 The Cedar of
Lebanon has been a symbol of Lebanon since Biblical times
and in the 18th century the Maronites used a white flag
with a cedar tree in the centre, the white representing
purity and Lebanon's snow capped peaks. It seems that in
the First World War, Lebanese nationalists added the red
stripes, which serve two purposes, firstly they represent
the spilt blood of the Lebanese people who suffered
greatly in their struggle for independence and secondly,
red and white were the colours of the Lebanese Legion. The
Lebanese Legion was part of the Legion d'Orient which was
formed in 1916 by the French and was made up form
Christian volunteers from Armenia, Syria, and Lebanon. The
Lebanese Legion was the forerunner of the Lebanese Army.
After the First World War, when Lebanon was under
French mandate, the French tricolour was used with a cedar
tree in the middle. The constitution of Lebanon
promulgated on 23rd May 1926 said: 'Article 5: The
Lebanese flag is blue, white, red with a cedar in the
white section'. This article was changed on 7th December
1943 and the Lebanese flag was constitutionally adopted:
'The Lebanese flag is composed of three horizontal stripes
two red ones framing a white one. The top of the white
stripe is equal to double of each of the red stripes. In
the centre of the white stripe figures a green cedar tree
the width of which occupies the third of the latter and
which, at its top and base, touches each of the red
stripes'.
Various versions of the flag of Lebanon can be found as
the description of the tree can be interpreted on more
than one way. The tree could be totally green, it can have
a brown base, or it can have a brown base and branches. A
slightly smaller tree that does not touch the red stripes
is also common. It would seems that these variations in
the Lebanese flag are apt as they go some way to mirror
the diversity of the Lebanese people.
 The
Cedar:
The Cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus Libani, is an evergreen of
the family Pinaceae. This coniferous plant was first found
in Lebanon, on the Mount Lebanon range at Sannine, Barrouk,
and the eastern and western mountain chains. The tree
however is not only found in Lebanon, but forests of
Cedrus Libani grow in Cilicia, the Taurus Mountains,
Cyprus and Morocco, although many of these are considered
to be different races of the same species. The Mount
Lebanon chain used to be almost completely covered with
cedars. In addition, many handsome specimens are
cultivated in several countries of the world, notably in
England and in France.
Cedrus Libani possesses an imposing trunk that may
attain a height of 120 feet and a diameter of 9 feet. Such
a trunk is often branching and having a dense crown with
an inclined dark green head of characteristic flat growth
in adult trees. Secondary branchlets are often ramified
like a candelabra. Warberton, in his "Crescent and Cross",
described a Cedar of Lebanon with a trunk of 45 feet in
circumference. Burckhardt speaks of twelve very ancient
trees called the "Saints". These had four, five, and even
seven gigantic trunks" springing from the same base",
bearing, like American Sequoitas, leaves only at their
very tops. The bark of the Cedar of Lebanon is dark gray
and exudes a gum of balsam which makes the wound so
fragrant that to walk in a grove of cedars is an utmost
delight. The wood is astonishingly decay resistant and it
is never eaten by insect larvae. It is of a beautiful red
tone, solid, and free from knots.
The terminal shoots are erect or slightly inclined. The
tree blossoms in September or October, which is peculiar
to the genus Cedrus among the conifers. It bears cones
that require three years to mature. The cones is initially
tiny and palegreen. The second year it reaches its full
size that ranges between 3-4.5 inches in height and has a
characteristic violet purple color. In the third season it
turns into a rich brown and scatters its seeds, which are
minute, considering the size of the tree. The cones are
born upright on the upper side of the branches.
The bark of the Cedar of Lebanon is dark gray and
exudes a gum of balsam which makes the wound so fragrant
that to walk in a grove of cedars is an utmost delight.
The wood is astonishingly decay resistant and it is never
eaten by insect larvae. It is of a beautiful red tone,
solid, and free from knots.
