Tyre's maritime trade route

around the year 2, sea routes from Cyprus and the Aegean Sea, Sicily, Italy and Sardinia to the Mediterranean region have been formed, which laid a certain foundation for the expansion of Tyre to the west. From the end of the 12th century BC, Tyre began to establish colonies in the southern Iberian Peninsula and Gadir, Rix and Utica in North Africa. By the 7th century BC, Tyre's colonies had spread all over the Mediterranean. Using these places, Tyre monopolized the Mediterranean trade routes for nearly 5 years.

Tyre has accumulated rich sailing experience in long-term maritime activities. They once learned shipbuilding technology from Egypt and adopted a "square-headed flat-bottomed" design. This kind of ship has great capacity and is suitable for long-distance sailing. "In BC1, the Tyrians improved this ship, further increasing the ship's warehouse, which can accommodate more sailors to operate the ship, and its speed is getting faster and faster. Tyre merchants generally sail along the coast, so as to avoid dangers from the sea (storms, pirates, etc.), and at the same time, they can dock for rest at any time, and they can sail for 19-25 miles during the day. "Merchant ships departing from the southern Iberian Peninsula are generally loaded with a lot of metals, and their hulls are heavy and slow, which is difficult to control. At that time, the ship's power mainly depended on sails, so monsoon and ocean currents have an important impact on the navigation of ancient merchant ships. Especially for ocean navigation, downstream navigation is generally chosen. The navigation of Tyrus at sea can be divided into short-distance and long-distance. For short-distance navigation, small boats are used. Large ships have strong resistance to sea storms, but they can only sail in the deep sea far from the coastline. It is very hard to sail in the deep sea, and sometimes they can't dock even at night. It often takes several days to sail continuously. The wind direction in the Mediterranean is changeable, so the crew have to dock in the harbor for a period of time before they can continue sailing.

generally speaking, the sailing time of a ship can only be limited to the time when the weather is good. "Excluding war factors, it usually starts from March and returns at the end of October." Generally speaking, "it takes about 2,6 miles to travel from Tyre to Gardier, which takes about 8-9 days, and it takes about one year for Tyre merchants to make a round trip".

The main routes of Tyre in the Mediterranean region are:

Tyre-Gadir route

Tyre has established colonies in Sicily, southern Sardinia, Iberia, Carthage and Gadir, and the business network formed by these colonies not only ensured the supply of raw materials for Tyre, but also monopolized the Mediterranean trade for a long time. Tyre has occupied Kexin on the island of Cyprus as its colony since the 9th century BC. After starting from Tyre and arriving at Kexin, they arrived at the ancient Caria region (opposite Rhode Island) along the southern coast of Anatolia, then sailed to the northwest, arrived at Cecila in the Ionian sea, and then crossed the sea area between Malta and Sicily. Tyre merchants generally avoided the northern monsoon in Sicily, and then crossed the southern coast of Sardinia, avoiding the opposite ocean currents and monsoon, and they could reach the southern part of Balearic Islands. Due to the influence of ocean currents and monsoon, ships usually traveled along the southern Iberian Peninsula.

The route of Gibraltar Strait

After arriving at the eastern coast of Iberian Peninsula, in order to avoid the influence of monsoon, Tyre merchants have to rest at the seaport of Magala and the seaport of Fawn Girola, and they can't cross the Gibraltar Strait to reach Gardier until summer comes. Ships usually stay in Magala for several days or months until the monsoon turns downwind. Sometimes they will land here and pray at the nearby Mercat Temple. Sometimes they will choose to leave Malaga and arrive in Tarso after about four days on land, so as to avoid spending too much time at sea, because if the delay is too long, they will not be able to return before the arrival of winter, which will affect the normal business cycle.

Gibraltar Strait-West Africa Route

Tyre merchants established colonies in Africa as early as BC11. There are not so many excellent seaports around the Mediterranean Sea to berth, and there are frequent storms at sea. After crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, the fleet arrived in the southwest of Iberian Peninsula to the north and the coast of northwest Africa to the south. The fleet first passed through Tangier, and then passed through a long desolate coast to reach the relatively rich Jihab Valley. Wang Nan is a very important colony of Tyre in Africa, which is located at the mouth of the Looks River, and it is also a gathering place for other Phoenicians to trade. After passing through Rix, it is the port of Gadol founded BC11 Tyre in the 11th century, now the city of Sovila, here.

