Why druse.org exists
A free, community-built home for the history, heritage, and people of the Druse.
The Druse are a small people with an outsized place in the history of the Levant. For a thousand years they have lived in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and beyond — founding principalities, leading revolts against empires, and carrying their identity into a global diaspora. Yet the story of the Druse is scattered: across archives in three languages, out-of-print books, and the memories of elders.
druse.org exists to gather that story in one accessible place. We aggregate public information about the Druse — from the eras of Ottoman, French, and British rule through to today — and present it clearly, honestly, and freely, for anyone who wants to learn.
We also believe the story belongs to the community. That is why druse.org is not only an archive but a gathering place: a space where Druse across the world can come together, share what they know, correct what we get wrong, and add the stories only they can tell.
A note on the name: Druse or Druze?
You will see the name spelled both ways. “Druze” is the most common spelling in English today, while “Druse”is a recognized alternative — the traditional English spelling found across older and classical sources, including the 19th-century accounts in our own library (such as Colonel Churchill’s The Druses and the Maronites, 1862). Major dictionaries — Merriam-Webster, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Collins — list Druse simply as an accepted variant of Druze; both refer to the same people, الموحّدون الدروز.
We have chosen Druse as our house spelling — it is our name and our domain. Throughout the site you may also see Druze kept in place where it belongs: in the titles of published books, in the names of organizations, and in links to outside sources. Whichever spelling brought you here, you are in the right place.
Accessible
Public knowledge, made readable and free for everyone.
Accurate
Drawn from sources, open to correction, never the final word.
Together
Built by and for the global Druse community.
This is a beginning, not a finished work.
Help us make it more complete, more accurate, and more alive.
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