The importance of the cedar of Lebanon to the various
civilizations is conveyed through its uses. The Egyptians
used its resin to mummify their deads and thus called it
the "life of death", and cedar sawdust was found in the
tombs of the Phaeros as well. Phaeros and Pagans had the
tradition of burning the cedar coming from Lebanon with
their offerings and in their ceremonies. Jew priests
however, were ordered by Moses to use the peel of the
Lebanese Cedar in circumcision and treatment of leprosy.
According to the Talmoud, Jews used to burn Lebanese
cedarwood on the mountain of olives announcing the
beginning of the new year.
The superb qualities of the cedarwood as beautiful
color, hardness, exquisite fragrance, resistance to
insects humidity and temperature, incited Phoenicians,
Egyptians, Greeks and many others to use it extensively.
The Phoenicians built their trade ship and military fleets
from cedarwood as well as the roofs of their temples,
houses and doorsills. Kings of neighboring and distant
countries asked for this wood to build their religious and
civil constructs; the most famous of which are the temple
of Jerusalem and David's and Solomon's Palaces. It was
also used in the temples and furniture works of the
Assyrians and Babylonians. Greeks, Latins and Romans had
their share of Cedar wood which they praise and have pride
in.
Throughout history, cedar wood, and such byproducts as
cedar oil, have proven to be worth far more money than
living trees, however beautiful they were. At the time of
Gilgamesh, Egypt has already cut (without replanting)
large amounts of cedar for ship construction and for
export. They contined the same tradition. Cedar cutting
prevailed under various administrations, up through the
time of the Ottomans. They finished off most of the
remaining forests by using cedar wood as fuel for railway
engines. They generally bypassed more easily obtainable
oak wood, since cedar (because of its oil content) burned
much better. The presently remaining cedar groves were
spared mainly because their regions were relatively
difficult to reach.
Cedrus Libani has been famous in Lebanon since early
written history. Many writers have been highly impressed
with the majestic aspects of the cedars, and have referred
to them metaphorically to indicate such qualities as
strength, beauty, endurance, grandeur, majesty, dignity,
lofty stature and noblesse. For instance, in the beautiful
"Song of Songs" in the Bible, the poetic description that
begins "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among
ten thousand ...," finishes with "... His countenance is
as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars." Cedar is mentioned
75 times in the Bible, and all are included in the old
testament -Tora- distributed among 18 books. Some of these
statements are: "The cedar in the heaven of God is
unmatched by cypress and unresembling in its branches...",
"the trees of God resemble the Cedars of Lebanon which he
planted", "the righteous flourish like the palm tree and
grows like the cedar in Lebanon", "my love is white and
red... bright as Lebanon and young as the cedars". The
cedar of Lebanon is also the main tool in the oldest epic
ever written by man -The Epic of Gilgamesh- a story from
the mesopotamia.The earliest reference is the Epic of
Gilgamesh, which dates back at least four thousand years
(Leonard Translation, slightly modernized):
"On the Mountain the cedars uplift their abundance.
Their shadow is beautiful, is all delight. Thistles hide
under them, and the dark prick-thorn, sweet smelling
flowers hide under the cedars ... In all directions, ten
thousand miles stretches that forest ..."
From the above, one gets the impression that the cedar
forests were extensive at that time. One reason for this
might be found in the description of the monster that
guards the forest:
"Who could dare enter? Khimbaba's below is storm wind,
His mouth is fire, his snort is death! Enlil has placed
him there To the terror of men, for warding the cedars.
And whoever enters the forest is suddenly faint".
Gilgamesh, of course, kills the monster commenting in
passing:
"I will set my hands to it and fell the cedars, I will
make myself a sounding name"
The Scriptures by Ezekiel illustrate beautifully how
these lofty kings of the forest were used by prophet
orators to symbolize and typify worldly might, power, and
glory. Thus one obrains a fair idea of the crowning
insolence of Sennacherib, the invader, when he boasted in
the year 700 B.C.: "I am come up the height of the
mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down
the tall cedars thereof".