Gadir-Tyre route

In summer, under the influence of monsoon, it is easy to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Gadir, then go downstream to Sardinia or Algeria, or follow the west wind to Balearic Islands, then go through the southern part of Sardinia to Sicily, then go through Carthage, Pantelleria, Malaysia and others and finally reach Tyre.

mode of trade

establishment of commercial organizations

The foreign trade activities of Tyre mainly rely on the establishment of local trade bases to manage local trade activities, which are often controlled by the royal family of Tyre or some powerful businessmen. According to biblical records, Tyre's local trade activities mainly depend on the establishment of "trade agencies and some trade strongholds, which are under the jurisdiction of the main King of Tyre and are responsible for managing local trade activities and the transit of some bulk goods".

The early trading strongholds of Tyre were mainly concentrated in West Asia. As mentioned earlier, as early as the 1th century BC, King Solomon obtained horses and wagons from Capadocia and Silesia through Tyre merchants, and it was where Tyre's business organization ensured the smooth progress of trade. In the period of Nassar III in scharmann, Tyre established a business organization in order to manage the trade in the two river basins. Tyre's business bases in the Mediterranean are mainly located in some coastal ports. Take the Iberian Peninsula as an example, its business organizations are all located in coastal ports such as Gardier and Laurien. The main purpose of these business organizations is to centrally manage the refining and transportation of local mineral resources.

gift exchange

In ancient Mediterranean, many commodity transactions were realized by gift exchange. At that time, this kind of reciprocal transaction existed as a social phenomenon. Both sides were not affected by each other's strength, but were entirely voluntary. The gifts used for exchange were early commodities. The gift exchange based on the principle of reciprocity implied recognition of each other's status, or sought to show off each other's status, privileges and power. The circulation of ancient commodities relied heavily on this form of commerce and trade, which strengthened the friendly relations between the two sides and was conducive to the formation of a fixed trade channel. As early as the 14th century-13th century BC, this trade mode was widespread among the royal families of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and Cyprus, and they established personal friendship or diplomatic relations between countries in this way. For example, when the Egyptian messenger Wen Amon visited the Phoenician city, In fact, Wen Amon's main task is to strengthen the relationship with these Phoenician cities, and the gift exchange lays the foundation for the establishment of good relations between them.

This kind of gift exchange has also been used in the business activities of Tyre in the Mediterranean and West Asia. Take Tyre and Israel as examples. After King Solomon of Israel succeeded to the throne, King Hiram of Tyre sent a mission to Israel with a lot of gifts, expressing his desire to establish good relations with Solomon, thus opening the door to business cooperation between the two sides. The gift of King Tyre was rewarded, and he received assistance from Israel's food and other living materials. A large number of handicrafts of Tyre were kept in the palace of Samaria, the capital of Israel. The "ivory throne" of King Ahab of Israel in the palace of Samaria and some beds decorated with ivory by nobles were made by Tyre workers. Tyre does not belong to Israel, nor does it have the obligation to pay tribute to Israel. Therefore, these artifacts of Tyre that appear in the Israeli palace are mainly from the exchange of gifts between the princes and monarchs of the two countries. This is part of their commodity circulation, which shows the close exchanges between the royal families of the two sides. At the same time, in order to develop the metal trade in the southern Iberian Peninsula, Tyre people give a lot of luxury goods to the nobles who control the local metal resources. As a result, permission was obtained for metal smelting and transportation, and the handicrafts of Tyre were also allowed to enter the local market. In Cyprus, Tyre people often exchanged handicrafts urgently needed by local nobles for the right to mine metal resources, and this exchange also consolidated the friendly relations between the two sides.

The role of Mercat Temple in colonial trade

The Tyrians often built Mercat Temple in colonies. In Cyprus, Malaysia, Morocco, Carthage, and some Tyre trade ports in Iberian Peninsula, the Mercat Temple built by Tyre people has been found.

The temple played a very important role in colonial commerce, because the Tyrians often hoped that the gods would bless their business activities smoothly. To ensure that the interests of their merchants are not infringed, and at the same time, they can punish the robbers who robbed them. The temple can often play a management role in the local area to ensure the orderly completion of trade, and sometimes it can also become a market for transactions between the two sides, which can ensure that business travelers will not be robbed, because the temple was built according to the instructions of the Oracle, and their safety was guaranteed by the gods. Merchants often read the name of God repeatedly, hoping to ensure that their transactions can be successfully completed as a place to protect business travelers and worshippers.

In return, merchants must pay certain financial contributions to the temples, for example, providing precious sacrifices such as gems, which are managed by the clergy of the temples in a unified way. At the same time, some temples also accept a large number of gifts from believers. The Merkat Temple in the colonies is not only regarded as a place for holding religious ceremonies or conducting business activities, but also a tool for Tyre to control the colonies, representing the supreme power of the Tyre monarch in the local area. The temple has become a link between Tyre and the colony in terms of religion, politics and economy. Therefore, for the royal family of Tyre, it is a profitable investment to build a temple in the colony for whatever reason.

