Bashir Shihab II
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Bashir Shihab II was a Lebanese emir who ruled the Emirate of Mount Lebanon between 1788 –1840. Born to a branch of the Shihab family which had converted from Sunni Islam, the religion of previous Shi
Portrait of Bashir Shihab II
Muhammad Ali and Bashir II
A 1961 Lebanese stamp portraying Bashir Shihab II (left) and Fakhr al-Din II (right) in commemoration of Lebanon's independence in 1946
Inner courtyard of Beiteddine Palace
Ma'n dynasty
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The Ma'n dynasty, also known as the Ma'nids;, were a family of Druze chiefs of Arab stock based in the rugged Chouf area of southern Mount Lebanon who were politically prominent in the 15th–17th centu
The mountains of the Chouf where, according to traditional accounts, the Ma'nids established themselves as a bulwark against the Crusaders of Beirut in 1120
The mosque of Deir al-Qamar, which contained an inscription crediting the Ma'nid emir Fakhr al-Din Uthman for its construction in 1493
The village of Baruk (pictured in 2005) was the headquarters of Qurqumaz, the grandson of Fakhr al-Din I and ancestor of Fakhr al-Din II
The saray in Deir al-Qamar, seat of the Ma'n under Fakhr al-Din