LEBANON or Jabl Libnan, an extensive mountain system chiefly belonging to central Syria, but thrown off towards the south from the great chain of Mount Taurus and the lofty table land of Anatolia, and, untr various names and aspects, extending along a d beyond the E. coast of the Mediterranean to the \N. shore of the Red Sea. The Alma-Tagh or Amapus is a spur of the Southern Taurus. On the banks of the Nahr-ul Kabir (Great River), the chain takes the name of Jabl-Nosairi or Ansari. The Anti-Libanus is a prolongation of the chain which skirts the valley of the Orontes on the east side. Under the name of Jabl-us-Sharkh, it runs parallel to the Lebanon along the east side of the valley of Balbec, with a breadth in some parts of 20 miles. Lebanon is inhabited by a variety of tribes, who from time immemorial have found a refuge in its fastnesses. The Ansari occupy a lower branch of the Libanus, and their clans are the Shamsi, who worship the sun, the Kalbi, and Mokladi. An nasr-ut-tair, meaning a soaring eagle, is a mystical term of the Ansariyeh, signifying the sun. The Ansariyeh celebrate with great solemnity the two festivals of the vernal and autumnal equinox.
The Maronites, founded in the 6th century by St. Maronius, in religious matters acknowledge the supremacy of Rome, though its clergy main tain the right of electing their own bishops or patriarchs, and of entering into the married state.
The Mutawali are found in the plain of the Boccah (between the Libanus and the Anti Libanus), the sides of the Anti-Libanus, and the lower part of the Southern Libanus, extending to the N.E. of Sour or Tyre, but they form only an inconsiderable portion of the population of this part of Syria.
Druse.—From the neighbourhood of Beirout to the heights above Sidon, we come to the country of the Druse. They are idolators. One of their objects of worship is said to be the image of a calf. The Druse occupy the whole of the southern range of the Lebanon chain, the western slope of Anti-Lebanon, and Jabl-us Sharkh, where they hold exclusive possession of 40 towns and villages, and with the Maronites share 200 more. 80 villages in other parts of Lebanon are also peopled by them. They owe their origin to a Persian, Muhammad-bin-Ismail who settled in Egypt A.D. 1017, but was driven out of the country, and took refuge in the Wadi-ut-Taim, where he propagated his doctrine ; but this was afterwards modified by Hamza, whom the Druse venerate as their real founder. The Druse are tolerant in religious matters, and some of them conform outwardly to the religious observances of those with whom they may be associated. They are a brave and honest race, practising the virtues of hospitality, but never forgetting an injury.
Politically and in its administration the Lebanon is as distinct from the rest of Syria as if it were a European province. The change was brought about by the Great Powers after the massacres of 1860, when they jointly framed a constitution and named a governor, who holds his post for ten years under their guarantee, and not subject to dismissal by the Porte. Before that date the Lebanon had continually been a source of anxiety, alike to the Imperial Government and to friendly interested powers, from the almost ceaseless con flicts between the various sects.—Catafago.