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Tyre, in Lebanon, is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for over 4,700 years. Situated in the Levant on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Tyre became the leading city of the Phoenician civilization in 969 BC with the reign of the Tyrian king Hiram I, the city of Tyre alongside its Phoenician homeland are also credited with numerous innovations in shipbuilding, navigation, industry, agriculture, and government. The Phoenician Tyrians' international trade network was based on its two ports and is believed to have fostered the economic, political, and cultural foundations of Classical Western civilization. During the early Middle Ages, the city experienced a long period of decline. Its population suffered during the 6th century from the political chaos that ensued when the Eastern Roman empire was torn apart by wars. The decline was compounded by numerous earthquakes that destroyed the city. Tyre then enjoyed a period of prosperity under the Muslims and then the crusaders. In 1291 AD the Mamluks seized the city from the Crusaders. The resulting mass depopulation event started a period of decline for the city that lasted until roughly 1750 AD. Local ruler sheikh Nasif al-Nassar initiated a number of construction projects, which drove a short-lived revival of the city. The city experienced another boom in the 19th century with the start of several new commercial and building projects. Numerous wars in the region beset the city until the independence of the French Mandate of Lebanon in 1943. Founding millennium (2750–1700 BC) The Roman historian Justin wrote that the original founders arrived from the nearby Northern city of Sidon in the quest to establish a new harbour. Doric Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in the city of Halicarnassus under the Achaemenid Empire, visited Tyre around 450 BC at the end of the Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC), and wrote in his Histories that according to the priests there, the city was founded around 2750 BC, as a walled place upon the mainland, now known as Paleotyre (Old Tyre). Archaeological evidence has corroborated this timing. Excavations have also found that there had already been some settlements around 2900 BC, but that they were abandoned. The Greek historian Eusebius recorded the common myth that the deity Melqart built the city as a favour to the mermaid Tyros and named it after her. Melqart – who was worshipped as a divine patron of Tyre for millennia – was called Melqart Heracles in Greek, but is not to be confused with the demigod Heracles (Hercules), hero of the 12 labors. However, there are two other main founding legends: According to the first one, there were two brothers in primeval times – Usoos and Shamenrum – living on the seashore who separated after a fight. Usoos took a tree trunk and was the first to sail in it on the sea. He landed on an island and consecrated two columns there, one to fire and the other to the wind, thus founding Tyre which was called Ushu in Egypt and Mesopotomia. The second legend explains why Astarte as the goddess of fertility was worshipped in Tyre as well: Originally the island was not attached to the sea floor, but rose and fell with the waves. An Olive tree of the goddess Ashtart rose there, protected by a curtain of Flames. A snake was wrapped around its trunk and an eagle was perched in it. It was predicted that the island would cease floating when the bird was sacrificed to the gods. The god Melqart taught people how to build boats, then sailed to the island. The eagle offered itself, and Sur became attached to the sea floor. Since then, the gods have never stopped living there... In Greek mythology, Zeus, the ruler of the gods, took the form of a bull to abduct the Tyrian princess Europa to Crete. There the couple had three sons – Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon, who became kings of Crete and after their deaths the judges of the Underworld. The continent Europe is named after her. Some sources go on to say that her brothers Cadmus and Cilix went to search for her, in vain. Instead, Cadmus became the founder and king of the Greek city of Thebes, who also introduced the Phoenician alphabet to the Hellenic world. Cilix fell in love during the quest and gave his name to Cilicia in Asia Minor. Their supposed third brother Phoenix became the eponym of Phoenicia. In this way the Ancient Greek culture expressed its appreciation of the influence that the Phoenician civilisation had on their own. Third and second millennia BC strata from Tyre [..] are buried so deeply under the debris of later periods that its early history is somewhat obscure. The first known textual reference to Tyre comes from a curse text dated to the 19th century BC. In general, the first half of the second millennium BC in the Eastern Mediterranean was "a time of peaceful trade and Tyre probably shared in the commercial activity." Egyptian period (1700–1200 BC) In the 17th century BC, the settlement came under the supremacy of the Egyptian pharaohs. In the subsequent years it started benefitting from the protection by Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty and prospered commercially. Archaeological evidence indicates that Tyre had already by the middle of the second millennium BCE established the industrial production of a rare and extraordinarily expensive sort of purple dye, known as Tyrian Purple, which was famous for its beauty and lightfast qualities. It was exploited from the Murex trunculus and Murex brandaris shellfishes. The colour was, in ancient cultures, reserved for the use of royalty or at least the nobility. In fact, the very word "Phoenician" is a Greek designation meaning "red" or "purple": Tyrians brought their methods in the purple dye industry near to perfection. Their excellent technique of extraction and blending of dyes is the reason why Tyrian purple was so esteemed in the ancient world. And: The Tyrians were extremely discreet about their industry to ensure absolute monopoly. According to mythology, deity Melqart was walking on the beach with the nymph Tyro, whom he courted, when his dog bit a mollusc and the sea snail's blood-stained its mouth purple. Tyro desired from Melqart a dyed dress of the same colour and thus the manufacture was born. However, the ancient author Strabo, who visited Tyre himself, recorded that the dye industry polluted the air so much that its stench made his stay in the city very unpleasant. Experts have calculated that some 8,000 Murex had to be crushed to extract one gram of the dye, which may have cost the equivalent of about twenty grams of gold. The first clear accounts of the city are given by the ten Amarna letters dated 1350 BC from the Prince of Tyre, Abimilku, written to Akenaten. The subject is often water, wood, and the Habiru overtaking the countryside of the mainland and how that affected the island-city. Eventually, Egyptian forces defeated a Hittite army that besieged .... Discover the George Deeb Red Rocket Ventures popular books. Find the top 100 most popular George Deeb Red Rocket Ventures books.