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LEBANON (from Semitic laban, " to be ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 349 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LEBANON (from Semitic laban, " to be See also:white," or " whitish," probably referring not to See also:snow, but to the See also:bare white walls ofchalk or See also:limestone which See also:form the characteristic feature of the whole range)  , in its widest sense is the central See also:mountain masts of See also:Syria, extending for about See also:loo m. from N.N.E. to S.S.W . It is bounded W. by the See also:sea, N. by the See also:plain Jun Akkar, beyond which rise the mountains of the Ansarieh, and E. by the inland See also:plateau of Syria, mainly See also:steppe-See also:land . To the See also:south See also:Lebanon ends about the point where the See also:river See also:Litany bends westward„ and at Banias . A valley narrowing towards its See also:southern and, and now called the Buka'a, divides the mountainous See also:mass into two See also:great parts . That lying to the See also:west is still called See also:Jebel Libnan; the greater See also:part of the eastern mass now bears the name of the Eastern Mountain (Jebel el-Sharki) . In See also:Greek the western range was called Libanos, the eastern Antilibanos . The southern See also:extension of the latter, See also:Mount See also:Hermon (q.v.), may in many respects be treated as a See also:separate mountain . Lebanon and See also:Anti-Lebanon have many features in See also:common; in both the southern portion is less arid and barren than the See also:northern, the western valleys better wooded and more fertile than the eastern . In See also:general the See also:main elevations of the two ranges See also:form pairs lying opposite one another; the forms of both ranges are monotonous, but the colouring is splendid, especially when viewed from a distance; when seen See also:close at See also:hand only a few valleys with perennial streams offer pictures of landscape beauty, their See also:rich See also:green contrasting pleasantly with the See also:bare See also:brown and yellow mountain sides . The finest scenery is found in N . Lebanon, in the Maronite districts of Kesrawan and Bsherreh, where the See also:gorges are veritable canyons, and the villages are often very picturesquely situated . The south of the See also:chain is more open and undulating .

Anti-Lebanon is the barest and most inhospitable part of the See also:

system . The See also:district west of Lebanon, averaging about 20 m. in breadth, slopes in an intricate See also:series of plateaus and terraces to the Mediterranean . The See also:coast is for the most part abrupt and rocky, often leaving See also:room for only a narrow path along the See also:shore, and when viewed from the sea it does not suggest the extent of See also:country lying between its cliffs and the lofty summits behind . Most of the mountain spurs run from See also:east to west, but in northern Lebanon the prevailing direction of the valleys is See also:north-See also:westerly, and in the south some ridges run parallel with the See also:principal chain . The valleys have for the most part been deeply excavated by mountain streams; the apparently inaccessible heights are crowned by numerous villages, castles or cloisters embosomed among trees . The See also:chief perennial streams, beginning from the north, are the Nahr Akkar, N . Arka, N. el-Barid, N . Kadisha, " the See also:holy river " (the valley of which begins in the immediate neighbourhood of the highest summits, and rapidly descends in a series of great bends till the river reaches the sea at See also:Tripoli), See also:Wadi el-Joz (falling into the sea at Batrun), Wadi Fidar, Nahr See also:Ibrahim (the See also:ancient See also:Adonis, having its source in a See also:recess of the great mountain See also:amphitheatre where the famous See also:sanctuary Apheca, the See also:modern Afka, See also:lay), Nahr el-Kelb (the ancient Lycus), Nahr See also:Beirut (the ancient Magoras, entering the sea at Beirut), Nahr Damur (ancient Tamyras), Nahr el-'Auwali (the ancient Bostrenus, which in the upper part of its course is joined by the Nahr el-Baruk) . The `Auwali and the Nahr el-Zaherani, the only other considerable streams before we reach the Litany, flow north-east to south-west, in consequence of the interposition of a See also:ridge subordinate and parallel to the central chain . On the north, where the mountain bears the See also:special name of Jebel Akkar, the main ridge of Lebanon rises gradually from the plain . A number of valleys run to the north and north-east, among them that of the Nahr el-Kebir, the Eleutherus of the ancients, which rises in the Jebel el-Abiad on the eastern slope of Lebanon, and afterwards, skirting the district, flows westward to the sea . South of Jebel el-Abiad, beneath the main ridge, which as a See also:rule falls away suddenly towards the east, occur several small elevated terraces having a southward slope; among these are the Wadi en-Nusur (" vale of eagles "), and the See also:basin of the See also:lake Yammuna, with its intermittent See also:spring Neb'a el-Arba'in .

