Names

Transliterated Name	Source	Name
Tyre	Arabic	صور
Tyrus	Latin
Tyros	Greek	Τύρος
Sur	Phoenician
Ṣurru	Akkadian
Tzór	Hebrew	צוֹר

Introduction

Tyre started out as an island known as Sur which was eventually joined to the mainland. It has been occupied since the Bronze Age ( Marriner et al, 2005). Marriner et al (2005) provides the following background

Mother of Carthage and one of the greatest Phoenician city-states, Tyre’s golden age spanned between the 9th to 6th centuries BC, during which period it enjoyed an extensive zone of influence incorporating large areas of the Mediterranean basin. Although Tyre lost its hegemony after 572/3 BC, when it fell under Persian influence, the city continued to prosper through the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods as attest the many impressive archaeological remains today visible in the city.

William A. Ward in Meyers et al (1997) relates the following

Classical tradition states that King Hiram (969-936 BCE) joined the two reefs with landfill, enlarging the city to about 40 acres. In succeeding reigns, further enlargement allowed the creation of ports on the northern and southern sides of tire island. This island stronghold was joined to tire mainland by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, who constructed a causeway from the mainland in order to subjugate the city. By Roman times sand from sea currents quickly built up against this causeway, forming the present isthmus. Tyre was essentially an administrative and religious center dependent on food and water supplies from its "sister town," Ushu, on the coast, which stood amid rich and well-watered agricultural land. Ushu is known only from literary references as it lies beneath the modern city.

Maps and Plans

• Fig. 2 Location of cores and coastal bathymetry from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 2
  
  Tyre, location of cores and coastal bathymetry. The strongest winds and swell derive from the south-west. Core sites are marked by a black dot.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 14 Reconstructed palaeobathymetry of Tyre around 6000 years BP from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 14
  
  Reconstructed palaeobathymetry of Tyre around 6000 years BP. Coastline reconstructed using stratigraphy, present bathymetry and geochronology.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 17 Aerial photograph with core locations from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 17
  
  Maximum extension of Tyre’s MBA northern harbour (1950s aerial photograph). Our work reveals the ancient harbour was ca. 40% larger than present, the extra surface area lying beneath the Medieval and Modern city centres
  
  Marriner et al (2005)

Core Data

• Fig. 3 Macrofauna core TV from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 3
  
  Macrofauna core TV.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 4 Ostracoda core TV from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 4
  
  Ostracoda core TV.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 8 Grain size analyses core TIX from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 8
  
  Grain size analyses core TIX.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 9 Grain size analyses core TI from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 9
  
  Grain size analyses core TI.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 10 Macrofauna core TIX from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 10
  
  Macrofauna core TIX.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 11 Macrofauna core TI from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 11
  
  Macrofauna core TI.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 12 Ostracoda core TI from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 12
  
  Ostracoda core TI.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Fig. 13 Foraminifera core TI from Marriner et al (2005)
  Fig. 13
  
  Foraminifera core TI.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
• Cross-correlation of stratigraphic units from cores in
  Fig. 16
  
  Cross-correlation of stratigraphic units from cores in the northern harbour.
  
  Marriner et al (2005)
  the northern harbour from Marriner et al (2005)

Chronology Notes and Further Reading