The Lebanese Village: جبلنا

Ehden, ca. 1960s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Metn, 1968, Bekaa, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Afka Adonis Valley, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Aley, Mount Lebanon, ca. 1960, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Bekaa, Shepherd with a Herd, 1962, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

View of the Village of Bsharri, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Farmer on his way to work, carrying his “Zawadeh”, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Knitting atelier in a Lebanese village, Chouf, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Farmer examining fruits in his orchard, ca. 1940s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Bekaa, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Young girl threshing wheat, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Farmer cutting wheat with a scythe, ca. 1950s, Manoug Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Jafet Library, AUB

Le pecheur, 1947 (SA)

جبلنا بدمنا ترابه جبلنا

مهما الدهر غضباته جابلنا

منبقى هون ما منترك جبَلنا

تراب الأرز أغلى من الذهب ..

موال شعبي

“Once upon a time, I had a quiet village, lost between the olive and evergreen trees, resting on the shoulder of an ageless boulder on one of Lebanon's hills, happily opening its windows to the sun, its chest to the breeze, its heart to life."

Khalil Taqi al-Din, "Qaryati wa-nafsi" [My Village, My Soul] in VII Festival international de Baalbeck (Beirut: Association du Festival International, 1962).

The idealization of Mount Lebanon as a refuge or haven was an important aspect of Manoug's contribution to the construction of an image of beautiful rustic life and traditional village values that itself fed into what has come to be called ”Lebanese mountain romanticism”, a romanticism based on an idyllic conception of the nation, perhaps best represented by the works of Anis Freiha (most notably his famous "Ismaa ya Rida"), Charles Corm, Michel Chiha, Said Akl, and the Rahbani brothers, among many.