Tyre

One of the questions which I had when I first went through my degrees was "Where is Tyre?"  You hear about Hiram, King of Tyre, but the actual location is never really revealed.

1 Kings 5:1 says, " And Hiram, King of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon;".  This Biblical reference is the basis for many of our allegories and it established that King Solomon and King Hiram had a relationship, but it still doesn't answer the question about Tyre.

In the present day, Tyre is a city on the shores of Lebanon about 50 miles south of Beirut.  In the time of King Hiram, it was a part of Phoenicia, which was a maritime trading culture which existed along the shores of modern day Syria, Lebanon and Israel.  Phoenicia was structured much like Ancient Greece.  Its was comprised of a number of independently governed city-states, of which Tyre was the southern most city.

Originally, Tyre was an island off of the coast, but during the 3rd century BC, the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great, constructed a causeway from the mainland during a siege of the city.  The causeway has since widened and Tyre is now a part of the mainland as a small peninsula.

King Hiram I and Kind Solomon (son of King David) enjoyed a close relationship during the 9th century BC.  King Hiram is said to have sent not only his servants (architects and workmen) , but cedar from Lebanon as well.  Hiram I ruled Tyre until 947 BC.  It is rich in history, both in and out of the Bible and is a modern day location rich in antiquities and tourist attractions.