Tyre was founded on an offshore island. Alexander the Great constructed a causeway during his siege of the city, and the island became a peninsula. Excavations have been carried out at two sites in Tyre: al-Mina site (or City site) on the southern part of the former island, and al-Bass site where the isthmus joins the mainland.

King David contracted with Hiram, the king of Tyre, to supply cedar of Lebanon for David’s palace and for the Jerusalem temple (2 Sam 5:11; 1 Kgs 5:1). When the second temple was built, Joshua and Zerubbabel also imported cedar logs from Tyre and Sidon (Ezra 3:7). Tyre was the object of lengthy oracles by the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa 23; Ezek 26–28), and was one of eight nations condemned in the opening oracles of the prophet Amos (Amos 1:9-10).

The hippodrome, or Roman circus, was built in the 2nd century AD. It is 1,575 feet (480 m) long and 525 feet (160 m) wide, making it the second largest hippodrome, after the Circus Maximus in Rome. Before excavation, the hippodrome had been buried under 20 feet (6 m) of windblown sand. It had an estimated capacity of 20,000 spectators.

The sandstone Monumental Arch dates to the 2nd century AD and stands 65 feet (20 m) high. Beneath it passes the main Roman road leading into the city. The road was lined by a colonnade, pedestrian sidewalks, and the aqueduct with carried water from Ras el-Ain on the mainland.