Is This Ancient History's Most Important Resource?

[@RareEarthSeries]

This series is entirely possible thanks to the generosity of our viewers. Kata and I cannot thank you all enough: www.patreon.com/rareearth ko-fi.com/rareearth

[@mikemason3776]

Thank you so much for visiting and covering our country. For those wondering, that new mountain highway at 2:45 is really funny because all the roads that lead to it are older and narrower. Usually the roads get less “highway-y” the further up you go. In the same shot, you can see a large building overlooking the town, it has a large white facade. That’s an abandoned hospital, and I camped there one freezing January as a teenager. I think it was the coldest weather I have ever experienced. That was the first and only time I’ve ever seen the night sky so clear that I could see the Milky Way. Crazy experience. I have a bit of an automatic recoil reaction, for the past few years, when our ancient history is brought up. Not because I don’t find it interesting or worth being proud of, which I do and am. But because for a very long time, it was used as the foundation of a very particular national mythology, one that I believed in before I learned about our more recent history, which obviously has stronger repercussions on our present. I have had to learn to think of more than the glory days of the past - it’s not a sign of progress when your biggest achievements are as old as written history itself. You’ll find that a lot of people could be counted as disproportionately enthusiastic about the Phoenicians and others disproportionately dismissive of it. You’ve also mentioned the museum at the “University of Beirut”, actually the “American University of Beirut”. A whole video could be done on that institution alone, a fair few threads of modern history cross through there. I argue that it wasn’t just affected by the history of the country, but that the country and the institution have both contributed to what they both are today. Am I making sense? You have “If I ever return to Lebanon” in your end card, but have publicly acknowledged that you’ve traveled somewhere specific in your previous video. You may not get so lucky if you get in trouble next time. Sadly, I would recommend you don’t come back anytime soon. I think I’ve been to every place in these shots. I am very grateful for your whole team’s kind and appreciative coverage, amazing work as always.

[@RareEarthSeries]

I hope you'll find this season to be cuttingly truthful, but fair. Thanks for the great comment.

[@mikemason3776]

@@RareEarthSeries I would expect nothing less.

[@JohnVance]

So many incredible places to visit in the Middle East, and so many getting more difficult to get to by the day. My dream used to be to visit Palymra, Uruk, Beirut, Gobekli Tepe... This American hopes for eventual peace and that we could all meet and hang out one day.

[@TXB81]

If every Lebanese understood well and valued their ancient history and their contribution to the advancement of world civilizations, you wouldn't worry about the effect of our recent past on our present...and our present would be much better than it is. Lebanon has always been an exception that defied all logic among the giants that existed in this region. Logically, we should never have been able to continue to the present day. Our main problem as Lebanese is that we do not agree on defining our national identity and the basics of what defines a Lebanese. All other problems are secondary to this problem. As for the guest who visited us, you can come again whenever you want. Just wait for more favorable circumstances (until the political situation is a bit better). We keep being positive and we never give up, you can also count always on our sense of hospitality and our warm welcome. PS: I saw the episode of the mossad, it was hilarious lol

[@falahati]

@@TXB81 I think the point he is trying to make which does resonate with me deeply as an Iranian is a fact that dwelling on successes of our civilization from thousands of years ago could and honestly more than often does result in forgetting how the current situation can be improved resulting in the population living in a long-dead fantasy world, altho a sweat dream, it has little to no bearing on the current situation. Repeating his argument, a more recent outlook helps with knowing exactly where we belong in the world, and what can be done to at least partially capture our greatness in the present. this does not mean that we can not be proud of our history, but rather that we should not get stuck in our past glory. therefore not really against your comment.

[@leightonolsson4846]

The cedars in this video are also found in huge groves on the Taurus mountains Turkey as well. Their genus is the only one in Pine family that had lumber that is truly durable. An almost identical species is found in the Atlas mountains of (Atlas Cedar) North Africa, and another one in the Himalayas (the Deodar). All other 'Cedars' either belong in the Cypress family of conifers or are tropical flowering plants, like Spanish cedar (sas used for cigar boxes).

[@tudortescoveanu]

A world where this country is talked about in terms of war, murders, hate, colonialism, a forest that rises like a phornix is so refreshing. Thank you!!

[@ArchFundy]

IMO, this is the best and most unique chan on YT. I have never watched this chan and not learned something, often something important that I had never even thought about before. Thank you for your incredible insight into the world we all live in. (A fellow Canadian).

