, is derived from the lost history of Menander of Ephesus as quoted by Josephus in Against Apion I. 116–127.[1] Josephus asserts that Menander had drawn his list from the chronicles of Tyre itself.[2] Menander-Josephus also contains a list of 9 kings and judges, with reigns dated to 591–532 BC in Against Apion I. 154–160.[3]
| Agenor | c. 2050–1450 BC | Son of Poseidon or of Belus. Doric Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in Halicarnassus under the Achaemenid Empire, estimated in the Histories written at the end of the Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC) that Agenor had lived either 1000 or 1600 years prior to his visit to Tyre in 450 BC.[4] | |
| Phoenix | Son of Agenor. He is the alleged eponym of the Phoenicians. |
| Abi-Milku | c. 1350–1335 BC | Mayor/Ruler of Tyre during the period of the Amarna letters correspondence (1350–1335 BC) |
The dates for the reconstruction of Menander's Tyrian king list from Abibaal through Pygmalion are established in three places by three independent sources: a Biblical synchronism (Hiram's assistance to Solomon in building the Temple, from 967 BC onwards), an Assyrian record (tribute of Baal-Eser II/Balazeros II to Shalmaneser III in 841 BC), and a Roman historian (Pompeius Trogus, who placed the founding of Carthage or Dido's flight from her brother Pygmalion in the latter's seventh year of reign, in 825 BC, 72 years before the founding of Rome).[5]
| Abibaal | 993–981 BC | His beginning date is conjectural. | |
| Hiram I | 980–947 BC | Contemporary of David and Solomon | |
| Baal-Eser I (Balazeros I, Ba‘l-mazzer I) | 946–930 BC | ||
| Abdastartus (‘Abd-‘Astart) | 929–921 BC | ||
| Astartus (‘Ashtart) | 920–901 BC | Killed predecessor. First of 4 brothers to reign. | |
| Deleastartus (Dalay-‘Ashtart) | 900–889 BC | ||
| Astarymus (‘Ashtar-rom) | 888–880 BC | ||
| Phelles (Pilles) | 879 BC | Last of the 4 brothers | |
| Ithobaal I (Ethbaal I) | 878–847 BC | Killed predecessor. Father of Biblical Jezebel. | |
| Baal-Eser II (Balazeros II, Ba‘l-mazzer II) | 846–841 BC | Paid tribute to Shalmaneser III in 841 BC | |
| Mattan I | 840–832 BC | Father of Pygmalion and Dido | |
| Pygmalion (Pummay) | 831–785 BC | Dido fled from Pygmalion and founded Carthage during his reign. |
The Neo-Assyrian Empire established its control over the area and ruled through vassals who are named in Assyrian records.
| Ithobaal II (Tuba‘il) | 750–739 BC | Name found only on Iran Stele of Tiglath-Pileser III.[6] Gave tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III. | |
| Hiram II | 739–730 BC | Also paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III[7] | |
| Mattan II | 730–729 BC | ||
| Elulaios (Luli) | 729–694 BC | ||
| Abd Melqart | 694–680 BC | ||
| Baal I | 680–660 BC |
Menander's Tyrian king list also described the period from Ithobaal III through Hiram III. Tyre regained independence with Assyria's demise, although Egypt controlled Tyre during some of the time afterwards. Eventually, Tyre fell under the control of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
| missing | –592 BC | ||
| Ithobaal III (Ethbaal III) | 591–573 BC | This is the king mentioned in Ezekiel 28:2 at the time of the fall of Jerusalem.[8] Carthage became independent of Tyre in 574 BC. |
In the 560s the monarchy was overthrown, and an oligarchic government established, headed by "judges" or shoftim (cf. Carthage). The monarchy was restored with the ascension of Hiram III to the throne. Josephus mentions these judges in his treatise Against Apion (Book I, §21), and which last judge (Hiram III) is said to have been contemporary with Cyrus the Great. According to Josephus, Hiram's reign extended to the fourteenth year of Cyrus', ascension to power in Babylon. Cyrus took control of Babylon on October 29, 539, therefore Hiram III's rule spanned from 551 to 532 BC.[9]
After Alexander the Great conquered Tyre in 332 BC, the city alternated between Seleucid (Syrian Greek) and Ptolemaic (Egyptian Greek) rule. Phoenicia came under the rule of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC.