ADONIS RIVER, VALLEY OF THE DANCING SHADOWS – Ricardus Haber & Myrna Semaan Haber

NATURAL HERITAGE FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN, SPACES AND SPECIES

VOLUME III –2013

 ISBN 2-913330-97-5

From Gebal-Byblos into the Adonis Valley spreads a natural landscape that spawned a facet of human development unequalled around the Mediterranean and of global significance.

 

Prehistoric man, who settled on the coast of Gebal, advanced from one cultural phase into another, creating one the most important civilizations of the Old World, at a time when the Mediterranean was sporadically inhabited. His cultural advancement signifies a unique episode in the history of humanity with everlasting endowments. Yet, he owes this legacy to the natural inheritance and the assets offered by the land. In response, this man worshipped nature in a myth that idolized its elements. People of Gebal walked up the Adonis Valley on routes of pilgrimage to praise their lord by the spring that carried his blood, to make of its river and valley a holy place. The valley was itself inhabited over millennia and through a string of civilization times leading to the extant villages. Here again, the natural inheritance engendered the survival of the human communities and their progress.

 

This volume pictures the history of this natural space portraying its various aspects in dedication to illustrate its outstanding value:

·            It presents the rich cultural heritage nested in the natural ensemble from Gebal into the Adonis valley, exploring its multiple dimensions from mythological to historical, archeological and social.

·            It addresses the succession of human development through cultural times in a wealth of archeological remains that are hardly known to the public.

·            While the cultural heritage is viewed on a journey descending the corners of the valley, the natural ensemble is observed on a walk ascending up the valley.

·           The waters of the Adonis River are photographed in series from its mouth to the heights of the water catchment offering a unique documentation of the basin of an ever-flowing river.

·           The particularities of the natural system are displayed from the geological birth to the topographic sculpturing, into the ecological cauldron with the wealth of greenery and the climatic influence into the kaleidoscopic variegation of the seasons.

·            Artful photography reveals the living cultural heritage and the astounding natural landscape in 920 photos on 360 pages of color.