Phoenician Government

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.