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In July 332 Alexander the Great halted his advance on Egypt to lay siege to Tyre. Due to the strength of the city's defences and navy he was unable to move further south leaving the hostile Tyrians behind him. In order to capture the city, Alexander had to construct an artifical mole to link the mainland with the Phoenician city on the island of Tyre. After months of hard-fought battles, Tyre was eventually conquered and its citizens massacred. Alexander then continued his march to the south. Today sand has drifted up against Alexander's mole to create a wide peninsula of land which is now covered in housing (pictured). In the foreground of this photograph, you can just make out the remnants of the breakwaters of the southern, or Egyptian harbour of Tyre.
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