Of the streams which descend into the Buka`a, the Berdani rises in Jebel Sunnin, and enters the plain by a deep and picturesque mountain cleft at Zahleh . The most elevated summits occur in the north, but even these are of very See also:

gentle gradient . The " See also:Cedar See also:block " consists of a See also:double See also:line of four and three summits respectively, ranged from north to south, with a deviation of about 35 ° . Those to the east are 'Uyun Urghush, Makmal, Muskiyya (or Naha' esh-Shemaila) and See also:Ras Zahr el-Kazib; fronting the sea are Kam Sauda or Timarun, Fumm el-Mizab and Zahr el-Kandil . The height of Zahr el-Kazib, by barometric measurement, is lo,o18 ft.; that of the others dces not reach io,000 ft . South from them is the pass (8351 ft.) which leads from See also:Baalbek to Tripoli; the great mountain amphitheatre on the west See also:side of its See also:summit is remarkable . Farther south is a second See also:group of lofty summits—the See also:snow-capped Sunnin. visible from Beirut; its height is 8482 ft . Between this group and the more southerly Jebel Keniseh (about 6700 ft.) lies the pass (4700 ft.) traversed by the See also:French See also:post road between Beirut and See also:Damascus . Among the bare summits still farther south are the See also:long ridge of Jebel el-Baruk (about 7000 ft.), the Jebel Niha, with the Tau'amat Niha (about 6100 ft.), near which is a pass to See also:Sidon, and the Jebel Rihan (about S400 ft.) . The Buka'a, the broad valley which separates Lebanon from Anti-Lebanon, is watered by two See also:rivers having their See also:watershed near Baalbek, at an See also:elevation of about 3600 ft., and separated only by a See also:short mile at their See also:sources . That flowing northwards, El-'Asi, is the ancient See also:Orontes (q.v.) ; the other is the Litany . In the See also:lower part of its course the latter has scooped out a deep and narrow rocky See also:bed; at Burghuz it is spanned by a great natural See also:bridge .

Not. far from the point where it suddenly trends to the west he, immediately above the romantic valley, at an elevation of 1500 ft., the imposing ruins of the old See also:

castle Kal'at esh-Shakif, near one of the passes to Sidon . In its lower part the Litany bears the name of Nahr el-Kasimiya . Neither the Orontes nor the Litany has any important affluent . The Buka'a used to be known as Coelesyria (See also:Strabo. xvi . 2, 21) ; but that word as employed by the ancients had a much more extensive application . At See also:present its full name is Buka'a el-'Aziz (the dear Buka'a), and its northern portion is known as Sahlet Ba'albek (the plain of Baalbek) . The valley is from 4 to 6 m. broad, with an undulating See also:surface . The Anti-Lebanon chain has been less fully explored than that of Lebanon . Apart from its southern offshoots it is 67 m. long, while its width varies from 16 to 132 m . It rises from the plain of Hasya-See also:Homs, and in its northern portion is very arid . The range has not so many offshoots as occur on the west side of Lebanon; under its precipitous slopes stretch table-lands and broad plateaus, which, especially on the east side looking towards the steppe, steadily increase in width . Along the western side of northern Anti-Lebanon stretches the Khasha'a, a rough red region lined with See also:juniper trees, a See also:succession of the hardest See also:limestone crests and ridges, bristling with bare See also:rock and See also:crag that shelter tufts of vegetation, and are divided by a succession of grassy ravines .

