Hiram I facts for kids

Hiram I (in Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤌 Ḥirōm, meaning "my brother is exalted"; in Hebrew: חִירָם‎ Ḥīrām) was a powerful Phoenician king of Tyre. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. People believe he ruled from about 980 BC to 947 BC. He became king after his father, Abibaal. After Hiram, his son Baal-Eser I became the next king of Tyre.

Hiram is also written about by Menander of Ephesus, whose writings were saved by Josephus in his book Against Apion. According to Josephus, Hiram lived for 53 years and was king for 34 of those years.

Hiram's Time as King

During Hiram's rule, Tyre became a very important city in Phoenicia. It grew from being a smaller town connected to Sidon into a major trading center. Hiram even stopped a revolt in Tyre's first colony, Utica, which was near where the city of Carthage would later be built.

The Hebrew Bible tells us that Hiram became friends with David, who was the king of the United Kingdom of Israel. Hiram sent his skilled workers to help King David build his royal palace in Jerusalem. They used strong Lebanon Cedar wood for the building.

After King David passed away, Hiram remained friends with David's son, Solomon, who became the new king. They treated each other as equals, like brothers. This friendship with Solomon helped Hiram get access to important trade routes. These routes led to places like Egypt, Arabia, and Mesopotamia.

The two kings also worked together to open a new trade route over the Red Sea. This route connected the Israelite harbor of Ezion-Geber with a faraway land called Ophir. Some people think Ophir might have been a port city in India, near modern Mumbai.

The Bible says that both kings became very rich from this trade. Hiram sent King Solomon architects, workers, cedar wood, and gold. These materials were used to build the First Temple in Jerusalem. Josephus also wrote that Hiram made the harbor in Tyre bigger. He also joined the two islands where the city was built to make Tyre larger. Josephus claimed Hiram built a royal palace and a temple for the god Melqart. However, modern archaeologists have not found proof of these building projects.

About the Dates of His Rule

The Baal Lebanon inscription might mention Hiram.

The start date of Hiram's rule comes from what Josephus wrote. Josephus used records from Tyre and writings by Menander of Ephesus. These records said that 143 years passed from when Solomon's Temple started being built until the city of Carthage was founded.

Josephus also said that Hiram's rule began 155 years and 8 months before Carthage was founded. The building of Solomon's Temple started in the twelfth year of Hiram's rule. This means the Temple construction began 143 years before Carthage was built.

A scholar named William Barnes noted that the date for the Temple's start, using the Tyrian records, was figured out separately. It was not based on the dates found in the Bible.

The "Tomb of Hiram"

The "Tomb of Hiram" in 2009.

The place known as the "Tomb of Hiram" (Qabr Hiram) is actually from the Persian period. This was about four to six centuries after Hiram was believed to have lived. It is located about 6 kilometers southeast of Tyre, near the village of Hanaouay. The tomb is a huge limestone sarcophagus (a stone coffin) on a pedestal.

Hiram in Modern Stories

King Hiram appears as a character in a time travel story. This story is called Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks (1983) by Poul Anderson.

Places Named After Hiram

In 1829, a town in Seneca County, New York, was named Tyre. This name was likely inspired by the ancient city of Tyre. Also, a farmhouse there, the Hiram Lay Cobblestone Farmhouse, was probably named after the Phoenician king. This farmhouse is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the city of Tyre in Southern Lebanon, there is a neighborhood called Hay Hiram. It is in the northern part of Tyre, in the municipality of Abassiyat. There is a Hiram Hospital in this neighborhood and a Hiram Pharmacy nearby. The main street in the center of Tyre's Sour municipality is also named after Hiram (sometimes spelled Hyram on Google Maps). This street often has a lot of traffic congestion, which causes air and noise pollution.

See also

• List of kings of Tyre
• Pygmalion (for information about the date of Carthage's founding, mentioned by Menander)