Damascus

Coordinates: 33°30′47″N 36°17′31″E / 33.51306°N 36.29194°E / 33.51306; 36.29194
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Damascus
دِمَشق
UTC+3
Area code(s)Country code: 963, City code: 11
GeocodeC1001
ISO 3166 codeSY-DI
ClimateBWk
HDI (2021)0.612[7]medium
International airportDamascus International Airport
Websitewww.damascus.gov.sy
Arab States

Damascus (

Arabic: دِمَشق, romanizedDimašq) is the capital of Syria, the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth holiest city in Islam.[8][9][10] Known colloquially in Syria as aš-Šām (الشَّام) and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine" (مَدِيْنَةُ الْيَاسْمِينِ Madīnat al-Yāsmīn),[1] Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world
.

Situated in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area. Nestled among the eastern foothills of the

flows through Damascus.

Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.[11] First settled in the 3rd millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw its importance decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the central government of Syria. As of September 2019, eight years into the Syrian civil war, Damascus was named the least livable city out of 140 global cities in the Global Liveability Ranking.[12] As of June 2023, it was the least livable out of 173 global cities in the same Global Liveability Ranking.

Names and etymology

timsqwxAst
or
timsz
q
w
ṯmsqw[13]
in hieroglyphs
Era: New Kingdom
(1550–1069 BC)

The name of Damascus first appeared in the geographical list of Thutmose III as ṯmśq (𓍘𓄟𓊃𓈎𓅱) in the 15th century BC.[14] The

Biblical Hebrew. A number of Akkadian spellings are found in the Amarna letters
, from the 14th century BC: Dimašqa (𒁲𒈦𒋡), Dimašqì (𒁲𒈦𒀸𒄀), and Dimašqa (𒁲𒈦𒀸𒋡).

Later

Aramaic spellings of the name often include an intrusive resh (letter r), perhaps influenced by the root dr, meaning "dwelling". Thus, the English and Latin name of the city is Damascus, which was imported from Greek Δαμασκός and originated from the Qumranic Darmeśeq (דרמשק), and Darmsûq (ܕܪܡܣܘܩ) in Syriac,[15][16] meaning "a well-watered land".[17]

In

Hijaz facing east, oriented to the sunrise, will find the north to the left. This is contrasted with the name of Yemen (اَلْيَمَن al-Yaman), correspondingly meaning "the right-hand side" or "the south". The variation ش ء م (š-ʾ-m'), of the more typical ش م ل (š-m-l), is also attested in Old South Arabian, 𐩦𐩱𐩣 (šʾm), with the same semantic development.[23][24]

Geography

Spot satellite
Mount Qasioun overlooking the city

Damascus was built in a strategic site on a plateau 680 m (2,230 ft)

Ghouta, irrigated farmland where many vegetables, cereals, and fruits have been farmed since ancient times. Maps of Roman Syria indicate that the Barada river emptied into a lake of some size east of Damascus. Today it is called Bahira Atayba, the hesitant lake because in years of severe drought, it does not even exist.[25]

The modern city has an area of 105 km2 (41 sq mi), out of which 77 km2 (30 sq mi) is urban, while

Jabal Qasioun occupies the rest.[26]

One of the rare periods the Barada river is high, seen here next to the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Damascus

The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, lies on the south bank of the river

Jabal Qasioun, overlooking the city, already the site of the al-Salihiyah neighborhood centered on the important shrine of medieval Andalusian Sheikh and philosopher Ibn Arabi. These new neighborhoods were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire
which had fallen under Christian rule. Thus they were known as al-Akrad (the Kurds) and al-Muhajirin (the migrants). They lay 2–3 km (1–2 mi) north of the old city.

From the late 19th century on, a modern administrative and commercial center began to spring up to the west of the old city, around the Barada, centered on the area known as al-Marjeh or "the meadow". Al-Marjeh soon became the name of what was initially the central square of modern Damascus, with the city hall in it. The courts of justice, post office, and railway station stood on higher ground slightly to the south. A Europeanized residential quarter soon began to be built on the road leading between al-Marjeh and al-Salihiyah. The commercial and administrative center of the new city gradually shifted northwards slightly towards this area.