The people of Tyre often publicized the deity of Tyre, Mercat, to ensure that the temple was respected by the local people, thus ensuring the smooth trade of Tyre in the colonies. The people of Tyre have well integrated their worship and belief in God into the local people, and this peaceful means can often be recognized by the local people, providing a powerful platform for the people of Tyre to live in peace with the local people. It can be said that the Mercat Temple has played a very important role in ensuring the stable operation of the trade system in the colony of Tyre.

the relationship between tyre and neighboring powers in the 11th-7th century BC and its influence on the trade development of tyre

the relationship between tyre and Israel in the period of King Hiram I of tyre

In the West Asia region in the 1th century BC, the external environment began to become favorable to the trade development of tyre. On the one hand, Egypt gradually declined after the end of the new dynasty, and it was no longer able to monopolize the trade in this region. On the other hand, Assyria established a relatively stable country in the eastern part of Phoenicia, but its rule in Syria was still unstable, and it was unable to interfere with Phoenician cities such as Tyre. This Tyre people brought development opportunities. Instead of being controlled by Egypt, it began to use geopolitics to develop trade. In the 1th century BC, Hiram I became the king of Tyre, which opened a new page in the history of Tyre. He is eager to increase the national strength of Tyre by developing trade with Tyre. Therefore, forming an alliance with the rising Israel has become the best choice for both sides. At the beginning of the founding of Israel, Tyre was hostile to it, and even cooperated with the Philistines to fight against Israel. However, after King David of Israel defeated the Philistines, Tyre began to change their attitude. At that time, King David of Israel annexed some cities near the valley of Galilee and established hegemony in the Palestinian area. "He completely controlled the trade routes near Tyre. At the same time, he signed a peace treaty with Kishu and Hamath around him, and gained some physiology in the battle against the Aramaic tribe. His army even expanded to Damascus."

The rapid growth of Israel's national strength attracted the attention of King Tyre. He immediately sent messengers to congratulate him with gifts including cedar wood, and signed a cooperation treaty with Israel. According to the treaty, Hiram I sent some experienced craftsmen to Israel and provided them with building materials, luxury goods and various labor services, including helping Solomon build temples and palaces. At the same time, it also paid King Solomon gold worth 12 taranto. According to the Bible, King Hiram sent a delegation to visit Solomon. These representatives brought cedar wood, and some carpenters and masons accompanied them to help Solomon build the palace. The Tyres had the building materials and technology needed by Solomon, and the processing technology of their families was also very important for Israel. Israel used part of the raw materials donated by Tyres to build public facilities in Israel.

It should be pointed out here that although Tyre paid a large amount of tribute to Solomon, it did not belong to Israel. It not only obtained the permission to engage in business activities and trade routes in Israel by giving gifts. At the same time, the king of Tyre hoped to avoid being attacked by this powerful neighbor of Israel by developing friendly relations between the two sides. In return, Solomon supplied Tyre with silver, agricultural products and some supplies needed by the royal family, including about 7 tons of wheat and a lot of olive oil. Israel also provided food for the workers sent by Tyre, and even donated 2 cities in Galilee to Tyre. With the support of Israel, Tyre's land area was extended to the land between Mount Carmel and Aka, which greatly eased the pressure on Tyre's population and food. This Tyre business laid a material foundation for further development, and even Hiram said to Solomon, if you provide enough food for my royal family, I will meet all your requirements.

according to the treaty, they set up the trade fleet "the boat of Tarshish" in Ezion-geber, Ezion-Geber, a place called Ezion-Geber in the Red Sea. "King Solomon built a large number of ships in Ezion Gaber near Elath, the coast of the Red Sea. King Hiram sent a large number of experienced sailors to join these fleets. They brought back 42 taranto's gold from Ophia, but the gold was finally owned by King Solomon. The fleet was controlled by Tyres and sailed to Ophia and Tarshish about every three years. They carried bronzes, pottery utensils and labor tools forged by craftsmen, and brought back gold, silver, ivory, leopard skin, some precious stones and some special items when they returned. For example, the Egyptian royal family's favorite shovel, the resin in the southern Arabian Peninsula, was called the land of gold in ancient times. Because of the wealth brought back, Israel formed a new class advocating luxury goods.

The Red Sea Plan formulated by Hiram and Solomon is mainly to meet the demand for gold ore in West Asia. Before that, Egypt has been the main supplier of gold ore in West Asia, which controlled the supply of rare ore in the whole West Asia, pushing Romania and Israel.