The Prophecy of Tyre
About 2 1/2 to 3 years after the Lord predicted this prophecy against Tyre in 588 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Tyre. The way in which the Babylonians overcame a city was to surround it, cut off their food supply, and gradually starve the people into surrender. This was the method that Nebuchadnezzar used as he eventually overcame Jerusalem. The Babyloninas surrounded the city of Jerusalem, and cut off their food supply. When Jerusalm used up all of their food 2 years later, they became so hungry they were eating their own children, which incidentally the Lord had also also predicted. Jerusalem became so weakened by starvation that Nebuchadnezzar easily overcame the cityand took it captive.
The city of Tyre was a completely different matter… Tyre was on the coast of the mediterranean sea. The walls of the city went all the way up to the sea completely cutting off Tyre from any land attack. As He had done with Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar cut off all of Tyre’s food and water supply on the mainland, but he could not cut off Tyre’s food supply from the sea because their Phoenician navy was so powerful. Tyre also had plenty of fresh water suppl. Archeologists have discovered an underground spring in the ruins of Tyre that produces over 10 million gallons of fresh water per day! The siege by Nebuchadnezzar over Tyre took 13 years.
