Mapping Mount Lebanon: Political and Sectarian Boundaries in the Late Ottoman Middle East

This article analyses the processes by which the small territory of Mount Lebanon, an administrative subdivision of the Ottoman Empire known as a mutasarrifate, was described by Ottoman, European, and American map-makers. Among its key themes are the language(s) in which maps were presented, the evolving processes of knowledge transfer and the range of purposes—military, administrative, educational, and missionary—for which each example of regional map-making was aimed. Examining the role played in the territory and its mapping by military forces from Istanbul’s imperial rivals over several decades, it recognises the pivotal role played by German officers seconded to the Ottoman Military Academy in Istanbul. One officer, Major Huber, was singularly influential in mapping politics and sectarianism in late Ottoman Mount Lebanon and across the wider empire, at a time when reforms had supposedly eradicated such administrative sectarianism.