Tyre: Jewel of Phoenicia
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2023
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Tyre was a jewel of the Ancient World. A Phoenician metropolis, and the birth place of numerous legendary figures - the city provides an invaluable insight into what life was like millennia ago. But what do we really know about the people who inhabited Tyre, and just why did the city play such a pivotal role across ancient history?
In this episode, Tristan is joined by Historian and Author Katherine Pangonis to talk about the vibrant history of Tyre, and it's new place in the modern world. Looking at Tyre's mystical history, it's important location, and how Alexander the Great's siege literally changed the earth's landscape as we know it - why did so many people value Tyre so highly - and what legacy has it left behind today?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have you ever wondered what sorts of treasures were discovered in Tutankhamin's tomb, |
| 0:04.8 | or what our earliest evidence is for humans in Britain, |
| 0:09.3 | or even where the Alexander the Great died of a hangover? |
| 0:14.0 | Well, you can find the answer to questions like these and hundreds more in our new book, |
| 0:18.4 | The History Hit Miscellany. It's the perfect present for any history fan, |
| 0:23.6 | and it's available to buy now from your favourite bookshop, |
| 0:26.8 | or visit historyhit.com slash book. |
| 0:45.2 | It's The Entrance on History Hit. I'm Tristan Schuss your host, |
| 0:49.8 | and in today's episode we're talking about one of the great cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. |
| 0:56.4 | It's situated today in Lebanon on the eastern Mediterranean coastline, and at its height |
| 1:03.2 | this city was a great trading hub with connections across the Mediterranean and beyond. |
| 1:10.4 | It was renowned for its maritime prowess and its independence. I am of course talking |
| 1:18.8 | about the Phoenician city of Tyre. |
| 1:22.8 | Now in this episode we're going to be going through Tyre's ancient history, |
| 1:27.0 | what the literature and the archaeology has revealed about this city and its people. |
| 1:32.6 | We're going to be going from the third millennium BC all the way down to the Romans, |
| 1:37.6 | including a greater salt against Tyre by none other than Alexander the Great. |
| 1:43.3 | Talking through the story of Tyre's ancient history, |
| 1:48.8 | where I was delighted to go and interview roughly a week or so ago, |
| 1:52.5 | the author Catherine Pangonis. Catherine, she's written a new book all about several great |
| 1:59.3 | centres of the ancient Mediterranean world, sometimes overlooked compared to the likes of Rome |
| 2:05.6 | and Athens, so we've also got in their Antioch, Syracuse, Carthage and Ravenna. |
... |
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