Lebanon Cedar

​   Lebanon is the smallest nation on the Asian continent, but its roots go back to the origins of civilization when the area held the first shipping  nation. To facilitate commerce shippers invented an alphabetic language that was the precursor of early Greek, and thus all written texts. The Phoenician traders inhabiting the Eastern Mediterranean logged the famous Cedars of Mount Lebanon to build the ships that plied the seas as long as 3,500 years ago. The Phoenician root word ibn, (white), later enshrined in the word. "Lebanon" refers to snowcapped 10,131 foot Mount Lebanon, where thirteen feet of snow commonly accumulates in a winter. 
   The Phoenicians were subsumed by the the Hellenic Empire, then the Roman Empire, and later by the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman control over the area began to wane in the 16th century as European mercantile nations then in ascendance took steps to control commerce in the area. In 1581 British interests founded the Levant Company to try and monopolize trade with the Ottoman Empire, and the French made similar arrangements in competition. "Levant" derives from a French term meaning "rising"  (the rising of the sun in the East) and refers to the Eastern Mediterranean in particular. An analogous term, "Orient," refers to areas even further east, derives from the Latin "orior" for "rise."
   When the Ottoman Empire completely collapsed with the end of World War I, French troops occupied what would become Lebanon and Syria, while the British occupied Palestine and Egypt. The French mandate issued Lebanon Cedars [Scott #50] in 1925 with a striking design featuring Mount Lebanon and the Cedars preserved on its slopes. Overprints in red were issued in 1927 and 1928. 

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Provenance: 

​​Image Size: 4" x 5"
Paper Size: 10" x 13"
Paper Type: Rives Lightweight, 115 m/m-2
Edition Size: 50
Inks Used:  Process Blue [10]; Base[10]; Reflex Blue [5]; Black [1]
Date cut: 30 April 2018

France occupied the area after WWI, and the initial stamps were issued under a French mandate. Lebanon Cedar was issued in 1925 as 10 centimes value, printed by lithography with a perforation of 12 [Scott says 12 1/2 x 13 1/2] {mint $0.50 / used $0.20 USD 2009}.
Several red overprints exist: 
1) 1927 [Scott #72] Grand Liban obscured with a red bar {mint $0.30 / used $0.20} 
2) 1928 [Scott #86] above with arabic added and bars to obscure the original arabic {mint $0.60 / used $0.60}
3) 1928 [Scott #107] revalued to 5 centimes {mint $1.40 / used $0.20}
These overprints are not expressed in the print, as they obscure the main design. 

Available:

$25.00 USD
$500 MXN
   Shipping: $15.00 with tracking to USA