On the eastern side the parallel valley of 'Asal el-See also:

Ward deserves special mention the descent towards the plain eastwards, as seen for example at Ma'lula, is singular—first a spacious amphitheatre and then two deep very narrow gorges . Few perennial streams take their rise in Anti-Lebanon; one of the finest and best watered valleys is that of Helbun, the ancient Chalybon, the Helbon of Ezek. See also:xxvii . 18 . The highest points of the range, reckoning from the north, are Halimat el-Kabu (8257 ft.), which has a splendid view; the Fatli block, including Tal'at Musa (8721 ft.) and the adjoining Jebel Nebi Baruh (7900 ft.); and a third group near Bludan, In which the most prominent names are Shakif, Akhyar and See also:Abu'1-Hin (8330 ft.) . Of the valleys descending westward the first to claim mention is the Wadi Yafufa; a little farther south, lying north and south, is the rich upland valley of Zebedani, where the Barada has its highest sources . Pursuing an easterly course, this stream receives the See also:waters of the romantic 'See also:Ain Fije (which doubles its See also:volume), and bursts out by a rocky gateway upon the plain of Damascus, in the See also:irrigation of which it is the chief See also:agent . It is the See also:Abana of 2 See also:Kings v . 12; the portion of Anti-Lebanon traversed by it was also called by the same name (See also:Canticles iv . 8) . From the point where the southerly continuation of Anti-Lebanon begins to take a more westerly direction, a See also:low ridge shoots out towards the south-west, trending farther and farther away from the eastern chain and narrowing the Buka'a; upon the eastern side of this ridge lies the elevated valley or hilly stretch known as Wadi et-Teim . In the north, beside 'Ain Faluj, it is connected by .a low watershed with the Buka'a; from the See also:gorge of the Litany it is separated by the ridge of Jebel See also:eel-Dahr . At its southern end it contracts and merges into the plain of Banias, thus enclosing Mount Hermon on its north-west and west sides; eastward from the Hasbany See also:branch of the See also:Jordan lies the meadow-land Merj 'Iyun, the ancient Ijon (1 Kings xv .

20) . Vegetation.—The western slope of Lebanon has the common characteristics of the See also:

flora of the Mediterranean coast, but the Anti-Lebanon belongs to the poorer region of the See also:steppes, and the Mediterranean See also:species are met with only sporadically along the See also:water-courses . See also:Forest and pasture land do not properly exist: the See also:place of the first is for the most part taken by a low brushwood; grass is not plentiful, and the higher ridges maintain alpine See also:plants only so long as patches of snow continue to See also:lie . The rock walls See also:harbour some rock plants, but many absolutely barren wildernesses of See also:stone occur . (1) On the western slope, to a height of 1600 ft., is the coast region, similar to that of Syria in general and of the south of See also:Asia See also:Minor . Characteristic trees are the See also:locust See also:tree and the stone See also:pine; in Melia Azedarach and Ficus Sycomorus (Beirut) is an admixture of See also:foreign and partially subtropical elements . The great mass of the vegetation, however is of the low-growing type (maquis or garrigue of the western Mediterranean), with small and stiff leaves, and frequently thorny and aromatic, as for example the ilex (Quercus coccifera), Smilax, Cistus, Lentiscus, Calycotome, &c . (2) Next comes, from 1600 to 6500 ft., the mountain region, which may also be called the forest region, still exhibiting sparse woodsand isolated trees wherever shelter, moisture and the inhabitants have permitted their growth . From i600 to 3200 ft. is a See also:zone of See also:dwarf hard-leaved oaks, amongst which occur the See also:Oriental forms Fonlanesia phillyraeoides, Acer syriacum and the beautiful red-stemmed Arbutus Andrachne . Higher up, between 3700 and 4200 ft., a tall pine, Pinus Brutia, is characteristic . Between 4200 and 6200 ft. is the region of the two most interesting forest trees of Lebanon, the See also:cypress and the cedar . The former still grows thickly, especially in the valley of the Kadisha; the See also:horizontal is the prevailing variety .

