Abdastartus (Phoenician: 𐤏𐤁𐤃𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 ’bd’štrt, possibly pronounced akin to ’Abd-’Ashtart) was a king of Tyre, son of Baal-Eser I (Beleazarus) and grandson of Hiram I. The only information available about Abdastartus comes from the following citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Josephus's Against Apion i.18:
| Abdastartus | |
|---|---|
| King of Tyre | |
| Reign | 929 – 921 BC |
| Predecessor | Baal-Eser I (Beleazarus I, Ba‘l-mazzer I) 946 – 930 BC |
| Successor | Astartus (‘Ashtart) 920 – 901 BC |
| Born | 950 BC Tyre, presumed |
| Died | 921 or 920 BC |
| Dynasty | Dynasty of Abibaal and Hiram I |
| Father | Baal-Eser I (Beleazarus I, Ba‘l-mazzer I) |
| Mother | unknown |
Upon the death of Hirom, Beleazarus his son took the kingdom; he lived forty-three years, and reigned seven years: after him succeeded his son Abdastartus; he lived twenty-nine years, and reigned nine years. Now four sons of his nurse plotted against him and slew him.
Therefore, according to Menander/Josephus, Abdastartus began to reign seven years after the death of his grandfather, Hiram I. The dating of Hiram and the following kings is based on the studies of J. Liver,[1] J. M. Peñuela,[2] F. M. Cross,[3] and William H. Barnes,[4] all of whom build on the inscriptional evidence of a synchronism between Baal-Eser II and Shalmaneser III in 841 BC.[5] Earlier studies that did not take this inscriptional evidence into consideration will have differing dates for the kings of Tyre.