[@commentaccount7880]

is this a board where we make posts, its a chan now dude cant type channel are you for real

[@anders6383]

100% agree. I am always excited to see what the next video is going to be about!

[@ArchFundy]

@@commentaccount7880 If worrying about whether I use chan or channel is the most important thing you have to worry about, then I would say you haven't got much on your mind. You've been on YT too long. Go for a fucking walk and exercise your body if not your brain.

[@akalangkadezoysa3475]

Try OTR if you are interested in this type of story telling but about food and its interconnected history. At the moment only reporting about South East Asian cuisine.

[@SamRMoyer]

Also try Peter Santenello if you want to see on-the-ground history and travel.

[@Mwoo92]

Maple Leafs hat was a nice touch in this video about national pride in a tree-based symbol representative of a country

[@danglezbenderz]

Having pride in the Maple Leafs is a great example of endless futility and a failure to learn from history.

[@RareEarthSeries]

@@danglezbenderz but at least it's really expensive

[@niall_sanderson]

@@RareEarthSeriesThe only reason why I don’t get annoyed at Sens-Leafs games here in Ottawa being filled with Leafs fans is because it’s cheaper for people in the GTA to drive to the Sens arena, watch the game, drive home, and maybe rent a motel than it is to watch a Leafs game in Toronto. Like I genuinely don’t understand how anyone can afford to go to a Leafs or Raptors game these days

[@CommanderGumball]

Woah up there, you can't go posting shots of all this _tactical lumber_ at a time like this! What if Ashurbanipal needs an emergency fleet?

[@YourTypicalMental]

Who would've guessed that 385 million years ago, certain ferns developing sturdier stems in order to grow taller and get more sun than their competitors would be such an important adaptation for all life.

[@MiaogisTeas]

It's nearly divine. 😏

[@annoloki]

….and set them up to give them a 60 million year advantage in the arms race between the kingdom of plant, and the kingdom of fungi... epic!

[@advasity339]

@@MiaogisTeas Ah I see what you did there

[@djohnston6856]

Charles Darwin?

[@schieperss6082]

Only a stubborn atheist whouldve guessed

[@williamsurname4669]

That footage is exactly why I would like to go to Lebanon. You can visit snow capped mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, there are deserts and forests, giant cities and countryside, and thousands of years of culture, all in a country smaller than Connecticut.

[@androgenoide]

I heard that someone found the remains of a Pharaoh's ship that had a keel made from a single cedar larger than any that still exists today. It seems a little short sighted to cut down so many trees for so little gain.

[@MiaogisTeas]

Yeah, ask China about that

[@annoloki]

Welcome to earth!

[@hx5525]

@@MiaogisTeasYou talk like China is the only one cutting down forests. The western world just can’t help themselves huh?

[@kos2919]

To be fair at that time those people don't understand their position on earth.

[@eh1702]

They’s look at us covering fertile land with car parks and eight lane roads, or look at rich people’s megamansions that use more concrete than a village of hundreds, or they’d look at a trip in a private jet that equals another human’s lifetime carbon debt… or they’d look at Amaricans who never drink anything not in a single use plastic bottle, and they’d say the same thing.

[@King_Gamer_1st]

The IDF yearns for tree footage

[@endribardhyli1340]

@@King_Gamer_1st At least they would protect the trees

[@hstater2]

@@endribardhyli1340 of course they wouldn't. all they do is kill and burn

[@cualpoohsho]

@@endribardhyli1340 They want to burn them.

[@beangobernador]

Lebanon’s greatest weapon against israel has been compromised

[@mbn9672]

@@endribardhyli1340 that's why they destroyed Palestine's countryside by planting non native conifers :)

[@nateoroni7487]

The ceder was so important to the life of the coast salish peoples that it was used in pretty much every activity they did

[@StuffandThings_]

Those are actually very different "cedar" trees, they're even in a different family. These are Cedrus (true cedars) which only exist in Eurasia and North Africa in fairly restricted distributions. The cedars of the Pacific Northwest are in the genus Thuja. But yeah, certain trees can be very important to certain cultures, it feels like many cultures have that one special tree species they rely on for everything.

[@nateoroni7487]

@@StuffandThings_ I didn't know they were that distantly related but it makes sense with the proximity. Its fascinating how two species on opposite ends of the planet both played such vital roles in peoples lives.