Many writers throughout history have been highly
impressed with the majestic aspects of the cedars, and
have referred to them metaphorically to indicate such
qualities as strength, beauty, endurance, grandeur,
majesty, dignity, lofty stature and noblesse. For
instance, in the beautiful "Song of Songs" in the Bible,
the poetic description that begins "My beloved is white
and rubby, the chiefest among ten thousand ...," finishes
with "... His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the
cedars."
In his book, "The Natural History of the Bible",
Tristan says of the cedars: "... Everyone who has seen
these noble trees recognizes the force of the majestic
imagery of the prophets. With their gnarled and contorted
stems and scaly bark, with their massive branches, with
their dark green leaves shot with silver in the sunlight,
as they stand a lovely group in the stupendous mountani
amphitheater, the assert their title to the monarchs of
the forests".
To end this unfulfilling account of Cedrus Libani, it
seems only right to refer to Khalil Gibran's book "A tear
and a smile" where he says: "My love is as the cedars,
beloved, and the elements shall not conquer it."
Throughout history, cedar wood, and such byproducts as
cedar oil, have proven to be worth far more money than
living trees, however beautiful they were. At the time of
Gilgamesh, Egypt has already cut (without replanting)
large amounts of cedar for ship construction and for
export. They contined the same tradition. Cedar cutting
prevailed under various administrations, up through the
time of the Ottomans. They finished off most of the
remaining forests by using cedar wood as fuel for railway
engines. They generally bypassed more easily obtainable
oak wood, since cedar (because of its oil content) burned
much better. The presently remaining cedar groves were
spared mainly because their regions were relatively
difficult to reach.
The cedar of Lebanon is a plant of cold high
mountainous regions. It flourishes and easily regenerates
its forests where the average rainfall ranges between 800
and 190 mm. The average temperatures that occur in the
land of the cedar are as follows: as low as -4.5 to 5.4 C
on the coldest month i.e. January, and as high as 21.8 to
34.3 C in the warmest month i.e. August.
Growing cedars from seeds or seedlings is an incredibly
easy task provided that favorable conditions for growth be
available. These conditions can be limited to two: water
and soil nutriments. Cedars favor rich soils with high
organic matter; so poor soils must be enriched simply by
adding livestock manure and ploughing it into the soil.
This procedure can be repeated every year. Water on the
other hand is the second critical growth factor, if
limited growth will halt and dryness would occur leading
to the death of branches or the whole tree. So water must
be sufficiently supplied especially during the hot season.
Sufficient watering means that water should reach the deep
layers of soil where cedar roots reside and this can be
accomplished by watering slowly for long periods of time.
In conclusion, and contrary to the common beliefs, cedars
can grow significantly fast but only when their water and
nutrient requirements are answered.
Many tree species, such as the Maple, Acer tauricolum;
the Wild prine, Prunus ursinus; and the high Juniper,
Juniperus excelsa are associated with dedar forests in
Lebanon. The most prominent are oak trees such as the
Evergreen Oak, Quercus Calliprinus; Cyprus Oak, Q.
infectoria; Turkey Oak, Q. cerris; Cedar Oak, Q. cedrorum;
and Lebanon Oak, Q. pinnatifida.
Other trees ad shrubs exist as associated species, or
as neighboring forms that outline the cedar forests. Some
of these are the Juniper, Juniperus oxycedrus; the
Mountain Ash, Sorbus torminalis; The Medlar, Cotoneaster
nummularifolia; and the Cilician fir, Abies cilicia. The
most characteristic species of the underbrush are the
Lebanon Vetchling, Lathyrus Libani; the Lebanon Crane's
Bill, Geranium Libanotica and numerous Astragalus, Lotus
and Rosa species
For many hundreds of years the Cedar of Lebanon has
been the national emblem of Lebanon.
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