Maronites

“ To the north of the Druses are the Christian Maronites, said to be the descendants of a Monophysite sect, separated from the common Christian Church after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. "Partly through their isolation in the mountains, partly through their not intermarrying with their Mahometan or Druse neighbours, the Maronites of today have preserved an old type in almost marvellous purity. In no other Oriental group is there a greater number of men with extreme height of the skull and excessive flattening of the occipital region than among the Maronites.... ”

“ Maro, upon the borders of the Orontes, before his settlement among the Mardaites of Mount Libanus. One thing is certain, from the testimony of Tyrius, and other unexceptionable witnesses, as also from the most authentic records, namely, that the Maronites retained the opinions of the Monothelites until the twelfth century, when, abandoning and renouncing the doctrine of one will in Christ, they were reädmitted into the communion of the Roman church. The most learned of the modern Maronites have left no method unemployed to defend their church against this accusation ”

“ Feudalism died hard, but since 1860 has been practically extinct; and so far as the Maronites own a chief of their own people it is the “Patriarch of Antioch and the whole East,” who resides at Bkerkeh near Beirut in winter, and at a hill station (Bdiman or Raifun) in summer. The latter, however, has no recognized jurisdiction except over his clergy. The Maronites have four members on the provincial council, two of whom are the sole representatives of the two mudirats of Kesrawan ”

“ The majority of the people belong to the Greek Church, and the remainder are either Armenians or Maronites, whose peculiar religion we will endeavour to describe. These number about 2800.
The Maronites are a tribe of people inhabiting the western declivity of Mount Lebanon, and figure in history as a sect of Christians. By adopting the Monothelitic doctrine soon after it had been condemned, in A.D. 680, by the Council of Constantinople, they came to be distinguished as a distinct religious party, and having as their first bishop, a certain monk, John Maro, they296 were called Maronites. ”

“ Their road now lay nearly at the foot of those steep and rugged mountains which have for many ages been inhabited by the Maronites, several of whose convents they discerned perched like eagles’ nests on the bare summit of the crags. A road cut for a considerable distance through the solid rock, and a track still more rude and wild, worn by the footsteps of travellers in the side of the mountain, at length brought them to the river Lycus, or Canis, the Nahr-el-Kelb, or “Dog’s River,” of the Turks and Arabs. ”

“ Below the greater waterfall a narrow stone bridge, without balustrades or railing, leads across a deep ravine, through which the stream rushes foaming, to the opposite shore. After having once crossed, we enter upon a more inhabited tract of country, and travel on between rows of houses and gardens. But many of the houses stood empty, the inhabitants having fled into the fields, and there erected huts of branches of trees, to escape the plague. The Maronites, the real inhabitants of these mountains, are strong people, gifted with a determined will ”

“ They are wild men of various nations and races,—Maronites from Lebanon, Roumelians, Candiotes, Copts from Upper Egypt, Russians from the Crimea, Armenians and Abyssinians. They savour strongly of Oriental life and of Oriental dirt. ”

“ These tribes concealed themselves in the houses of the Scheiks of the family of Abu Bekr, in Deir-el-Kamar, and, without provocation, sallied out of their houses, set fire to the town in several places, and plundered and murdered several of the peaceable inhabitants. The Maronites, taken entirely by surprise, suffered very considerably at first, but being rallied by their leaders took up arms, and a regular battle ensued, which lasted with occasional intermission for several days. ”

“ The Lamanites were now rulers of the western world, their traditional enemies being utterly destroyed. But they did not cultivate peace; no sooner were the Nephites obliterated, than they commenced fighting among themselves. The lonely Moroni, the last of the Nephites, tells us, A. C. 400, that the Lamanites are at war one with another; and the face of the land is one continued round of murder and bloodshed; and no man knoweth the end of the war. And again, yet later, he writes: Their wars are exceeding fierce among themselves. ”

“ Manti, Gideon, Cumeni, Moroni, and even Zarahemla fell. Nor did the war end when the bloodthirsty Lamanites held high carnival in the midst of its towers and palaces. Onward swept the invading host , backward fled the defenders of the Commonwealth, backward they continued until every town and city, every tower and fort, from Melek to Moroni, from Manti to Bountiful, was filled with the savage, half-disciplined, dark-skinned warriors of Laman and their apostate allies. Not a place could be found in the whole southern continent where the soldiers of Moronihah successfully held their ground. ”

“ Moroni had all the people in Manti gather to battle against the Lamanites--to defend their lands, country, rights and liberties.
Moroni hid part of his army in a valley near the west bank of the Sidon River, and then sent out spies to discover when the Lamanites would come. He knew it was the Lamanites' intention to kill their brethren, or to make them slaves and establish a kingdom for themselves over all the land. He also knew the Nephites only wanted to defend their lands, liberty and church. ”

“ Then, coming from the north side of Riplah Hill, the Lamanite army passed by the hill, and came into the valley where part of Moroni's army was hiding. As they passed through the valley and began to cross the Sidon River, part of Moroni's army, led by Lehi, attacked the Lamanites from behind.
When the Lamanites saw the Nephites coming from behind, they turned and fought Lehi's army. Men on both sides died, but it was more dreadful for the Lamanites. Their bare skin was exposed to the heavy blows of the Nephite swords and scimitars, which brought death at almost every stroke. ”

“ By doing this, the Lamanite strongholds from the eastern wilderness to the west were cut off. The border between the Nephites and Lamanites, which ran from west to east, south of Zarahemla, was now completely controlled by the Nephites. The Nephites possessed all the northern land and also all the land north of the land of Bountiful.
Moroni's armies grew larger every day because the men felt assured of protection within all the fortifications. Moroni and his armies weakened the Lamanites and cut them off from the Nephite lands in the north. ”

“ Like nearly all rude or semi-civilized races, the Lamanites depended on the strength of numbers and brute force for victory in the open field. They massed their troops in solid bodies, and with wild cries rushed to the assault in the hope of bearing down all resistance by their superior numbers, as in [Pg 259] almost every war they greatly outnumbered the Nephites. Indeed it is doubtful if even the last-named people used much scientific strategy previous to the days of Moroni ”

“ But on the other hand, the Lamanites, because of the hardness of their hearts, brought down many judgments upon their own heads. Nevertheless, they were not destroyed as a nation, but the Lord God sent forth a curse upon them, and they became a dark, loathsome, and filthy people. Before their rebellion, they were white and exceedingly fair, like the Nephites, but the Lord God cursed them in their complexions, and they were changed to a dark color, and they became a wild, savage, and ferocious people, being great enemies to the Nephites, whom they south by every means to destroy. ”

“ Moroni heard that the Lamanites were coming to make war upon his people. He, therefore, got his armies ready to meet them. Feeling confident of an easy victory, the Lamanites marched towards the land of Jershon. As they drew near it they saw Moroni's army prepared to oppose them. Seeing how well the Nephite soldiers were protected, the Lamanites changed their minds, and instead of attacking Jershon they turned and proceeded towards the land of Manti. ”

“ In the morning, Moroni's army attacked the Lamanites, killing them with a great slaughter, and the Lamanites were driven out of the land. This is how 61 BC ended, and the Nephites had been experiencing wars, bloodshed, famine and affliction for many years. There had been murders, contentions, dissensions, and all types of iniquity among the Nephites, but for the sake of the righteous, and because of their prayers, the Nephites had been spared.
Because the war had lasted for so many years, many people had hardened their hearts. ”

“ They fell on the Lamanite rear with a daring and miraculous strength, possessed only by men who put their whole trust in God. Thus attacked in the rear, the Lamanites immediately halted, changed front, and threw their whole force against the Ammonites. The surviving officers of Antipus' army, finding that Helaman had come to their rescue, stopped their retreat, reorganized their scattered bands, and renewed the attack. The Lamanites were compelled to succumb; they could not resist the desperate courage of the Nephites that was driving them in at both front and rear. ”