[@dougwalker4944]

even if we don't have "True" cedars..ours are just as useful for the same properties....straight, strength and flexibility..plus aromatic.

[@ferretyluv]

This is a different species of cedar.

[@dougwalker4944]

@@ferretyluv ya, but, similar

[@rantlyy]

As a Lebanese it’s about time there’s some quality content made on our History/Story. Thank you so much for making this and I can’t await to see what’s coming next! 🙂 The arrest aside hope you enjoyed your time and it didn’t effect your perspective too much 🙃

[@cursedvoid]

I love that you have the same spark that you had when you first started uploading, thats some impressive excitement to keep for so long.

[@urinstein1864]

I knew about cedars and their importance in antiquity. What I didn't know, is that they are still around. I thought they had been cut down to extinction. It's amazing to learn that they weren't!

[@Erndea]

Aren't Christmas trees usually cedars?

[@SamEllens]

@@Erndeanope

[@GrifterE]

I was also taught that the cedars of Lebanon had been all cut down. Nearly in tears knowing some still stand.

[@ChrissieBear]

OMG those mountains are gorgeous.

[@TuffLP]

Lebanon and the Levante region is such a fascinating and important area. Shame what's happening, I would like to visit again.

[@venus_envy]

I would love to visit as well, but I will wait for a lull in terrorism and attempts to basically make Islamic eschatology come true (aka exterminate the Jews). I really want to visit so many places! Failing Lebanon at least Jerusalem will always be safe.

[@Js-rq9uj]

I've been watching tally-ho and they discussed the discovery of teak and this question has been sitting in my head for weeks! thank you for answering it!

[@jane_s.]

I am forever in awe by your writing and just how well you know how to smith words. Thank you for another documentary, and here's to a new series! I'm excited to learn.

[@michaelcherry8952]

It's a bit spooky that the perfect wood to kick-start civilization just happened to be growing in the mountains of Lebanon. Spookier that on the verge of extinction, people (the main problem in this bloody world) managed to save the Ceders of Lebanon. That's a bit of a mind-blower for sure. What a cool story! And I loved the little cameo of Francois at the end.

[@anotheret1064]

i guess you could say civilization was bound to be kickstarted around such good wood

[@CommanderGumball]

​@@anotheret1064 Right? I feel like we have cause and effect a bit backwards here. It's a bit spooky how this bowl full of cereal happened to _right_ where I poured my milk!

[@kainuscorevax3875]

​@CommanderGumball Right. Murphys law is about more than things that can go wrong. It also follows that things that go right can only go right because the conditions existed for it to go right. That doesn't mean the conditions were intended to cause an expected outcome. Just that the only outcome that can occur are the outcomes with initial conditions that allow for that outcome.

[@annoloki]

@@kainuscorevax3875 Haha, I see you have been living amongst the humans, you feel great need to explain in detail that cause precedes effect, and thus the outcome that follows, no matter how apparently perfect, should not be confused with cause! Alas, they do not get it... they ask "then what is the point?" haha it makes you want to shake them

[@kainuscorevax3875]

@@annoloki I pity that they are trapped within the entropic arrow of time seeing the universe only in causally linked events. I find it a shame that mathematics is their only window into a causally unbound reality and that they will never get the opportunity to travel the continuum. As they say "Entropy is a Btch."

[@beskamir5977]

It's unbelievably awesome that these trees were preserved! So many ancient resources were completely drained into extinction. Iceland was completely deforested, countless species were driven into extinction, yet here, humanity actually did something awesome and preserved such a wonderful and cool species of trees.

[@markmcarthy596]

Cedars that grow in the ancient volcanic granite of the St Francois Mountains in SE Missouri are some of the Oldest on Earth. I’ve made staffs/walking sticks for the stability and Energy they provide while walking the forest. Smell heavenly too

[@alexanderherzog3064]

American cedars are actually a different family and just called cedars. I found that out after a Wikipedia rabbit hole after seeing someone saying cedars are almost extinct and thinking, but I had one in my yard as a kid lol

[@bitTorrenter]

​@@alexanderherzog3064 Indeed. Virginian Juniper.