In the upper Kadisha valley there is a cedar See also:

grove of about three See also:hundred trees, amongst which five are of gigantic See also:size . (See also CEDAR.) The cypress and cedar zone exhibits a variety of other See also:leaf-bearing and coniferous trees; of the first may be mentioned several oaks—Quercus subalpina (Kotschy), Q . Cerris and the See also:hop-See also:hornbeam (Ostrya) ; of the second class the rare Cilician See also:silver See also:fir (Abies cilicica) may be noticed . Next come the junipers, sometimes attaining the size of trees (Juniperus excelsa, J. rufescens and, with See also:fruit as large as plums, J. drupacea) . But the chief See also:ornament of Lebanon is the See also:Rhododendron ponticum, with its brilliant See also:purple See also:flower clusters; a See also:peculiar See also:evergreen, Vinca libanotica, also adds beauty to this zone . (3) Into the alpine region (6200 to 10,400 ft.) penetrate a few very stunted oaks (Quercus subalpina), the junipers already mentioned and a See also:barberry (Berberis cretica), which sometimes spreads into close thickets . Then follow the low, dense, prone, See also:pillow-like dwarf bushes, thorny and See also:grey, common to the Oriental See also:highlands—Astragalus and the peculiar Acantholimon . They are found to within 300 ft. of the highest summits . Upon the exposed mountain slopes a species of See also:rhubarb (Rheum Ribes) is noticeable, and also a See also:vetch (Vicia canescens) excellent for See also:sheep . The spring vegetation, which lasts until See also:July, appears to be rich, especially as regards showy plants, such as Corydalis, Gagea, See also:Colchicum, Puschkinia, See also:Geranium, Ornithogalurn, &c . The flora of the highest ridges, along the edges of the snow patches, exhibits no forms related to the northern alpine flora, but suggestions of it are found in a Draba, an Androsace, an Alsine and a See also:violet, occurring, however, only in See also:local species . Upon the highest summits are found Saponaria Pumilio (resembling our Silene acaulis) and varieties of Galium, See also:Euphorbia, Astragalus, See also:Veronica, Jurinea, Festuca, Scrophularia, Geranium, Asphodeline, See also:Allium, Asperula; and, on the margins of the snow See also:fields, a See also:Taraxacum and See also:Ranunculus demissus .

The alpine flora of Lebanon thus connects itself directly with the Oriental flora of lower altitudes, and is unrelated to the glacial flora of See also:

Europe and northern Asia . See also:Zoology.—There is nothing of special See also:interest about the See also:fauna of Lebanon . Bears are no longer numerous; the See also:panther and the See also:ounce are met with; the See also:wild hog, hyaena, See also:wolf and See also:fox are by no means rare; jackals and gazelles are very common . The See also:polecat and See also:hedgehog also occur . As a rule there are not many birds, but the See also:eagle and the See also:vulture may occasionally be seen; of eatable kinds partridges and wild pigeons are the most abundant . See also:Population.--In the following sections the Lebanon proper will alone be considered, without reference to Anti-Lebanon, because the peculiar See also:political status of the former range since 1364 has effectually differentiated it; whereas the Anti-Lebanon still forms an integral part of the See also:Ottoman See also:province of Syria (q.v.), and neither its population nor its See also:history is readily distinguishable from those of the surrounding districts . . The See also:total population in the Lebanon proper is about 400,000, and is increasing faster than the development of the province will admit . There is consequently much See also:emigration, the See also:Christian surplus going mainly to See also:Egypt, and to See also:America, the See also:Druses to the latter country and to the Hauran . The emigrants to America, however, usually return after making See also:money, build new houses and See also:settle down . The singularly complex population is composed of Christians, See also:Maronites, and Orthodox Eastern and Uniate; of Moslems, both Sunni and Shiah (Metawali); and of Druses . (a) Maronites (q.v.) form about three-fifths of the whole and have the north of the Mountain almost to themselves, while even in the south, the old Druse stronghold, they are now numerous . See also:Feudalism is practically See also:extinct among them and with the decline of the Druses, and the great stake they have acquired in See also:agriculture, they have laid aside much of their warlike See also:habit together with their arms .

