Founded some time during the 3rd millennium BCE, Tyre was originally just a small settlement on the coast and an island city just off shore. The Roman historian Justin claimed that Tyre was founded the year after Troy fell to the Greeks by refugees fleeing Sidon after that city was conquered by an unnamed king. This date might be consistent with the repopulating of Tyre after centuries of abandonment, though Justin is clearly talking about the original founding of Tyre which is contradicted by the archaeological record.
Archaeological evidence indicates that Tyre was abandoned, though, during the Middle Bronze Age and only later repopulated some time during the 16th century BCE. Much the same has been found for other Phoenician costal cities, like Sidon, but the reason for this is unknown.