[@orzhovthief]

Fun fact, during renovation of Al Aqsa mosque's roof, cedar beams were analysed and carbon dated and it appears some of them date from the time of Solomon. Scientist estimate it is wood reused from the second and first temple of Jerusalem

[@venus_envy]

So they stole not only the land the Jewish temple was on, but probably the sacred artifacts left over from when the previous (to Arabs) colonizers, the Romans, had destroyed the temple? Wow, talk about rubbing salt in the wound of religious desecration! But it doesn't surprise me. Though it does reinforce to me the idea that the mosque has no right to be there, so thanks for the info.

[@annoloki]

That seems pretty speculative considering the massive gap of so many centuries between the second temple's destruction and the building of the mosque and the inaccuracies you get from very large trees that grew over many centuries, making the wood in the middle much older than the wood near the edge

[@orzhovthief]

@@annoloki Just google it and make your own opinion. It's funny how no one question scientific publication when they seem to contradict religious text, but suddenly it can't be trusted when it confirms it.

[@rustyshackleford17]

That's pretty par for the course. Plenty of examples of European and Middle East reusing materials over and over.

[@theshadowoftruth7561]

@@annoloki Tree Ring dating Dendrochronology. A fully anchored and cross-matched chronology for oak and pine in central Europe extends back 12,460 years,[23] and an oak chronology goes back 7,429 years in Ireland and 6,939 years in England.[24] Comparison of radiocarbon and dendrochronological ages supports the consistency of these two independent dendrochronological sequences.[25] Another fully anchored chronology that extends back 8,500 years exists for the bristlecone pine in the Southwest US (White Mountains of California).[26]

[@BRBTechTalk]

I love your end cards, they kind of tell a behind the scenes story but leave the watcher to wonder what was really going on. You could probably create an episode just explaining the end cards of a season. 🙂 Thank you for telling this story, the cedars are really part of our world history.

[@matthewpopp1054]

Choose your enemies carefully 'cause they will define you Make them interesting 'cause in some ways they will mind you They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends Gonna last with you longer than your friends -cedars of Lebanon, U2

[@IsAMank]

I see Rare Earth, I click like. Simple as.

[@nochepatada]

You're too young to have seen Rare Earth

[@CoperliteConsumer]

​@@nochepatadacome again?

[@gardnep]

Like a cedar, You are not alone.

[@nochepatada]

@@IsAMank it's a joke mank

[@nochepatada]

@@IsAMank what's all the weird stuff with you comment? It looks like some sort of writing going from the bottom up

[@johnlong1499]

What a fantastic voyage across antiquity and into the modern world. As always, thank you so much for illuminating places and things that deserve attention and even reverence, but are in danger of being forgotten by a world less and less mindful of the extraordinary wonders that are everywhere, if we will practice mindfulness and open our eyes and ears. Again, thank you so much for all you do and all you share. Cheers!

[@talanigreywolf7110]

My Nana was Lebanese and she had several pieces depicting the Cedar. Gosh, I miss her home cooking!

[@alicefreist318]

Thank you for some of the best content on the internet!

[@rockclmbrmike]

What a wonderful job you did on this. The writing the scenery the photography it was really top-notch, thank you.

[@OneAmongBillions]

Another instance of Evan revealing hidden significances from our collective past. He and his wife do it so well.

[@ZBott]

A tree good for boats sounds so basic, but it's the basic things that we rely on so heavily. Up there with potatoes, copper, and rocks.

[@nomms]

Potatoes are a new world crop. Most of the world hadn't heard of them until the 17th century.

[@pscheidt]

What a wonderful story. Thank you for telling it.

[@amadeusdekastle9078]

As soon as i saw the thumbnail - and based on the fact i onew youd been to Lebanon - I was excited to learn about the cedar. I think Michael Pollan wrote a book where he describes a number of plants that changed the course if history (tulip, cannabis, potato, apple, maybe one more?) and this single tree eclipses each of those in terms of its gift to human kind. Thanks for taking a look at it and piquing the curiosity of your viewers to learn more. Id also recommend a look at a book called "Uncorking the Past" which describes the spread of wine and its impact on civilisations, coincidentally which would have NEVER happened without the cedar of lebanon. So much history rests on those might branches.

[@sparkyin3d]

In book the Ringing Cedars of Russia, Anastasia talks about the holiness of cedars.❤

[@TealCheetah]

Is this really a Rare Earth vid? There's no depressing plot twist

[@Chubles1]

This is a great episode, and yet another reminder to visit those trees. Tracing my family back far enough you end up at boats leaving that coast to land on the Apennine peninsula; if you could trace those boats back far enough I imagine there's a strong chance they came from that forest. Always nice to see distant family.

