Reflections on the Life of Druze by Western Writers and Travelers

Abstract

This study focuses on certain aspects related to the life of Druze in

the eyes of Western writers- travelers; aspects that recount their origin,

distribution, beliefs, socioeconomic and military ones. This paper relies on

studies by a miscellany of Western travelers (British, French, Americans,

Swedish, Italians and Spanish) who visited Druze in different historical epochs

(twelfth’s century, sixteenth’s century through the twentieth’s century) .

Even though they differed on their origin, critics in general agreed

that Druze are of two classes: the knowledgeable and the ignorant, who,

collectively, constituted a patriarchal- based society. On the one hand, Druze

are described as fearless, well- built, welcoming, hospitable and connected

to their land; on the other hand, they are marked as treacherous, crafty and

deceitful.

Western travelers wrote about Druze’s customs, traditions and norms

that are related to their social life: marriage, divorce, food, clothing and

gender; they also marked their economic life of their methods of farming,

harvest and all kinds of trade. Travelers also viewed Druze military tactics

of recruiting, training and waging wars. Demography of Druze also took its

share in the study of Western travelers: while luxurious houses, travelers

noted, were built for the rich and the monarch, poor houses were built for the

poor and the deprived.