Yarmouk became a second home to thousands of Palestinian refugees.[27] City planners preferred to preserve the Ghouta as far as possible, and in the later 20th century some of the main areas of development were to the north, in the western Mezzeh neighborhood and most recently along the Barada valley in Dummar in the north west and on the slopes of the mountains at Barzeh
in the north-east. Poorer areas, often built without official approval, have mostly developed south of the main city.

Damascus used to be surrounded by an

Arabic: الغوطة, romanizedal-ġūṭä), watered by the Barada river. The Fijeh spring
, west along the Barada valley, used to provide the city with drinking water and various sources to the west are tapped by water contractors. The flow of the Barada dropped with the rapid expansion of housing and industry in the city and it is almost dry. The lower aquifers are polluted by the city's runoff from heavily used roads, industry and sewage.

Climate

Damascus has a

rain shadow effect of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains[29]
and the prevailing ocean currents. Summers are prolonged, dry and hot with less humidity. Winters are cool and somewhat rainy; snowfall is infrequent. Autumn is brief and mild, but has the most drastic temperature change, unlike spring where the transition to summer is more gradual and steady. Annual rainfall is around 130 mm (5 in), occurring from October to May.

Climate data for Damascus (Damascus International Airport) 1991–2020
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 23.2
(73.8)
28.0
(82.4)
34.4
(93.9)
37.6
(99.7)
41.4
(106.5)
45.0
(113.0)
45.8
(114.4)
44.8
(112.6)
44.6
(112.3)
38.0
(100.4)
31.0
(87.8)
25.1
(77.2)
45.8
(114.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 13.1
(55.6)
15.3
(59.5)
20.0
(68.0)
25.3
(77.5)
30.9
(87.6)
35.3
(95.5)
37.8
(100.0)
37.6
(99.7)
34.6
(94.3)
29.0
(84.2)
20.6
(69.1)
14.8
(58.6)
26.2
(79.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 0.8
(33.4)
2.0
(35.6)
4.8
(40.6)
8.0
(46.4)
12.1
(53.8)
15.9
(60.6)
18.6
(65.5)
18.6
(65.5)
15.3
(59.5)
11.0
(51.8)
5.2
(41.4)
1.9
(35.4)
9.5
(49.1)
Record low °C (°F) −10.8
(12.6)
−12
(10)
−6
(21)
−7.5
(18.5)
1.4
(34.5)
6.2
(43.2)
10.5
(50.9)
9.5
(49.1)
3.5
(38.3)
−1.0
(30.2)
−8.6
(16.5)
−8.8
(16.2)
−12.0
(10.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 26.0
(1.02)
22.4
(0.88)
13.9
(0.55)
5.6
(0.22)
4.8
(0.19)
0.3
(0.01)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0.3
(0.01)
6.3
(0.25)
21.4
(0.84)
23.6
(0.93)
124.7
(4.91)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) 4.8 4.4 2.6 1.3 1.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.2 3.3 4.2 23.0
Average snowy days 1 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 2.3
Average
relative humidity
(%)
76 69 59 50 43 41 44 48 47 52 63 75 56
Mean monthly sunshine hours 164.3 182.0 226.3 249.0 322.4 357.0 365.8 353.4 306.0 266.6 207.0 164.3 3,164.1
Mean daily sunshine hours 5.3 6.5 7.3 8.3 10.4 11.9 11.8 11.4 10.2 8.6 6.9 5.3 8.5
Source:
NOAA (humidity, sun 1970–1990)[30][31]

History

Early settlement

Carbon-14 dating at Tell Ramad, on the outskirts of Damascus, suggests that the site may have been occupied since the second half of the seventh millennium BC, possibly around 6300 BC.[32] However, evidence of settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC exists, although no large-scale settlement was present within Damascus' walls until the second millennium BC.[33]

Late Bronze

Some of the earliest

Hattusili III and Ramesses II where the former handed over control of the Damascus area to Ramesses II in 1259 BC.[34] The arrival of the Sea Peoples, around 1200 BC, marked the end of the Bronze Age in the region and brought about new development of warfare.[35] Damascus was only a peripheral part of this picture, which mostly affected the larger population centers of ancient Syria. However, these events contributed to the development of Damascus as a new influential center that emerged with the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.[35]

