peak, Qurnat as Sawda', at 3,088 m (10,130 ft). Lebanon has historically been
defined by these mountains, which provided protection for the local population.
In Lebanon the changes in scenery are not connected to geographical distances,
but to altitudes. The mountains were known for their oak and pine forests. Also,
in the high slopes of Mount Lebanon are the last remaining groves of the famous
Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani). The Phoenicians used the forests from
Mount Lebanon to build their ship fleet and to trade with their Levantine
neighbors. However, the Phoenicians and successor rulers replanted Mount
Lebanon is mentioned in the Old Testament several times. King Hiram I of Tyre
sent engineers with Cedar wood which was abundant in Mount Lebanon, to build the
Jewish Temple of Jerusalem. Since then the Cedar species known scientifically as
Cedrus Libani is often associated with Mount Lebanon. The Phoenicians used cedar
to build ships in which they sailed the Mediterranean, thus they were the first
to establish villages in Mount Lebanon to would live from cutting down Cedars
and sending them to the coast.
In the 9th century, tribes from the northern areas of the Arabian Peninsula, known as the Tanukhiyoun, began settling in the southern areas of the mountain range and in the 11th century these tribes became Druze and ruled the areas of Mount Lebanon stretching from Metn in the north to Jezzine in the south, this entire area became known as the ‘Jabal ad-Duruz’. In the early 1600s, Emir Fakhreddine the 2nd ascended the throne in the Druze part of the mountains known as the Chouf. In an effort to unify Mount Lebanon, Emir Fakhreddine opened the door to Christian and in particular Maronite settlement of the Chouf and Metn
Throughout the 1700s and into the 1800s more and more Maronites settled in the Druze regions of the Mount. Seeing their numbers increasing the Maronites began to demand a larger share of the authority. The Druze viewed these Maronite settlements as a threat to their existence in Mount Lebanon and in a series of clashes in the 1840s and 1860s a mini civil war erupted in the area resulting in the death of thousands of Druze and Christians. The Druze won militarily but not politically because European powers (mainly France and Britain) intervened on behalf of the Maronites and divided Mount Lebanon into two areas; Druze and Maronite. Seeing their authority decline in Mount Lebanon, few Lebanese Druzes began migrating to the new Jabal ad-Duruz in southern Syria. In 1861 the "Mount Lebanon" autonomous district was established within the Ottoman system, under an international guarantee.