The Cedars of God is one of the last vestiges of the extensive forests of the Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) that thrived across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. Their timber was exploited by the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. The wood was prized by Egyptians for shipbuilding; the Ottoman Empire also used the cedars in railway construction.
In 1998, the...