Tyre’s International Trade

Ezekiel 27

Throughout Bible times, the island city of Tyre was renowned for its extensive and prosperous international trade. Located immediately northwest of Galilee, Tyre was one of the most important cities of Phoenicia (see “Phoenicia and Tyre” map) and had ready access to the Mediterranean Sea as well as to the land routes leading to Egypt, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. The city was established before the Great Pyramids of Egypt and no doubt took part in the Phoenician colonization of distant lands throughout the Mediterranean Sea, including Spain, Sardinia, and Carthage. Many of these colonies continued to trade with Tyre even after they established their independence from the Phoenicians. Tyre’s extensive trade led to immense wealth and international influence, but according to the prophet Ezekiel, this also led the city to be filled with arrogance and pride. Ezekiel 27 mentions all the locations shown on this map as providing goods to Tyre, but Ezekiel artistically foretells of Tyre’s coming destruction by portraying it as a heavily laden merchant ship that suffers a disastrous wreck after being caught in a storm on the high seas.