The traditional king-list of Tyre, the ancient Phoenician city in what is now Lebanon, is derived from Josephus, Against Apion i. 18, 21, and his Jewish Antiquities viii. 5.3; 13.2. His list was based on a lost history of Menander of Ephesus, who had drawn his information, Josephus asserts, from the chronicles of Tyre itself.[1]
| Agenor | c. 1500 BC | Son of Poseidon or of Belus. |
| Phoenix | 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). |
| Aribas | fl. c. 1230 | |
| Baal-Termeg (or Baalat-Remeg) | fl. c. 1220 | |
| Baal | c. 1193 | |
| Pummay | c.1163-1125[2] |
The dates for the reconstruction of the Tyrian king list from Hiram I 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).[3]
| Abibaal | 993–981 BC | Beginning date is conjectural (no evidence). |
| 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 | Tribute to Shalmaneser III in 841 BC. |
| Mattan I | 840-832 BC | Father of Pygmalion and his sister Dido. |
| Pygmalion (Pummay) |
831-785 BC | Dido fled from Pygmalion and founded Carthage during his reign. |
Assyria established its control over the area and ruled through vassal rulers. The existence of these kings has been established by references in Assyrian records.
| Ithobaal II (Tuba‘il) |
750–739 BC | Name found only on Iran Stele of Tiglath-Pileser III.[4] Gave tribute to T-P III. |
| Hiram II | 739–730 BC | Also gave tribute to T-P III.[5] |
| Mattan II | 730–729 BC | |
| Elulaios (Luli) |
729–694 BC | |
| Abd Melqart | 694–680 BC | |
| Baal I | 680–660 BC |
Tyre regained independence with Assyria's demise, although Egypt controlled Tyre some of the time.
| Ithobaal III (Ethbaal II) |
591–573 BC | This is the king mentioned in Ezekiel 28:2 at the time of the fall of Jerusalem.[6] Carthage became independent of Tyre in 574 BC. |
| Baal II | 573–564 BC |
| Yakinbaal | 564 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.
| Chelbes | 564–563 BC |
| Abbar | 563–562 BC |
| Mattan III and Ger Ashthari |
562–556 BC |
| Baal-Eser III | 556–555 BC |
| Hiram III | 551–532 BC |
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.
Tyre was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century. The Crusaders conquered Tyre, which acted as the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem until this kingdom's fall in 1291. Tyre then became part of surrounding empires again, and finally of France and of independent Lebanon in the 20th century.