Arabic Instructor Anthony Verardi, who also works at the English Language Institute, visited Lebanon this summer along with Dr. Amani Attia and Rasha Al-Hashimi. Here's what he wrote about the Cedars of Lebanon:
These trees are known as "ارز الرب", or "The Cedars of God." They are some of the last remnants of the original cedar forests of Lebanon; estimates place the ages of some individual trees between 4,000-6,000 years old, having grown to heights in excess of 100 ft.
The cedars of Lebanon are mentioned as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh, among other religious texts, and are, of course, where the hallmark cedar on Lebanon's flag stems from. In 1998, the forest was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site