Phelles

Phelles was a King of Tyre and the last of four brothers who held the kingship. The only information available about Phelles comes from Josephus’s citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18. Here it is said that Phelles slew his brother Aserymus (Astarymus) and then “took the kingdom, and reigned but eight months, though he lived fifty years: he was slain by Ithobalus (Ithobaal I), the priest of Astarte.” He and the three preceding kings were brothers, sons of the nurse of Abdastartus, according to Menander.

Phelles
King of Tyre
Reign	879 BC (8 months)
Predecessor	Astarymus (Aserymus, ‘Astar-rom) 888 – 880 BC
Successor	Ithobaal I (’Ittoba‘l, Ethbaal)) 878 – 847 BC
Born	929 BC Tyre, presumed
Died	879 or 878 BC
Dynasty	Last of “dynasty of the four brothers”
Father	unknown
Mother	nurse of Abdastartus

The dates given here are according to the work of F. M. Cross^[1] and other scholars^[2][3] who take 825 BC as the date of Dido’s flight from her brother Pygmalion, after which she founded the city of Carthage in 814 BC. See the chronological justification for these dates in the Pygmalion of Tyre article.

See also

• List of Kings of Tyre
• Pygmalion of Tyre

References

1. F. M. Cross, “An Interpretation of the Nora Stone,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 208 (Dec. 1972) 17, n. 11.
2. J. M. Peñuela, “La Inscripción Asiria IM 55644 y la Cronología de los Reyes de Tiro”, Sefarad 13 (1953, Part 1) 217-37; 14 (1954, Part 2) 1-39.
3. William H. Barnes, Studies in the Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991) 29-55.