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105
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In the we s ter n region, where water is plentiful, the flora is abundant ana of great variety. In prehistoric
times the entire range as far as the coast was covered
with forests. According to the Old Testament and
profane literature, the I^banon was renowned for its
abundance of wood. Cedar, pine, maple, linden, and
oak made the possession of the mountains lucrative.
Solomon and Hiram, Egyptian and Assyrian, profited
by these resources. To-dajr, through senseless plun-
der and the progress of cultivation, Lebanon has been
largely robbed of its ancient splendour. Cedar is
found in but few places, although all the climatic con-
ditions for a successful growth are at hand. Large
tracts are now used for cultivating plants; and olive,
fig, and mulberry trees constitute the wealth of to-day.
Pomegranate, peach, apricot (in Damascus and vicin-
it^jr), almond trees, walnuts, quinces, and other vari-
eties of fruit flourish. The grape ripens at an altitude
of nearly 5000 feet. The cultivation of the vine has
developed advantageously. Grain flourishes at an al-
titude of 6200 feet, out is little cultivated. A number
of sweet-scented shrubs deserve mention: myrtle,
oleander, sage, lavender, etc., to which fragrant plants
the Old Testament attributes part of the fame of Leb-
anon. On the west, in general, the flora of the Medi-
terranean is found, and, on the heights, Alpine flora.
On the eastern slope, in northern Beqa'a and in Anti-
libanus, with their dry, severe climate, the flora is
that of the steppes.
The prehistoric fauna was very different from that of to-day; stag, deer, bison, the wild horse, wild boar, Ivnx, lion, bear, and wild goat Inhabited the forests. As remotely as Assyrian and Babylonian times, Ix*b- anon was celebrated as a royal hunting;-g[round. To- day the number of deer is greatlv diminished; bears, wolves, and panthers are rare, fiyenas, jackals, and wild boars are more frequent. The birds are not as well represented. Songsters are rare. Wild doves, rock ptarmigan, eagles, and hawks are more often found. Reptiles are fairly numerous. Serpents, often venomous, abound, and also lizards (chameleon, gecko).
Traces of human occupation are found, dating from prehistoric times. Not only from the mouth of the Q&simiye to Tripolis, but also in the mountains and in Beqd'a J genuine neolithic and palseolithic remains have been discovered. Broken human bones su^st the cannibalism of the aborigines. In historic tunes the Amorrhites appeared, whilst in the period of the Israelite kings the Phoenicians exercised dominion over the Lebanon, and Solomon had buildings erected there (III Kin^, v, 6 sqq.; ix, 19). Later the Itura&- ans occupied Lebanon, and in Christian times the Maronites. The bloody persecutions of 1860 result<>d in some improvement m the condition of part of the country, chiefly throi^h the interference of France. The iudependent province of Lebanon has a Christian sovemor named by the sultan and approved l>y the Powers. BetedcUn, near Der el-Qamar, is the seat of government. The inhabitants in 1900 numbered about 400,000; the greater part are Catholic Maronites; about 8 per cent, Greek Uniats; 13 per cent, Orthodox Greeks; 12 per cent, Druaes; 4 per cent, Shiit« Meta- wiles: 3 per cent, Sunnites. The spirit of travel has seized the Maronites, who seek profit in Eg>'pt, the United States, or in Latin America, returning later to their mountains.
Ecclesiastically, the Maronites arc subject to a pa- triarch who lives in -the monastery of Qannobin. Numerous convents, some of them wealthy, are scat- tered over the hills; they maintain schools and have set up printing-presses. Higher instruction is siven chiefly by European priests, but those of native oirth take an active part. The American Protestant mis- sions have long since entered into competition. For the education of the girls, native teaching sisters (Ifariamettes) are employed jointly with Europeans.