Damascus is mentioned in

Uz, the son of Aram.[37] In Antiquities i. 7,[38]
Josephus reports:

Nicolaus of Damascus, in the fourth book of his History, says thus: "Abraham reigned at Damascus, being a foreigner, who came with an army out of the land above Babylon, called the land of the Chaldeans: but, after a long time, he got him up, and removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the land then called the land of Canaan, but now the land of Judea, and this when his posterity were become a multitude; as to which posterity of his, we relate their history in another work. Now the name of Abraham is even still famous in the country of Damascus; and there is shown a village named from him, The Habitation of Abraham.

Aram-Damascus

Annotated view of Damascus and surroundings from space.[39]

Damascus is first documented as an important city during the arrival of the

Aramaeans, a Semitic people, in the 11th century BC. By the start of the first millennium BC, several Aramaic kingdoms were formed, as Aramaeans abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and formed federated tribal states. One of these kingdoms was Aram-Damascus, centered on its capital Damascus.[40] The Aramaeans who entered the city without battle, adopted the name "Dimashqu" for their new home. Noticing the agricultural potential of the still-undeveloped and sparsely populated area,[41] they established the water distribution system of Damascus by constructing canals and tunnels which maximized the efficiency of the river Barada. The same network was later improved by the Romans and the Umayyads, and still forms the basis of the water system of the old part of the city today.[42] The Aramaeans initially turned Damascus into an outpost of a loose federation of Aramaean tribes, known as Aram-Zobah, based in the Beqaa Valley.[41]

The city would gain pre-eminence in southern Syria when

Ben-Hadad II was captured by Israel after unsuccessfully besieging Samaria. As a result, he granted Israel trading rights in Damascus.[43]

Another possible reason for the treaty between Aram-Damascus and Israel was the common threat of the

King Ahab of Israel, in the Battle of Qarqar against the Neo-Assyrian army. Aram-Damascus came out victorious, temporarily preventing the Assyrians from encroaching into Syria. However, after Hadadzezer was killed by his successor, Hazael, the Levantine alliance collapsed. Aram-Damascus attempted to invade Israel, but was interrupted by the renewed Assyrian invasion. Hazael ordered a retreat to the walled part of Damascus while the Assyrians plundered the remainder of the kingdom. Unable to enter the city, they declared their supremacy in the Hauran and Beqa'a valleys.[43]

By the 8th century BC, Damascus was practically engulfed by the Assyrians and entered a Dark Age. Nonetheless, it remained the economic and cultural center of the Near East as well as the Arameaen resistance. In 727, a revolt took place in the city, but was put down by Assyrian forces. After Assyria led by

Neo-Babylonians, but the status of Damascus under Babylon is relatively unknown.[45]

Hellenistic period

Damascus was conquered by

hippodamian system and renamed it "Demetrias".[46]

Roman period

Ruins of the Jupiter Temple at the entrance of Al-Hamidiyah Souq

In 64 BC, the Roman general Pompey annexed the western part of Syria. The Romans occupied Damascus and subsequently incorporated it into the league of ten cities known as the Decapolis[47] which themselves were incorporated into the province of Syria and granted autonomy.[48]

The city of Damascus was entirely redesigned by the Romans after Pompey conquered the region. Still today the Old Town of Damascus retains the rectangular shape of the Roman city, with its two main axes: the Decumanus Maximus (east-west; known today as the Via Recta) and the Cardo (north-south), the Decumanus being about twice as long. The Romans built a monumental gate which still survives at the eastern end of Decumanus Maximus. The gate originally had three arches: the central arch was for chariots while the side arches were for pedestrians.[25]

Remnants of ancient Damascus

In 23 BC,

Zenodorus by Caesar Augustus[49] and some scholars believe that Herod was also granted control of Damascus as well.[50]
The control of Damascus reverted to Syria either upon the death of Herod the Great or was part of the lands given to Herod Philip which were given to Syria with his death in 33/34 AD.

