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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  faced 
  with 
  the 
  alternatives 
  of 
  shipbuilding, 
  trade, 
  founding 
  colonies, 
  

   and 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  slopes. 
  As 
  these 
  slopes 
  were 
  cleared 
  of 
  forests 
  

   and 
  cultivated, 
  they 
  were 
  subject 
  to 
  soil 
  erosion 
  under 
  heavy 
  winter 
  

   rains, 
  then 
  as 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  now. 
  The 
  great 
  area 
  of 
  terrace 
  walls 
  in 
  

   various 
  states 
  of 
  repair 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  ancient 
  Phoenician 
  slope 
  

   farmer 
  sought 
  to 
  retard 
  or 
  control 
  erosion 
  with 
  rock 
  walls 
  across 
  the 
  

   slope, 
  40 
  or 
  possibly 
  50 
  centuries 
  ago. 
  

  

  The 
  famous 
  forests 
  of 
  the 
  cedars 
  of 
  Lebanon, 
  which 
  are 
  associated 
  

   with 
  the 
  rise 
  of 
  civilization 
  in 
  the 
  alluvial 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Near 
  East, 
  

   retreated 
  before 
  the 
  ax 
  and 
  the 
  hoe 
  until 
  today 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  remnants 
  of 
  

   the 
  original 
  forest 
  of 
  about 
  1,000 
  square 
  miles 
  are 
  left. 
  The 
  best 
  known 
  

   relic 
  is 
  the 
  Tripoli 
  grove 
  of 
  cedars, 
  consisting 
  of 
  about 
  400 
  trees, 
  

   saved 
  from 
  vandalism 
  by 
  a 
  church 
  and 
  from 
  goat 
  grazing 
  by 
  a 
  stone 
  

   wall. 
  (PI. 
  1, 
  fig. 
  1.) 
  Restocking 
  of 
  this 
  grove 
  within 
  the 
  protection 
  

   of 
  a 
  stone 
  wall 
  against 
  grazing 
  signifies 
  that 
  under 
  present 
  climatic 
  

   conditions 
  the 
  forest 
  would 
  spread 
  and 
  grow 
  where 
  soil 
  enough 
  has 
  

   escaped 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  erosion. 
  The 
  disappearance 
  of 
  these 
  famous 
  

   forests 
  is 
  symbolic 
  of 
  the 
  decline 
  and 
  deterioration 
  of 
  the 
  resources 
  

   of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  Today 
  one 
  may 
  find 
  on 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  ancient 
  Phoenicia 
  bare 
  lime- 
  

   stone 
  slopes 
  strewn 
  with 
  remnants 
  of 
  former 
  terrace 
  walls, 
  showing 
  

   that 
  the 
  battle 
  with 
  soil 
  erosion 
  sometimes 
  was 
  a 
  losing 
  fight 
  (13) 
  ; 
  else- 
  

   where 
  one 
  may 
  find 
  terraces 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  maintained 
  for 
  several 
  

   thousand 
  years. 
  (PL 
  1, 
  figs. 
  2 
  and 
  3.) 
  Such 
  astounding 
  achievements 
  

   demonstrate 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  physical 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  resource 
  is 
  main- 
  

   tained, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  cultivated 
  and 
  made 
  productive 
  for 
  thousands 
  of 
  

   years. 
  Its 
  yield 
  in 
  crops 
  then 
  depends 
  upon 
  its 
  treatment. 
  

  

  The 
  cost 
  in 
  human 
  labor 
  to 
  level 
  terrace 
  slopes 
  of 
  50 
  to 
  75 
  percent 
  as 
  

   were 
  found 
  in 
  Beit-Eddine, 
  Lebanon, 
  works 
  out 
  at 
  modern 
  wage 
  scales 
  

   at 
  2,000 
  to 
  4,000 
  United 
  States 
  dollars 
  per 
  acre. 
  Such 
  costs 
  are 
  not 
  

   justified 
  when 
  other 
  lands 
  are 
  available; 
  moreover 
  these 
  costs 
  repre- 
  

   sent 
  what 
  may 
  and 
  sometimes 
  must 
  be 
  paid 
  in 
  an 
  economy 
  of 
  survival. 
  

   Such 
  remarkable 
  works 
  demonstrate 
  to 
  what 
  lengths 
  a 
  people 
  will 
  go 
  to 
  

   survive, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  maintaining 
  the 
  soil 
  resources 
  to 
  

   support 
  a 
  population. 
  Such 
  examples 
  warn 
  us 
  to 
  find 
  ways 
  of 
  saving 
  

   good 
  lands 
  before 
  necessity 
  drives 
  a 
  people 
  to 
  such 
  extremes 
  in 
  costs 
  

   of 
  human 
  effort. 
  

  

  A 
  "HUNDRED 
  DEAD 
  CITIES" 
  

  

  Syria 
  holds 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  grandest 
  ruins 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  ancient 
  

   world, 
  such 
  as 
  Baalbek 
  and 
  Jerash. 
  But 
  to 
  a 
  soil 
  conservationist 
  the 
  

   most 
  striking 
  ruins 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  graveyard 
  of 
  a 
  "hundred 
  dead 
  

   cities." 
  (PI. 
  2, 
  fig. 
  3.) 
  An 
  area 
  of 
  about 
  a 
  million 
  acres 
  in 
  North 
  

   Syria 
  lying 
  between 
  Aleppo, 
  Antioch, 
  and 
  Hama 
  exhibits 
  soil 
  erosion 
  

  

  