“ Now Moroni was compelled to cause the Lamanites to labor, because it was easy to guard them while at their labor; and he desired all his forces when he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.
6 And it came to pass that Moroni had thus gained a victory over one of the greatest of the armies of the Lamanites, and had obtained possession of the city of Mulek, which was one of the strongest holds of the Lamanites in the land of Nephi; and thus he had also built a stronghold to retain his prisoners. ”

“ Moroni Chapter 9
9:1 My beloved son, I write unto you again that ye may know that I am yet alive; but I write somewhat of that which is grievous.
9:2 For behold, I have had a sore battle with the Lamanites, in which we did not conquer; and Archeantus has fallen by the sword, and also Luram and Emron; yea, and we have lost a great number of our choice men.
9:3 And now behold, my son, I fear lest the Lamanites shall destroy this people; for they do not repent, and Satan stirreth them up continually to anger one with another. ”

“ Moroni attacked the malcontents in their cities and forts, slew about 4,000 of them, and cast into prison those who would not take up arms in defense of their country. This outbreak, which was led by those claiming to be of noble birth, resulted disastrously for the Nephites; for while Moroni was engaged in putting it down, the Lamanites made rapid advances northward, capturing many cities on their route. ”

“ The next year, Moroni sent them a reinforcement of 6,000 men and a sufficient supply of food, which was followed by a brilliant campaign, in which Moroni, Lehi and Teancum, by prearranged tactics and simultaneous movements, drove the Lamanites beyond the Nephite territory and ended the long-continued and exhausting series of wars. ”

“ Lamanites who remained in the far south paid more attention to civilized pursuits than has usually been accredited to them, and the remarks of the Book of Mormon concerning the Lamanites being an idle people, living upon the fruits of the chase, and their marauding excursions into Nephite lands are to be more especially applied to those Lamanites more immediately in contact with the Nephites, while further southward they were pursuing the arts of peace. ”

“ But under the command of a Nephite traitor, the Lamanites had not been afraid to come into the center of the land. They had taken Zarahemla, and they were taking more cities and strongholds, killing many men, women and children along the way.
When Moronihah learned of this, he immediately sent Lehi with an army to head off Coriantumr's army before they reached Bountiful. Lehi's army met them and began to force them back (southward) to Zarahemla.
Moronihah met Coriantumr in his retreat, and a great, bloody battle ensued. Many Lamanites were killed, and Coriantumr was found among the dead. ”

“ Moronihah, believing that the Lamanites dared not push through the centre of the land, but would, as was their custom, first attack the outlying cities, placed his strongest garrisons in those places. Coriantumr, however, made a dash directly towards the Nephite capital, through the densest of the Nephite population, and carried everything before him. The Nephites, surprised and unprepared as they were, resisted him only in small bodies, which were easily dispersed, and he reached and captured the city of Zarahemla before Moronihah could concentrate his forces. ”

“ His words filled their hearts with renewed courage, and with a cry to the Lord to help them, the Nephites rushed upon the Lamanites and slew them in great numbers. Seeing that his enemies were beaten, Moroni commanded his men to stop slaying them.
Addressing Zerahemna, Moroni said, "You see now that you are in our power. It would be easy for us to slay you, but we do not desire to shed your blood. I, therefore, call upon you and your followers to deliver unto us your weapons of war, and to enter into a covenant that you will never again take up arms against us. ”

“ It has been already mentioned, on the authority of Diodorus, that in ancient Egypt the reapers were wont to lament over the first sheaf cut, invoking Isis as the goddess to whom they owed the discovery of corn. To the plaintive song or cry sung or uttered by Egyptian reapers the Greeks gave the name of Maneros, and explained the name by a story that Maneros, the only son of the first Egyptian king, invented agriculture, and, dying an untimely death, was thus lamented by the people. ”