In times of peace the Christian administration haid
obtained good results. Safety and order have been
established, and a great deal has been done for com-
merce. The high road from Beirut to Damascus
(about 70 miles) was built in 1862, and other roads
later, e. g. that following the coast, that from Beirut
to Jezztn, from Je^zln to Saida, etc. In 1895 the first
railroad was opened from Beirut to Damascus (90
miles), which in Lebanon reaches an elevation of 4850
feet, and in Antilibanus 4570 feet. The branch line
from RayAq to Qaleb was opened in 1906. Further
plans are being considered, principally for a better
connexion with Beqd'a.
Thomson, The Land and the Book (London, 1886), sections on Lebanon and Damascus; Burton and Drake, Unexplored Syria, 2 vols. (London, 1872); Porter, Five Years in Damaa- ciM, 2 vols. (London, 1855); Baedeker, Palestine and Syria (4th ed., Leipzig, lOCiS); Post, Flora o J Syria, Palestine, ar^ Sinai (Beirut, 1896); Kitter, Erdkunde von Asien, VIII (Ber- lin, 1855); Fraah, Drei Monate im Libanon (Stuttgart, 1876); Idem, Aus dem Orient (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1878); Diencr, Libanon (Vienna, 1886); Zumopfen, La PhHiicie avant lea Ph^iciens (Beirut, 1900); Cuinet, Syrie, Liban et Palestine (Paris, 1896-1902); Zcmoffen, L*aoe de la pierre en Phenicie in Anthropos, III (1908), 431-55; Blanckenhorn, Abriss der Goologie Syriens, Attneiiland (Berlin, 1905); Idem, Ueber die Steinzeit imd die Feuersteinpeirefakten in Syricn-Paldstina in Zeitschrift far Ethnologie, XXXVII (1905), 447-68.
A. Merk. LebbflBUB. See Jude, Saint.
LebeduSftltular see of Asia Minor, suffragan of Ephe- sus. It was on the coast, ninety stadia to the east of Gape Myonnesus, and 120 west of Colophon. According to rausanius, the town was inhabited oy Carians when the lonians immigrated there under the guidance of Andrsemon, a son of Codrus. Strabo, however, states it was colonized by Andropompus, and that it previously bore the name of Artis. It became a flourishing city by its commerce, and was famous for its mmenu springs, but was nearly destroyed by Lysimachus, who transported the population to Ephesus. Under the Romans, however, it flourished anew, became the meeting place of the actors of all Ionia, and festivals were celebrated in honour of Dionysus. It^s remains, of little interest, are seen near Hypsili Hissar, in the caza of Sivri Hissar, vilayet of Smyrna. Lobedus ap- pears in *'Notitia) episcopatum" as an episcopal see, suffragan of Ephesus until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Three bishops only are known: Cyriacus, who witnessed the Robber Council of Ephesus, 449; Julian, represented by his metropolitan at Chalcedon in 451; Theophanes or Thomas, who attended the Council of Ni«8ea, 787.
Lequien, Oriens Chridianvs, I, 725; Chandler, Asia Minor, 125; Smith, Did, Oreek and Roman Geog., s. v.
S. P£tridi:s.
Le Blant, Edmond-Frederic, French arch8Fx>lo- gist and historian, b. 12 August, 1818; d. 5 July, 1897 at Paris. He studied law and haWng qualified to prac- tice, hc5 obtained in 1843 a situation in the customs under the Finance Board. This position assured his future and he was free to follow his scientific inclina- tions. During a voyage through Italy (1847) he visited the Kircher Museum, and his intercourse with G. B. de Rossi determined him to undertake in France the scientific work which the founder of Christian archsBolo^ had undertaken in Rome. As early as 1848 Le Blant was commissioned to collect the in- scriptions of the earliest days of C'hristianity in Gaul, and like de Rossi, he made an investigation of manu- scripts, printed books, museums, churches, and the Gallo-Roman cemeteries. In 1856 appeared the first volume of his "Recueil dos inscriptions chr^tiennes des Gaules ant^rieuros au VIII* si^cle ". The second volume of the work (Paris, 1865) obtained for its au- thor his election as a member of the Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. A third volume ap- peareci in 1892 under the title of " Nouveau Recueil . In the course of his researches Le Blant did not over-