It is speculated that control of Damascus was gained by

Herod Philip in 33/34 AD and the death of Aretas in 40 AD but there is substantial evidence against Aretas controlling the city before 37 AD and many reasons why it could not have been a gift from Caligula between 37 and 40 AD.[51][52] In fact, all these theories stem not from any actual evidence outside the New Testament but rather "a certain understanding of 2 Corinthians 11:32" and in reality "neither from archaeological evidence, secular-historical sources, nor New Testament texts can Nabatean sovereignty over Damascus in the first century AD be proven."[53] Roman emperor Trajan who annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea, had previously been in Damascus, as his father Marcus Ulpius Traianus served as governor of Syria from 73 to 74 AD, where he met the Nabatean architect and engineer, Apollodorus of Damascus, who joined him in Rome when he was a consul in 91 AD, and later built several monuments during the 2nd century AD.[54]

Damascus became a metropolis by the beginning of the 2nd century and in 222 it was upgraded to a colonia by the Emperor Septimius Severus. During the Pax Romana, Damascus and the Roman province of Syria in general began to prosper. Damascus's importance as a caravan city was evident with the trade routes from southern Arabia, Palmyra, Petra, and the silk routes from China all converging on it. The city satisfied the Roman demands for eastern luxuries. Circa 125 AD the Roman emperor Hadrian promoted the city of Damascus to "Metropolis of Coele-Syria".[55][56]

Little remains of the architecture of the Romans, but the town planning of the old city did have a lasting effect. The Roman architects brought together the Greek and Aramaean foundations of the city and fused them into a new layout measuring approximately 1,500 by 750 m (4,920 by 2,460 ft), surrounded by a city wall. The city wall contained seven gates, but only the eastern gate, Bab Sharqi, remains from the Roman period. Roman Damascus lies mostly at depths of up to five meters (16 feet) below the modern city.

Jewish Christians
who converted to Christianity with the advent of Saint Paul's proselytisation.

During the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, the city was besieged and captured by Shahrbaraz in 613, along with a large number of Byzantine troops as prisoners,[57] and was in Sasanian hands until near the end of the war.[58]

Rashidun period

Muhammad's first indirect interaction with the people of Damascus was when he sent a letter, through his companion Shiya ibn Wahab, to Harith ibn Abi Shamir, the king of Damascus. In his letter, Muhammad stated: "Peace be upon him who follows true guidance. Be informed that my religion shall prevail everywhere. You should accept Islam, and whatever under your command shall remain yours."[59][60]

Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque

After most of the Syrian countryside was conquered by the

Monophysite—with a growing community of Muslims from Mecca, Medina, and the Syrian Desert.[64] The governor assigned to the city which had been chosen as the capital of Islamic Syria was Mu'awiya I
.

Umayyad and Abbasid periods

View of Damascus with the Umayyad Mosque in center

Following the fourth Rashidun caliph

Arabic was also established as the official language, giving the Muslim minority of the city an advantage over the Aramaic-speaking Christians in administrative affairs.[66]

Jazira region.[68]

The dome of Damascus' treasury in the Umayyad Mosque

On 25 August 750, the

Abbasids, having already beaten the Umayyads in the Battle of the Zab in Iraq, conquered Damascus after facing little resistance. With the heralding of the Abbasid Caliphate, Damascus became eclipsed and subordinated by Baghdad, the new Islamic capital. Within the first six months of Abbasid rule, revolts began erupting in the city, albeit too isolated and unfocused to present a viable threat. Nonetheless, the last of the prominent Umayyads were executed, the traditional officials of Damascus ostracised, and army generals from the city were dismissed. Afterwards, the Umayyad family cemetery was desecrated and the city walls were torn down, reducing Damascus into a provincial town of little importance. It roughly disappeared from written records for the next century and the only significant improvement of the city was the Abbasid-built treasury dome in the Umayyad Mosque in 789. In 811, distant remnants of the Umayyad dynasty staged a strong uprising in Damascus that was eventually put down.[69]

Fatimids in the south and the Hamdanids in the north.[70]

Damascus was the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, which extended from Portugal to Iran

