Cedars of the Lord

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Coordinates: 34 ° 14 ′ 37 ″  N , 36 ° 2 ′ 54 ″  E

Part of the forest of the "cedars of the Lord"

The cedars of God ( Arabic أرز الربّ, DMG Arz ar-Rabb "Cedars of the Lord") are one of the last stocks of the Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani) in Wadi Qadischa , which was previously widespread in the Lebanon Mountains . Since ancient times, the Phoenicians , Egyptians , Assyrians , Babylonians , Persians , Romans , Israelites and Turks have used the durable wood for buildings, shipbuilding and, in the Ottoman period, also for railroad construction and cut down the stocks.

geography

Above Bischarri in Wadi Qadisha are the "Cedars of the Lord" on Mount Makmel . Some of these trees are believed to be the oldest in the region. The group of trees itself consists of 375 trees. The age is controversial. Two of them are said to be 3000 years old, ten other trees over 1000 years old. The cedars grow at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level . Four trees have a height of over 35 m and trunk circumference between 12 and 14 m. On a clear day you can see the Mediterranean Sea as far as Cyprus from the cedars. In winter the area is a popular ski area, in summer a popular destination for Lebanese and tourists.

history

The name goes back to a passage in the Bible ( Ps 104,16  LUT ).

The “Cedars of the Lord” survived the deforestation from the Phoenician and Roman times. Cedar wood was a coveted building material among the pharaohs, Assyrians and Israelites. Only a few cedar groves were spared by the loggers and were not cut down.

The Phoenicians used the cedar wood for their fleet. They were the first nation to have proven maritime trade. The Egyptians used cedar resin for the mummification process and the wood for some of the earliest hieroglyphic texts . The Bible mentions that Solomon made trade deals with King Hiram to build the Jerusalem Temple with cedar wood . The Roman Emperor Hadrian declared the forests to be imperial property, which meant that deforestation was temporarily curbed.

Protective ideas of modern times go back to the year 1876, when the 102 hectare forest was protected by a stone wall so that grazing goats would not eat the saplings. Queen Victoria paid the cost of the wall herself. During the First World War , however, British troops again used cedar wood for railroad construction.

Despite the ongoing exploitation, the cedar remains the symbol of Lebanon. The remaining trees survive in the mountainous regions.

Legends

It is said that there was once a battle for the beautiful trees between demigods and humans. The protector of the forest was the Sumerian god Enlil , who, however, lost the battle for the forest. Also Gilgamesh cedar wood used to build his city.

Lebanon cedar

Religious texts

Cedars also appear repeatedly in the Bible:

  • “Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedar trees!” Zech 11,1  KJV
  • “Its tail stretches like a cedar tree; the tendons of his thighs are tightly braided. ” Hi 40.17  ESV
  • “And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and crimson and throw them on the burning cow.” Num 19,6  KJV
  • “I want to grow cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees in the desert; I want to plant cypresses, boxwood and pines together in the steppe. ” Isa 11:19  ESV
  • “Behold, Assur was a cedar tree in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and dense foliage and very high, so that its top protruded into the clouds.” Ezek 31 : 3  NIV
  • "The trees of the Lord the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted are full of sap." Ps 104.16  LUT
  • "And the king [Solomon] made it so that there was in Jerusalem as much silver as stones and cedarwood as much as wild fig trees in the hill country." 1 Kings 10:27  NIV

literature

Alphonse de Lamartine visited the place during his trip to Lebanon (1832-1833) and mentioned the cedars several times. Henry Bordeaux wrote the story of Yamilé after visiting in 1922.

protection

The forest is strictly protected. It is possible to take guided tours. The Committee of the Friends of the Cedar Forest started a reforestation program in 1985.

In 1998 the Arz ar-Rab were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List .

gallery

  • Cedars03 (js) .jpg
  • Cedars19 (js) .jpg
  • Cedars24 (js) .jpg
  • Cedars25 (js) .jpg

See also

Commons : Cedars of the Lord  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/lebanon_cedar.htm
  2. ↑ a b c The Cedars
  3. ↑ http://www.cedarsforever.com/history.html
  4. ↑ a b c http://www.lebanon.com/tourism/cedars.htm
  5. ↑ a b History of the Cedars of Lebanon ( Memento from June 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Thomas Hutton Balfour: Cedar-Tree of Lebanon (Cedrus libani, Linn). In: Thomas Hutton Balfour: The Plants of the Bible. New and enlarged edition. Thomas Nelson and Sons, London et al. 1885, pp. 21-27 .
  7. ↑ Megan Bishop Moore: Cedar. In: David Noel Freedman (Ed.): Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids MI et al. 2000, ISBN 0-8028-2400-5 , p. 227 .

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