Phoenix-squares

Even their See also:

instinct of See also:nationality is being sensibly impaired by their See also:gradual assimilation to the Papal See also:Church, whose agents exercise from Beirut an increasing See also:influence on their ecclesiastical elections and church See also:government . They are strong also in the Buka'a, and have colonies in most of the Syrian cities . (b) Orthodox Eastern form a little more than one-eighth of the whole, and are strongest in S . Lebanon (Metn and Kurah districts) . Syrians by See also:race and Arab-speaking, they are descendants of those " Melkites " who took the side of the See also:Byzantine church in the See also:time of Justinian II. against the Moslems and eventually the Maronites . They are among the most progressive of the Lebanon elements . (c) Greek Uniate are less numerous, forming little more than one-twelfth, but are equally progressive . Their headquarters is Zahleh; but they are found also in strength in Metn and Jezzin, where they help to counterbalance Druses . They sympathize with the baronites against the Orthodox Eastern, and, like both, are of Syrian race, and Arab speech . (d) Sunnite Moslems are a weak See also:element, strongest in Shuf and Kurah, and composed largely of Druse renegades and " Druse " families, which, like the Shehab, were of Arab extraction and never conformed to the creed of Hamza . (e) Shiite Moslems outnumber the Sunni, and make about one t wenty-fifth of the whole . They are called Metawali and are strongest in North Lebanon (Kesrawan and Batrun), but found also in the south, in Buka'a and in the coast-towns from Beirut to See also:Acre .

They are said to be descendants of See also:

Persian tribes; but the fact is very doubtful, and they may be at least as aboriginal as the Maronites, and a remnant of an old Incarnationist population which did not accept See also:Christianity, and kept its heretical See also:Islam See also:free from those influences which modified Druse creed . They own a chief See also:sheikh, See also:resident at Jeba'a, and have the reputation, like most heretical communities in the Sunni part of the Moslem See also:world, of being exceedingly fanatical and inhospitable . It is undoubtedly the See also:case that they are suspicious of strangers and defiant of interference . Another small See also:body of See also:Shiites, the Ismailites (Assassins (q.v.) of the crusading See also:chronicles), also said to be of Persian origin, live about Kadmus at the extreme N. of Lebanon, but outside the limits of the privileged province . They are about 9000 strong . (f) Druses (q.v.), now barely an eighth of the whole and confined to Shuf and Metn in S . Lebanon, are tending to emigrate or conform to Sunni Islam . Since the See also:establishment of the privileged province they have lost the Ottoman support which used to compensate for their numerical inferiority as compared with the Christians; and they are fast losing also their old habits and distinctiveness . No longer armed or wearing their former singular See also:dress, the remnant of them in Lebanon seems likely ere long to be assimilated to the " Osmanli " Moslems . Their See also:feud with the Maronites, whose accentuation in the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century was largely due to the tergiversations of the ruling Shehab See also:family, now reduced to low See also:estate, is dying away, but they retain something of their old See also:clan feeling and feudal organization, especially in Shuf . The mixed population, as a whole, displays the usual characteristics of mountaineers, See also:fine physique and vigorous See also:independent spirit; but its ancient truculence has given way before strong government See also:action since the middle 19th century, and the great increase of agricultural pursuits, to which the purely See also:pastoral are now quite secondary . The culture of the mulberry and See also:silk, of See also:tobacco, of the See also:olive and See also:vine, of many kinds of fruits and cereals, has See also:expanded enormously, and the Lebanon is now probably the most productive region in See also:Asiatic See also:Turkey in proportion to its See also:area .

