Since very ancient times the Egyptian pharaohs had imported trunks of cedar from the land of Pho
enicia for the construction of ships and temples. Between the tenth and the eighth century BC numerous Assyrian emperors sent military expeditions into Lebanon to procure the timber needed for the construction of sacred buildings. After being skillfully
felled by Phoenician woodcutters, the gigantic trunks of the cedars were transported by river down from the mountains to the coastal cities. Here the trunks were carried by sea to Palestine, Egypt, and Syria, from where they were exported to other destin
