Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-09-13
MODERN LEBANON CEDARS.


MODERN LEBANON CEDARs.
Survivors Of the Groves That Are
Celebrated In Biblical History.
At an elevation of about 5000 feet
above the sea, on the left Of the road to
Baalbek. is a group of the noblest spe-
cimens of the vegetable kingdom in
the east, which are believed to be thou
sands of years old and the remnant OF
the far-famed cedars Of Lebanon, of
which David and Solomon sang, and
from which came the timber for the
temple.
Djebel-el-Arz (the mountain of the
cedars). which rises ITO feet, Is gener-
ally covered with snow, and today Is
draped in a mantle of unusual thick
ness, which trails way into the forest
and the foothills; for there were Il
heavy rain and sharp frost last night.
AS I have explained before, the term
Mount Lebanon is misleading. There
is no peak of that name, which Is ap
piled to lofty range with several con-
spicuous SUBMITS extending about 1Oc
miles from the neighborhood Of Da.
mascus to the sea and being about %
miles broad from base to base. The
most elevated peaks are those that I
have just named, Mount Hermon, 1888
feet. Daharel-Kudhib, 10000 feet: Jebel-
Makmai, 1O,O16: Ell Miskych, 10.O37;
Funnel Mizab, $500; Sannin. $500 feet.
These peaks are broken by rugged
ridges. precipitous cliffs and deep gorg-
es. A parallel range, which does not
reach so great a height, is known as
Anti-Lebanon.
OF all the mighty forests which for
merly covered the slopes of Lebanon
at an altitude Of $500 feet and are
limited in area, the loftiest trees and
those most celebrated for their antiqui-
ty are found near the town of Becherre
at an altitude of $500 feet and are
known as 1.-THE Cedars Of God'-"The
Cedars of Lebanon which He hath
planted" and according to the botan-
lists who count their age by the circles
in their trunks. they are 5000 or 1000
years old. Like the immortal cliffs that
tower above them, they have watched
the passage of a procession of kings
down the centuries led by David, Sol
omon and Hiram, with a rearguard
commanded by Kaiser William II, Of
Germany.
They are not so large nor so lofty
as the great trees of California, but
their antiquity and associations make
them the most sacred and the most In
teresting groves in the world, and pill
grims come here to worship them. The
best authorities are sure that we make
no mistake when We revere them as
the survivors of that forest whence
Hiram obtained the timber for Solo
mons temple. The logs must have
been carried down to the coast by
hand, conveyed by sea in RATS to Jaffa
and thence carried over the mountains
to Jerusalem.
1t is said that 10000 men were at
work in the forest for IL years and re-
lieved each other every month in bodies
of 10000 men, who were organized and
managed like an army. David obtain
ed here the timber for his palace. and
Zebubbabel in constructing the second
temple. The timbers in the temple OF
Diana at Ephesus and in the temples
at Baalbek came from the same for
ests, and we know that the Phoenicians
shipped much cedar to Greece, to Egypt
and to other places on the coast of the
Mediterranean, not only before but for
centuries after the days of Hiram. the
mighty King Of Tyre.
The remaining forest consists Of
about 400 trees. The tallest exceeds
100 feet and the largest is 56 feet in
circumference.
In the midst Of the forest Is a small
chapel in which the Maronites worship
and where they hold great feasts on
the anniversary Of the TRANSPORTATION
and other ecclesiastical holidays. Be-
low the forest is beautiful lake about
half a mile in length and quarter Of
a mile in breadth, fed by tnnumerab!e
springs that gush from the surrounding
rocks. Upon the bank was once tenn
Pile to Venus, and according to mytho-
logy (and the same story Is told Of the
Egyptian goddess Isis), that amiable
lady took refuge here when she fled
from the Typhon who had killed Adon-
is. and transformed herself into fish.
Her daughter, Dercetis, was her COM
panion, and suffered a similar fate
Chicago Record-Herald.