Alexander the Great’s Siege

The year 332 B.C.E. witnessed the fulfillment of these and earlier prophecies regarding Tyre. Alexander the Great had launched his campaign of conquest in the Middle East.

After Sidon surrendered to him, Alexander led his army toward Tyre. A delegation of leading Tyrians, including the son of its King Azemilcus, met him and declared a willingness to comply with his requests. Alexander expressed the desire to be admitted into the city, to present an offering to Heracles (not Hercules, the mighty hero of Greek mythology, but the god Melkarth or Baal). Apprised of this by the delegation, the Tyrians adamantly turned down the request.

Since the outcome of Alexander’s conflict with the Persian King Darius was still in question, the Tyrians thought it in their best interests to deny entry to any Macedonian or Persian.a Their action prompted Alexander to act without delay.

Addressing his men, he said: “Friends and fellow soldiers, I do not see how we can safely advance upon Egypt, so long as Persia controls the sea; and to pursue Darius with the neutral city of Tyre in our rear and Egypt and Cyprus still in enemy hands would be a serious risk, especially in view of the situation in Greece. . . . But with Tyre destroyed, all Phoenicia would be ours, and the Phoenician fleet, which both in numbers and quality is the predominant element in the sea-power of Persia, would very likely come over to us.”​—Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, Penguin Classics, pp. 131, 132.

Alexander’s officers were convinced, and Tyre came under siege. The initial efforts for the siege proved to be in harmony with Bible prophecy. Ezekiel had written: “I will scrape her dust away from her and make her a shining, bare surface of a crag.” (Ezek. 26:4) Alexander determined to build a mole or a causeway to the island city. For this purpose he used the stone and debris from the old mainland city.

As work on the causeway progressed, the Tyrians, with their ships, did everything they could to thwart the project. Countering their attacks, Alexander erected two towers at the far end of the mole. However, the Tyrians succeeded in setting these on fire. Alexander then commanded that the causeway be widened, providing additional space for towers. He also began assembling a tremendous fleet from Sidon, Rhodes, Mallus, Lycia, Macedonia and elsewhere, thus cutting off Tyre’s free access to the sea.

Whereas the construction of the causeway fulfilled prophecy, it was the naval campaign that brought about the fall of Tyre after a siege of seven months. According to Arrian, 8,000 perished during the siege, and 30,000 were sold into slavery.