Career
During his reign, Tyre expanded its power on the mainland, making all of Phoenicia its territory as far north as Beirut, including Sidon, and even a part of the island of Cyprus. At the same time, Tyre also built new overseas colonies: Botrys (now Batrun) near Byblos, and Auza in Libya. Primary information related to Ithobaal comes from Josephus’s citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18.
See the chronological justification for these dates in the Pygmalion article.
Ithobaal held close diplomatic contacts with king Ahab of Israel. In the 1 Kings passage, Ithobaal is labeled king of the Sidonians.
At this time Tyre and Sidon were consolidated into one kingdom. Menander’s further statement that her father was a murderer sheds some light on her choice of a way to solve the “Naboth” problem in 1 Kings 21.