[@constancegreiner906]

Father thank you for those Christians for preserving and replanting the cedars of Lebanon so we can know of them now and in the future.

[@emilysnyder4857]

What a beautiful presentation. I was very moved by it and wish that the Cedars of Lebanon will continue to grow and bless her people who steward over the trees. I wish I could put my arms around one and smell and feel it. Very thankful that some began to replant them.

[@pabailon8799]

Guys, I always very much enjoy your work! Stay safe out there 🫂🤗

[@elieobeid77]

I'm from lebanon and I could about that tree for a minute or two, you made a 10minutes video about it. you're more lebanese than me.

[@kathleenmccrory9883]

I've always found the phrase 'The Cedars of Lebanon' to stir romantic ideas of far away places. Thanks for showing the real thing. I was under the impression that they were mostly gone. I'm sorry to hear that's true. I'm glad they're protected now.

[@ElFlaccoBlanco]

Yet again, Rare Earth- you have blown my mind so wide, it’s gonna take a little time before I pull enough of it back together to fully digest the extent to which this little ol’ mind o’ mine has been so totally O’blammalated that I might be needin’ a *second* beach pail ‘n shovel to scoop up all the mushy bits to fit ‘em back inside my brain housing bucket! Thank you, R.E.!

[@MarcMartino]

The coldness around those cedar trees would have made the rings in the trees smaller and more solid, hence of higher quality wood much like the wood used in making Straovaris violins. But, how could the ancients have known such a thing unless they weren't as primitive as we portray them today.

[@CommanderGumball]

@MarcMartino Ancient peoples _definitely_ aren't as primitive and simplistic as they are often portrayed, but pattern recognition is an ingrained human trait. I wouldn't be surprised if it _was_ as simple as "The people from this area who make ships from this specific wood sink less often, let's go take their wood" Leading to "The people who went and took that wood are suddenly dominating the sea, maybe it's God's wood, let's go take it and make ships out of it"

[@MyNamesChai]

Evan “he don’t miss” Hadfield

[@adrianqx]

saw sections of the cedars used to build such temples at the Louvre , those trees must have been huge

[@Irascibilitiy]

Let's gooo, you rock dude!

[@mariahamilton5305]

Looking forward to seeing this latest series. Lebanon is great, we were lucky enough to be able to visit it 20 years ago (in between wars :(. ).

[@SnakeyesMEEPS3Name]

I love a rare earth upload

[@WakeUpToYourself]

Awesome video. Glad i took the time to watch it 🙏🏾❤️ thank you

[@davidhick4303]

The end of this one brought me to tears thinking of the pride the Lebanese have in the cedar trees, and how close they came to loosing them. I’ve seen some pretty large cedar trees in western Canada but that national tree in Lebanon is almost beyond comprehension.

[@chrislaidlaw3308]

Thanks for a wonderfully researched and presented educational video!

[@fryertuck6496]

Lost me when he said that the first civilisation was 4,000 years ago. We all know Gobleki Tepe is at least 12,000 years old.

[@SenkouNoMahimeEne]

You too a Milo Rossi fan? Because i swear i coulda heard that statistic in his voice!

[@konsama1315]

Gobekli tepe isn’t a civilization in the same way that Sumer is

[@RareEarthSeries]

Göbleki Tepe is not an example of a civilization in the way Sumer is. It is an example of early complex human society and protocivilization, but that's not same thing. Generally speaking, Sumer is universally considered the first true civilization. At least given our current archaeological evidence.

[@raedwulf61]

I have been to The Cedars. Wonderful place. Love Lebanon!

[@Cletus_the_Elder]

This is wonderful news of the miraculous. I heard that the cedars of Lebanon were cut down to extinction. Goodness, can this be true? Imagine a tree held in such high esteem in our most ancient and revered scriptures returning to Lebanon, its roots into Lebanese soil and its canopy to Lebanese skies. Like conifers releasing their seeds after the hills are razed by fire, may Lebanon rebuild and rise. Bless this land. Bless this people.

[@2degucitas]

My grandmother wore a necklace, the pendant was made of Lebanon cedar with a cedar frond inside the glass cover. Have no idea where she got it.

