High in the mountains of Lebanon, in a UNESCO World Heritage site is a cedar tree named after Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and an impressive sculpture made from the ancient tree.
Come over; this tree is named for Prof Soyinka. He came to the grove but it was in the winter, and the ground was treacherous, it was slippery for an old man. He couldn’t go further, so he just got here, hugged this tree and turned back,” our lecturer who doubled as the tour guide, Professor Joseph Rahme, explained as we began our tour of the Cedars of God grove high in the mountains of Lebanon.
The “we” were the 10 Nigerian participants in the 2018 edition of Study Abroad in Lebanon (SAIL), alongside our Lebanese colleague, Rachid, Professor Rahme’s nephew, who had set out earlier that morning from the Notre Dame University (NDU) Louaize, our main base.
SAIL is a programme of the NDU’s Benedict XVI Endowed Chair of Religious, Cultural, and Philosophical Studies, in collaboration with The Cedars Institute and the Wole Soyinka Foundation (WSF). Its grand objective is to teach Nigerians world history through the eyes of Lebanon but with emphasis on Lebanese-Nigerian cultural relations. Two previous sets of Nigerian students had participated in the programme. We were the third.
We had set out early in the morning and had travelled some scary bends and turns beside deep gorges the likes of which a number of us had only seen in movies on our way to the quiet, beautiful village nestled over 6,000 feet above sea level and also named Cedars where we spent the next three days. Though most, except the lawyer, Aseobong Larry-Ettah, who had a phobia for heights, pretended not to be scared during the trip, we later voiced our concerns to each other after our arrival in the community first settled in the 1920s.
We had had lunch on the way and briefly stopped at the Natural Cedar Reserve of Tannourine but our ever-reliable chaperone, Honoree Claris Eid had disclosed that a better sight awaited us at our destination. “The cedar trees here are nothing compared with what we have at the Cedars of God,” she said while explaining why we wouldn’t go inside the Tannourine plantation.
We headed promptly for the Cedars of God grove, one of the five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Lebanon, after we had refreshed, with Professor Rahme, one of the course facilitators, giving us a detailed history of the reserve where pop star, Shakira, had a big concert earlier this year during the Cedars International Festival. The other faculties were Professor Edward Alam and Drs Chady Rahme and Tony Nasrallah, all of the NDU and Judge Mohamad Abou Zaid, President of Saida Islamic Sunni Court.
Occupying acres of land, the Cedars of God is enclosed by a wall built in 1883 to protect it. Queen Victoria of England provided funding for the wall after some visitors to the Holy Hand saw the grove and told her about it. It was a timely move to save the trees, as persistent deforestation had significantly reduced their numbers.
It was a slow afternoon with only a few tourists around so we took our time on the tour that also doubled as a lecture with Prof Rahme, though a historian, displaying an incredible knowledge of botany and the cedar tree that he cares so deeply about and for which he and other like-minded persons established The Cedars Institute.
Rahme’s love for the trees mentioned 75 times in the Bible is so profound that he knows all about their height and circumference and has christened them based on this. The largest is the Pope followed by the Patriarchs – one is named for Soyinka- and Bishop. To further underscore the importance of the cedar tree to Lebanon, it’s the symbol on the country’s flag, currency and postage stamps.
Explaining why the tree, with which King Solomon built his famous temple, is so valuable, our teacher said “they are straight and tall, between 40-50 metres high. They are ideal for building ships, palaces and temples. Cedars have natural bug repellent. They are heavy when freshly cut but light when dry and easy to work.” The Phoenicians, Israelites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Romans and Turks all exploited cedars from Lebanon and are responsible for its limited number.
Rahme further disclosed that there are three species of Cedars with the trio found together in only one location in the world. They are Cedar Libane (found in Lebanon); Cedars of the Himalayas and Cedar of Atlas Mountain of Morocco. The three types are planted next to each other in the Kew Gardens, UK. Luckily, Nigeria also has a cedar tree. There’s one at the University of Ibadan, planted by the late Father (Prof) Joseph Kenny of the Department of Religious Studies who brought it from a trip to Lebanon.
The professor also touched on the relationship between the African slave trade and Cedar trees in Britain. He explained that some British colonialists used proceeds of slavery to build gigantic castles adorned with cedar trees but the trees didn’t last. They grew old and fell during storms because their roots didn’t go deep into the ground enough.
Sadly, Lebanon is not exempted from the effects of global warming that has started affecting the health of the cedar trees. The trees wither after bugs unknown to the parts previously lay eggs on them. Those that can be saved are treated once identified while other uses are found for those beyond redemption or are very old like Rudy Rahme’s giant sculpture, ‘Christ on the Cross’. The impressive artwork from a cedar trunk has eight figures sculpted from it. There’s also the Two Hermits, so named because two hermits were believed to have lived in them in the 18th century.
Within the heritage site is also the Church of the Cedar Grove built in the 19th century and completely furnished with cedar wood. We all ensured we registered our names in the guest list inside the small church that refurbished in the 20th century.
Cedar trees are known to live very long, with some said to be over 2,500 years old. The oldest tree in the grove is one Rahme named ‘Pope’. Unlike the other cedar trees that are straight, Pope is crooked. The Professor explained that this accounts for its survival. “The oldest trees are crooked, and that’s why they survive. It’s not good to be straight, you survive when you are crooked,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
We were all enriched by the visit to the Cedars of God, but the tour appeared to have had the most profound effect impact on Lanre Fakeye, one of us known as Shakomended in music circles. He took up Professor’s Rahme’s suggestion to read the Epic of Gilgamesh and composed a beautiful song, Cedars of Lebanon lamenting the persistent deforestation that had robbed the Mediterranean country of its precious trees.
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