It exports largely through Beirut and Saida, using. both the French railway which crosses S . Lebanon on its way to Damascus, and the excellent roads and See also:

mule-paths made since 1883 . Lebanon has thick deposits of See also:lignite See also:coal, but of inferior quality owing to the presence of See also:iron See also:pyrites . The abundant iron is little worked . Manufactures are of small See also:account, the raw material going mostly to the coast ; but olive-oil is made, together with various wines, of which the most famous is the vino d'oro, a sweet liqueur-like beverage . This See also:wine is not exported in any quantity, as it will not See also:bear a voyage well and is not made to keep . See also:Bee-keeping is general, and there is an export of eggs to Egypt . History.—The inhabitants of Lebanon have at no time played a conspicuous part in history . There are remains of prehistoric occupation, but we do not even know what races dwelt there in the See also:historical See also:period of antiquity . Probably they belonged chiefly to the Aramaean group of nationalities; the See also:Bible mentions See also:Hivites (See also:Judges iii . 3) and Giblites (See also:Joshua xiii . 5); Lebanon was included within the ideal boundaries of the land of See also:Israel, and the whole region was well known to the See also:Hebrews, by whose poets its many excellences are often praised .

How far the Phoenicians had any effective See also:

control over it is unknown; the See also:absence of their monuments does not argue much real See also:jurisdiction . Nor apparently did the Greek Seleucid See also:kingdom have much to do with the Mountain . In the See also:Roman period the district of Phoenice extended to Lebanon . In the 2nd century, with the inland districts, it constituted a subdivision of the province of Syria, having Emesa (Homs)for its See also:capital . From the time of See also:Diocletian there was a Phoenice ad Libanum, with Emesa as capital, as well as a Phoenice Maritime of which See also:Tyre was the chief See also:city . Remains of the Roman period occur through-out Lebanon . By the 6th century it was evidently virtuallyindependent again; its Christianization had begun with the See also:immigration of Monothelite sectaries, flying from persecution in the See also:Antioch district and Orontes valley . At all times Lebanon has been a place of See also:refuge for unpopular See also:creeds . Large part of the mountaineers took up Monothelism and initiated the See also:national distinction of the Maronites, which begins to emerge in the history of the 7th century . The sectaries, after helping Justinian II. against the See also:caliph Abdalmalik, turned on the See also:emperor and his Orthodox See also:allies, and were named Mardaites (rebels) . Islam now began to penetrate S . Lebanon, chiefly by the immigration of various more or less heretical elements, Kurd, See also:Turkoman, Persian and especially Arab, the latter largely after the break-up of the kingdom of See also:Hira; and See also:early in the See also:firth century these coalesced into a nationality (see DRUSES) under the congenial influence of the Incarnationist creed brought from See also:Cairo by Ismael Darazi and other emissaries of the caliph Hakim and his See also:vizier Hamza .

The subsequent history of Lebanon to the middle of the 19th century will be found under DRUSES and MARONITES, and it need only be stated here that Latin influence began to be See also:

felt in N . Lebanon during the See also:Frank period of Antioch and See also:Palestine, the Maronites being inclined to take the part of the crusading princes against the Druses and Moslems; but they were still regarded as heretic See also:Monothelites by Abulfaragius (See also:Bar-Hebraeus) at the end of the 13th century; nor is their effectual reconciliation to See also:Rome much older than 1736, the date of the See also:mission sent by the See also:pope See also:Clement XII., which fixed the actual status of their church . An informal French See also:protection had, however, been exercised over them for some time previously, and with it began the feud of Maronites and Druses, the latter incited and spasmodically supported by Ottoman pashas . The feudal organization of both, the one under the See also:house of Khazin, the other under those of Maan and Shehab successively, was in full force during the 17th and 18th centuries; and it was the break-up of this in the first part of the 19th century which produced the anarchy that culminated after 184o in the See also:civil See also:war . The Druses renounced their Shehab amirs when Beshir al-Kassim openly joined the Maronites in 1841, and the Maronites definitely revolted from the Khazin in 1858 . The events of 186o led to the formation of the privileged Lebanon province, finally constituted in 1864 . It should be added, however, that among the Druses of Shuf, feudalism has tended to re-establish itself, and the See also:power is now divided between the Jumblat and Yezbeki families, a leading member of one of which is almost always Ottoman kaimakam of the Druses, and locally called emir . The Lebanon has now been constituted a sanjak or mutessariflik, dependent directly on the See also:Porte, which acts in this case in consultation with the six great See also:powers . This province extends about 93 m. from N. to S . (from the boundary of the sanjak of Tripoli to that of the caza of Saida), and has a mean breadth of about 28 m. from one See also:foot of the chain to the other, beginning at the edge of the littoral plain behind Beirut and ending at the W. edge of the Buka'a: but the boundaries are See also:ill-defined, especially on the E. where the See also:original line See also:drawn along the See also:crest of the ridge has not been adhered to, and the mountaineers have encroached on the Buka'a . The Lebanon is under a military See also:governor (mushir)who must be a Christian in the service of the See also:sultan, approved by the powers, and has, so far, been chosen from the Roman Catholics owing to the great preponderance of Latin Christians in the province . He resides at See also:Deir al-Kamar, an old seat of the Druse amirs .