[@lucasmilone5902]

Can confirm that Catholics still sing hymns that mention the cedars of Lebanon in church

[@menib7574]

Must have been hard getting the footage

[@RareEarthSeries]

My flight above the forest I didn't realize the lens fogged up and 80% of the footage is blurry. A terrible mistake, never again.

[@menib7574]

@RareEarthSeries wow what ? man I didn't even notice any blurr. I meant it in the literal sense. I saw the time of upload and was surprised it wasn't before 2023

[@Wasabiofip]

​@@menib7574 Oh his previous video was about how he was detained for a week by the police for filming what seemed to be a Hezbollah recruitment poster, on suspicion of being an Israeli spy. Even though the detectives on his case who interrogated him figured out pretty quick he wasn't a spy, and was a filmmaker, the judge still ordered him held while they did full digital forensics over all his texts, social media, footage, etc. over days. Eventually he was let go but, suffice to say, it WAS "hard" getting the footage 😂

[@TheRedKnight101]

@@menib7574 I had to take a second look to really notice it, kind of gave it an 80s documentary vibe.

[@menib7574]

@@Wasabiofip huh ?!!!?!

[@raff1944]

I’m really glad you avoided prison time to make this, I find these so enriching

[@danechristmas6570]

Nice one!!! I haven't heard the reference to this tree since I was a kid in Church...The " Cedar of Lebanon"..I'm from the Caribbean and there are lebanese communities down here that fled civil war decades ago. Their businesses and civic organization always carry that symbol, a Cedar Tree.

[@christianm7294]

Great segment, as always.

[@humbertomacias3239]

Basically the cedar was the aluminum of the ancient world 🤔

[@kidmohair8151]

now I know why you put out the "I was detained..." video. I look forward to your continuing adventures in the Levant.

[@annoloki]

I hope those um... "CID" (but not CID) who made sure you went free get to see your videos and feel a part of such a positive outcome

[@Nzombii]

I hope your former interrogators are watching your videos with a smile on their face

[@ChibiQilin]

00:58 why tf does he think we've never heard of cedar? Even kids know of Cedar from minecraft...

[@RareEarthSeries]

​ @ChibiQilin there is a difference between the common cedar and the cedar of Lebanon So I suppose given that you didn't know that, that's why I thought that

[@SamRMoyer]

There is no cedar in Minecraft?

[@ElFlaccoBlanco]

Nor is there any air in space, but there IS an Air ‘n Space Museum!🤨 🙊 🤢 🤫 🤮 😳 🤤

[@flambr]

@@SamRMoyerbreh

[@user-wf2fm1yj4k]

@@RareEarthSeriescope

[@hafizaelhalabi7609]

The best place of historical inspiration knowledge on Earth 🌍❤️🥰thank you so much for a great informative information

[@khawli6032]

Hello from Lebanon

[@praneetpandeyPrometheus]

Thanks for your great work! Always happy to see your videos pop up.

[@Maddin1313]

We can reach for the stars, because we had wood to make spears. Imagine a planet with intelligent life, but they had no such wonderful material as wood to make tools, fire, shelter, or anything.

[@maxcap60]

what did the forest smell like?

[@andywomack3414]

I have considered the impact of the Lebanon Cedar on the history of the Ancient Mediterranean world. I think these immense trees made it possible for neolithic people to populate the Islands of the Mediterranean. And the decline of these cedar forests coincided with the decline of Bronze Age civilizations. Minoans used Cedar trees for the pillars in their Palace-factory-warehouses, placed up-side down to prevent the cedar logs from sprouting.

[@makamae04_97]

Absolutely amazing video again

[@raysimones128]

Awesome video Evan thank you

[@searchpei470]

Luvin' it man! Cheers from PEI..

[@jasonjohnson1690]

So interesting, great piece. Thank you.

[@MustafaAbbasAH]

2:56 I am from the Middle East and this information is wrong. Snow falls in all regions of the northern Middle East, in northern Iraq, northern and western Syria, in addition to Anatolia (Türkiye).

[@RareEarthSeries]

Not like in Lebanon, and not in a way that became regionally memorable. There's a reason the only ski resort is in Lebanon (and Anatolia isn't considered the middle east).

