In the name and types of Alexander III
Struck under Menes, with Perdikkas as regent
Tyre, dated RY 29 of Azemilkos = 321/0 BC
Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated to left, holding sceptre; ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ to right, -|O (Phoenician ‘K = ‘Ozmilk [king of Tyre]) above ||| ||| =/||| (Phoenician date [29]) in left field.
Price 3275 (Ake); Newell, Dated 32 (same); DCA 737; HGC 3.1, 941 (Alexander IV). 17.03g, 26mm, 6h.
Entire books have been written on the history of Tyre. As one of the principal centers of Phoenician culture, it has a vast history that goes back thousands of years.
For the purpose of this site, though, we can focus on its siege by Alexander. The presence of the city was a major blocker for Alexander, and he was bitterly insulted when Azemilkos refused to capitulate. The entire siege involved a grueling nine months, when Alexander built a causeway that still stands to the island fortress and proceeded to assault it.
AR Tetradrachm. Tyre, dated RY 30 = 256/5 BCE
14.01g, 25mm, 12h.
Diademed head of Ptolemy I to right, wearing aegis around neck / ΠΤΟΛEΜΑΙOΥ [BAΣΙΛEΩΣ], eagle standing to left; monogram of Tyre above club to left; Λ (date) above monogram to right; A between legs.
CPE 577; Svoronos 657; SNG Copenhagen 488; DCA 20
Ex collection of R. N. Draskowski;
Ex Ephesus Numismatics, North Carolina, USA
The various kings of Cyprus lent their ships and it was eventually from the sea that Alexander was successful. Thereafter, he killed eight thousand citizens of Tyre and sold another thirty thousand into slavery. Azemilkos, however, was pardoned.
In 323 BCE, after Alexander’s death, Tyre was given to Laomedon. However, he didn’t keep it for long as Ptolemy soon conquered it. It was taken back by Antigonos I Monophthalmos in 315 BCE, where it remained until Ptolemy grabbed it back in 287 BCE.
RY 10 = 340/39 BCE
Shekel Silver, 20 mm, 8.21 g, 12 h
Deity, holding reins in his right hand and bow in his left, riding hippocamp to right above two lines of waves; below, dolphin right.
Rev. Owl standing right, head facing; crook and flail in background; to right, date and ‘ (in Phoenician).
DCA 918. E&E-T 1146-8. HGC 10, 349
Ex collection of Dr. A. Drakul.
Ex Leu
Traditional founding date of Carthage by Phoenician settlers from Tyre, led by Queen Dido (according to legend).
September 26
Androkles of Amathos, Pnytagoras of Salamis, and Pasikrates of Kourion join Alexander the Great at the Siege of Tyre, where their qinqueremes are destroyed.
Antigonos I Monophthalmos Declaration of Tyre grants autonomy to all Greek cities. While its effects weren’t the same everywhere, it allowed Delos to regain control of its Temple to Apollo from Athens.