A Patriarch Named for Kongi

A Patriarch Named for Kongi

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 here is named for Prof Soyinka. He came to the grove in 2014 but it was in the winter, and the ground was covered with a fine layer of snow. It was slippery and treacherous for an older 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 classmate, Rachid, Prof 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 editions of SAIL had occurred in which 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 Reserve.

We headed promptly for the Cedars of God grove, one of the five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Lebanon after we had refreshed, with Prof. Rahme, one of the main course instructors, 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 over 35 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. 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 over 50 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–bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, and lay-people. 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 near extinction.

Rahme further disclosed that there are three species of Cedars with the trio found together in only one location in the world. They are Cedrus Libani (found in Lebanon); Cedars of the Himalayas and Cedar of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.  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 to whom it was gifted by Prof. Rahme.

The Professor also touched on the relationship between the African slave trade and the Cedar trees in Britain. He explained that some British colonialists and traders used proceeds of slavery to build gigantic mansions and estates and neo-classical gardens adorned with cedar trees but some of the trees didn’t last. They grew old and some fell during storms because their roots didn’t go deep into the ground enough.

Sadly, Lebanon is not exempt 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 over eight figures sculpted from it. There are 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 Transfiguration of Jesus 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 was 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 ‘The Pope’. Unlike the other cedar trees that are straight, the Pope is crooked. The Professor explained that this accounts for its survival. “The oldest trees are crooked, and that’s why they survived. Straight trees were cut to build ships and temples. 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.

https://goldentonesng.com/index.php/2019/03/09/a-patriarch-named-for-kongi/