At first appointed for three years, then for ten, his See also:

term has been fixed since 1892 at five years, the longer term having aroused the fear of the Porte, lest a See also:personal domination should become established . Under the governor are seven kaimakams, all Christians except a Druse in Shuf, and See also:forty-seven mudirs, who all depend on the kaimakams except one in the See also:home district of Deir al-Kamar . A central mejliss or See also:Council of twelve members is composed of four Maronites, three Druses, one Turk, two Greeks (Orthodox), one See also:Creek Uniate and one Metawali . This was the original proportion, and it has not been altered in spite of the decline of the Druses and increase of the Maronites . The members are elected by the seven cazas . In each mudirieh there is also a local mejliss . The old feudal and mukataji (see DRUsEs) jurisdictions are abolished, i.e. they often persist under Ottoman forms, and three courts of First Instance, under the mejliss, and See also:superior to the See also:petty courts of the mudirs and the See also:village sheikhs, administer See also:justice. judges are appointed by the governor, but sheikhs by the villages . Commercial cases, and litigation in which strangers are concerned, are carried to Beirut . The See also:police is recruited locally, and no See also:regular troops appear in the province except on special requisition . The taxes are collected directly, and must meet the needs of the province, before any sum is remitted to the Imperial See also:Treasury . The latter has to make deficits See also:good . Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is exercised only over the See also:clergy, and all rights of See also:asylum are abolished .

This constitution has worked well on the whole, the onlysserious hitches having been due to the tendency of See also:

governors-general and kaimakams to See also:attempt to supersede the mejliss by autocratic action, and to impair the freedom of elections . The See also:attention of the porte was called to these tendencies in 1892 and again in 1902, on the appointments of new governors . Since the last date there has been no complaint . Nothing now remains of the former French pre-dominance in the Lebanon, except a certain influence exerted by the fact that the railway is French, and by the See also:precedence in ecclesiastical functions still accorded by the Maronites to See also:official representatives of See also:France . In the Lebanon, as in N . See also:Albania, the traditional claim of France to protect Roman Catholics in the Ottoman See also:Empire has been greatly impaired by the non-religious See also:character of the See also:Republic . Like See also:Italy, she is now regarded by Eastern Catholics with distrust as an enemy of the Holy See also:Father . See DRUSES . Also V . Cuinet, Syrie, Liban et Palestine (1896); N . See also:Verney and G . Dambmann, Puissances etrangeres en Syrie, &c .

(1900) ; G . See also:

Young, See also:Corps de See also:droit ottoman, vol. i . (1905) ; G . E . Post, Flora of Syria, &c . (1896); M. von See also:Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer, &c . (1899) . (A . So.; D . G .

End of Article: LEBANON (from Semitic laban, " to be white," or " whitish," probably referring not to snow, but to the bare white walls ofchalk or limestone which form the characteristic feature of the whole range)
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JOSEPH LEBEAU (1794-1865)

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