Sea salt coats the timber planks of ships docking at the Phoenician coast. Oars strip the water as trade vessels arrive from Tarshish bearing silver, iron, tin, and lead. The Mediterranean winds carry the smell of raw ivory and woven linen from Egypt into the twin harbors of the island center. Merchant sailors offload freight onto stone piers to fuel a massive commercial empire built directly on the water.
The island fortress sits about half a mile off the coast of modern Lebanon. In 586 b.c. Babylonian forces under King Nebuchadnezzar II initiated a siege against the city that lasted 13 years. Babylonian military records verify the prolonged campaign against this naval stronghold. The island relied on its defensive walls and its two maritime ports to endure the blockade and maintain supply lines across the sea.
The shipyards of the city utilized massive cedar trunks cut from the nearby mountains to construct the masts of their trading vessels. Shipwrights shaped oak from Bashan into heavy oars and carved benches from ivory inlaid in boxwood. These physical materials transformed the island into a central hub of global commerce. Heavy cargo holds carried raw metal and finished textiles across thousands of miles of open water.
An overloaded hull splits fastest when the eastern wind hits.
The eastern wind strikes the overloaded merchant fleet. Babylonian forces fracture the mainland settlements and cut off the timber supply lines. The deep waters swallow the raw goods and the sailors who commanded the trade routes. The island stands isolated as the wreckage of its commercial dominance washes up against the stone seawalls.