HIRAM. — Name of kings and other persons of Tyre who were connected with Israel.
1. King of Tyre (Heb. Hirām; Hirām in I Reg. 5:24; Hirām in I Par. 14:1 qērē), who at the time of the capture of Jerusalem sent David an embassy of homage, bearing cedarwood as a gift and accompanied by a group of craftsmen who «built a house for David» (I Sam. 5:11). When Solomon succeeded David, the Phoenician hastened to send a new delegation to Jerusalem: on that occasion Solomon began the negotiations set out in I Reg. 5, in order to obtain the skilled workers and the supply of cedars and firs from Lebanon required for the construction of the Temple and the royal palace. To the Phoenician craftsmen (I Reg. 5:18), Solomon added a large number of local laborers (I Reg. 5:6, 13 ff.; 9:20-21); as for the timber, H. had it felled and transported from the mountains to the sea, and from there on rafts as far as Jaffa, whence Solomon’s workers had it carried onward to Jerusalem. Solomon paid H. in kind (I Reg. 5:11), but later, in order to settle his debt, he also had to hand over to him a tract of land in Galilee containing 20 inhabited settlements (I Reg. 9:10-14). When Solomon then wished to have a fleet for long-distance voyages (the «ships of Tarshish»), H. once again supplied him with sailors to direct and train the Israelite personnel (I Reg. 9:27).
(phot. Fides)
3. Another king of Tyre (Assyrian Hurummu), mentioned among the tributaries of Tiglath-pileser III (Annals, l. CLI, in H. Grossmann, Altor. Texte, 2nd ed., Berlin and Leipzig 1926, p. 346), after the victory of 738 B.C. over the anti-Assyrian league led by Azrijau of Jaudi, in northwestern Syria.