The mutilated Cedars of the Lord

An ancient tree in the Cedars of the Lord forest. Photo by David Lansing.

The Cedar of Lebanon is the most famous tree in the Middle East. Wood from these trees were used to build the original Temple of Solomon (they are mentioned in the Old Testament) and some say Noah built his ark from these trees. Today, there are only a few groves left, due to the deforestation that has taken place over the last milennia. A few trees are now being planted, but it will be centuries before this exceptionally slow growing species matures (it takes at least 40 years before it can even produce fertile seeds).

Some of the trees we saw in the Cedars of the Lord forest near Bcharré were thought to be well over 1,000 years old. I found them to be a melancholy bunch, often sitting isolated in a patch of snow, many of their limbs chopped off. They say there are very strict rules about taking any timber from these remaining trees (some 400 plus) and that the souvenirs you see in stalls up and down the road beside the cedar groves are made only from fallen branches.

I don’t know. What I saw were dozens of sacred cedars who looked like multiple amputees coming home from a horrendous war. Look at the tree in the photo above. This is an old man, a tree that began its growth when Muslims conquered Jerusalem, William of Normandy invaded England, and Genghis Khan terrorized the Chinese. Now the poor old guy has a flat top and just a few limbs left. You can see the scars up and down his trunk. Do you really think all those missing limbs were the result of fallen branches?

The fact is, the people here—like most Lebanese—have a difficult life. And many locals depend on the “fallen limbs” from the ancient cedar trees to make the tchotchkes—wall clocks, name plates, round ashtrays with bark all around—they sell to tourists. This is how they make a living. I suppose to them cutting off a branch with a slight crack in it from a windstorm is like the Masai in Kenya bleeding one of their cows; the organism survives and sustenance is provided.