ISCNY

In Allan Smith’s presentation on the early stamps of the Middle East, part three focuses on Lebanon, the Alawites, and Latakia. Allan begins by explaining the geopolitical shifts post-World War I, highlighting the division of the Ottoman territories and the establishment of the French and British Mandates. He discusses the initial use of Egyptian Expeditionary Force stamps, later replaced by French overprinted stamps indicating their administrative regions. Allan details the first stamps explicitly mentioning Lebanon, issued in 1924, with subsequent issues featuring bilingual overprints in French and Arabic. He explains the technical aspects of these overprints, including various color combinations and surcharges. Allan also covers the stamps of the Alawite State, highlighting their unique socio-political background and eventual renaming to Latakia in 1930. He concludes with the pictorial issues for Latakia, noting their continued administrative ties to Syria.