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The Chronology of Tyrian History in the Neo-Babylonian Period

  • Stefan Zawadzki EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 8, 2016
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Abstract

In the first millennium BC the most important centre on the shore of the Levant was Tyre. Although researchers have at their disposal the epitome of Tyrian history and quite rich Mesopotamian data, the history and chronology of the city state is the subject of controversy. The article contains an overview and evaluation of research on the chronology of Tyre in the second half of the 6th century BC as established in recent years, and adds a new, hitherto unpublished document from the reign of the Babylonian king Amēl-Marduk. Katzenstein’s chronology, or those that suggest its limited revision, are thereby seen to be the best proposals, explaining the chronology of the removal and restoration of the local dynasty. There are no serious reasons for thinking that the aim of the Babylonian expansion was the development of agriculture in the Levant; rather, it was to participate in and control the income from trade, the main source of Tyre’s economic status.

Acknowledgment

I am indebted to Irving Finkel, John MacGinnis and Małgorzata Sandowicz for reading and commenting on the paper and again to John MacGinnis for improving the English of the final version of the text.

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Published Online: 2016-7-8
Published in Print: 2015-12-1

© 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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