Phoenician Government

Definition

The governments of such Phoenician cities as Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos were led by hereditary monarchs throughout their history. Those individual cities typically acted autonomously from each other and only rarely did they form mutual alliances. The absolute power of the Phoenician kings, even if they had at their disposal a council of elders for consultation, is attested by various ancient sources, including the Hebrew prophets of the Old Testament. Below the king, matters of government were also carried out by a priestly class and those elite households who controlled the international trade upon which Phoenicia so prospered.

More about: Phoenician Government

Timeline

  • c. 4000 BCE
    Founding of the city of Sidon.
  • c. 2900 BCE - c. 2300 BCE
    First settlement of Baalbek.
  • c. 2750 BCE
    The city of Tyre is founded.
  • 1115 BCE - 1076 BCE
    Reign of Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria who conquers Phoenicia and revitalizes the empire.
  • c. 1000 BCE
    Ahiram becomes king of Sidon.
  • 980 BCE
    Ittobaal becomes king of Sidon.
  • 969 BCE - 936 BCE
    Hiram I reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 940 BCE
    Abibaal becomes king of Sidon.
  • 935 BCE - 919 BCE
    Baal-eser I reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 920 BCE
    Yehimilk becomes king of Sidon.
  • 918 BCE - 910 BCE
    Abdastrato reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 909 BCE - 898 BCE
    Methustratos reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 900 BCE
    Elibaal becomes king of Sidon.
  • 897 BCE - 889 BCE
    Astharymos reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 888 BCE
    Phelles reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 887 BCE - 856 BCE
    Ithobaal I reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 880 BCE
    Shiptibaal becomes king of Sidon.
  • 855 BCE - 830 BCE
    Baal-asor II reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 829 BCE - 821 BCE
    Mattan II rules as king of Tyre.
  • 820 BCE - 774 BCE
    Pygmalion rules as king of Tyre.
  • 750 BCE - 740 BCE
    Ithobaal II reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 739 BCE - 730 BCE
    Hiram II reigns as king of Tyre.
  • 730 BCE - 729 BCE
    Mattan II rules as king of Tyre.
  • 729 BCE - 694 BCE
    Elulaios rules as king of Tyre.
  • 680 BCE - 640 BCE
    Baal I reigns as king of Tyre.
  • c. 301 BCE - c. 195 BCE
    Tyre, as all other Phoenician cities, belongs to the Ptolemies, rulers of hellenistic Egypt.
  • c. 195 BCE
    After the battle at Panion, the Seleucids finally take the rule of Phoenicia from the Ptolemies. Tyre and the other Phoenician cities will remain in the Seleucid power until the Roman conquest of Syria.
  • 64 BCE
    Tyre becomes a Roman colony.
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