[@MustafaAbbasAH]

@@RareEarthSeries I understood what you meant about Lebanon, but regarding Anatolia, it is more connected to the Near East, which Westerners call (the Middle East), than it is to Europe (except for Western Anatolia which was influenced by the Greeks). Moreover, from a geographical standpoint, Anatolia is an extension of the East, and it is the land that the Greeks called it (Asia)

[@RareEarthSeries]

@@MustafaAbbasAH Westerners, speaking as one, refer to Anatolia as 'Asia Minor', but not the Middle East. For the most part the Middle East refers to countries that have a core Arabian influence from the Caliphates or push Islamic fundamentalism in the modern day, generally speaking. For this reason Egypt isn't really considered the Middle East either, but Persia often is.

[@gaufrid1956]

I had a Long Distance Relationship (LDR) with a Filipina who was an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker). She worked in Lebanon as a domestic helper. The relationship didn't work out, but I do remember her showing me photos from a visit she and her friends had to the mountains, complete with the snow and the cedars. I was equally impressed when she visited Baalbek. Lebanon is a very interesting place, but not without its dangers.

[@RareEarthSeries]

When you're in Lebanon traveling randomly you'll be at a tourist site that has been devoid of people for weeks and 20 OFW Filipinas will descend on it on a weekend trip away from work It's always cute, they're so happy and excited

[@gaufrid1956]

@@RareEarthSeries You are absolutely right! I remember her photos, though I didn't keep them. She also visited the northern part of Lebanon, and on the way travelled through the village where Kahlil Gibran was born. I'm a big fan of Kahlil Gibran. When I came to the Philippines from Australia in 2017, I didn't bring much with me. I did, however, bring his books "The Prophet" and "The Garden of the Prophet" with me. I still read them sometimes, especially if we have a "brownout" (power outage), and the internet is down. Filipinas find delight in simple things. Mag selos sila rin! ("They will be jealous too!"). That's why I didn't keep that lady's photos!

[@stephanieinspired1151]

Fabulous information. Had no idea. Brava Lebanon & Lebanon Cedar! Although, strange disclaimer at the end…really, of course do one’s own research. Too bad it makes one have to question the info.

[@austinpatch7585]

Awesome video Evan!!!!!!!

[@breathspinecore]

Thanks for that fascinating history lesson!

[@NewCastleIndiana]

When I visited Goodwood estate and England, there is a large Lebanon cedar behind it. I guess I planted a lot, but not all of them survived

[@ShaunHall-i7e]

I've made furniture out of ceder that was over 100 years old. Ceder is amazing!

[@John-mf6ky]

I never realized the tree on the Lebanese flag was a cedar, very fitting now that I know the history. I've always thought it was a cool flag. Ive always wanted to visit, the country looks beautiful. A rich history too! I used to go to school with a Lebanese Christian girl.

[@TheTruthPlease100]

That is good to see some made it past everything! I thought they were all cut down! Hope they are doing a forestry program to spread this tree far and wide!

[@holysmoke7043]

Thank you for the information.

[@servnava6601]

1 minute in: "Uuuh, imma stop ya there chief. I think I know what a tree is. Pfft"

[@9u1n]

Thank you for this video.

[@pariaheep]

Not only those trees were important, but also the mushrooms growing in their vicinity, rising "as prophets" from the roots of the cedar.

[@krim7]

Great video! 🌲

[@thegodofhellfire]

Now their flag makes sense. 🇱🇧

[@TheBlueMeanie]

Great one. TY as always.

[@fireballninja01]

i hope you told the forest it’s loved. i hope to some day. love you, forest

[@swainsongable]

The top on my favourite Furch guitar is made of western red cedar 🙂

[@darrinbunston5932]

Thanks for showing this I was able to trace my ancestry back to the Phoenicians thanks to Google and now watching this it aligns with what was said about family history

[@stuartmunro2474]

A bit tough on Tyre discounting the value of the red rockfish - source of Tyrian Purple.

[@RareEarthSeries]

Tyrian purple is created from snails, and not restricted to Tyre. But that's a luxury good that only gains its value because of the trade network it exists within, and is mostly still memorable due to European royal tastes. They probably made more money from glass, all told.

[@Angie2343]

@RareEarth Series That opening intro was the longest Jeopardy clue ever! ASnd the correct response is "What is wood?".

[@bobbypatton4903]

I fuckin love trees.

[@contrafax]

I though it was going to be about nutmeg for a minute.

[@fharooq1]

It it also mentioned in indian texts, it was called devadar - deodar, it was named as the wood of the gods!