The Shia Fatimids gained control in 970, inflaming hostilities between them and the Sunni Arabs of the city who frequently revolted. A Turk,

al-Muqaddasi, visited Damascus in 985, remarking that the architecture and infrastructure of the city was "magnificent", but living conditions were awful. Under al-Aziz, the city saw a brief period of stability that ended with the reign of al-Hakim (996–1021). In 998, hundreds of Damascus' citizens were rounded up and executed by him for incitement. Three years after al-Hakim's mysterious disappearance, the Arab tribes of southern Syria formed an alliance to stage a massive rebellion against the Fatimids, but they were crushed by the Fatimid Turkish governor of Syria and Palestine, Anushtakin al-Duzbari, in 1029. This victory gave the latter mastery over Syria, displeasing his Fatimid overlords, but gaining the admiration of Damascus' citizens. He was exiled by Fatimid authorities to Aleppo where he died in 1041.[71] From that date to 1063, there are no known records of the city's history. By then, Damascus lacked a city administration, had an enfeebled economy, and a greatly reduced population.[72]

Seljuq and Ayyubid periods

With the arrival of the

Burid line of the Seljuq dynasty. Under Duqaq and Toghtekin, Damascus experienced stability, elevated status and a revived role in commerce. In addition, the city's Sunni majority enjoyed being a part of the larger Sunni framework effectively governed by various Turkic dynasties who in turn were under the moral authority of the Baghdad-based Abbasids.[73]

While the rulers of Damascus were preoccupied in conflict with their fellow Seljuqs in Aleppo and

Diyarbakir, the Crusaders, who arrived in the Levant in 1097, conquered Jerusalem, Mount Lebanon and Palestine. Duqaq seemed to have been content with Crusader rule as a buffer between his dominion and the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. Toghtekin, however, saw the Western invaders as a viable threat to Damascus which, at the time, nominally included Homs, the Beqaa Valley, Hauran, and the Golan Heights as part of its territories. With military support from Sharaf al-Din Mawdud of Mosul, Toghtekin managed to halt Crusader raids in the Golan and Hauran. Mawdud was assassinated in the Umayyad Mosque in 1109, depriving Damascus of northern Muslim backing and forcing Toghtekin to agree to a truce with the Crusaders in 1110.[74] In 1126, the Crusader army led by Baldwin II fought Burid forces led by Toghtekin at Marj al-Saffar
near Damascus; however, despite their tactical victory, the Crusaders failed in their objective to capture Damascus.

Nur ad-Din also Known as the Madrasah Nuriyya al-Kubra[75][76]

Following Toghtekin's death in 1128, his son,

Mu'in al-Din Unur, his mamluk ("slave soldier") took effective power of the city, prompting Zengi—with Safwat al-Mulk's backing—to lay siege against Damascus the same year. In response, Damascus allied with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem to resist Zengi's forces. Consequently, Zengi withdrew his army and focused on campaigns against northern Syria.[78]

In 1144, Zengi

Nur ad-Din, emir of Aleppo, made an alliance with Damascus. When the European crusaders arrived, they and the nobles of Jerusalem agreed to attack Damascus. Their siege, however, was a complete failure. When the city seemed to be on the verge of collapse, the crusader army suddenly moved against another section of the walls, and were driven back. By 1154, Damascus was firmly under Nur ad-Din's control.[79]

In 1164, King

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, though the last drowned en route.[83]

The surviving crusaders, joined by new arrivals from Europe, put Acre to a lengthy siege which lasted until 1191. After re-capturing Acre, Richard defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf in 1191 and the Battle of Jaffa in 1192, recovering most of the coast for the Christians, but could not recover Jerusalem or any of the inland territory of the kingdom. The crusade came to an end peacefully, with the Treaty of Jaffa in 1192. Saladin allowed pilgrimages to be made to Jerusalem, allowing the crusaders to fulfil their vows, after which they all returned home. Local crusader barons set about rebuilding their kingdom from Acre and the other coastal cities.[84]

Saladin died in 1193, and there were frequent conflicts between different Ayyubid sultans ruling in Damascus and Cairo. Damascus was the capital of independent Ayyubid rulers between 1193 and 1201, from 1218 to 1238, from 1239 to 1245, and from 1250 to 1260. At other times it was ruled by the Ayyubid rulers of Egypt.[85] During the internecine wars fought by the Ayyubid rulers, Damascus was besieged repeatedly, as, e.g., in 1229.[86]

The patterned Byzantine and Chinese silks available through Damascus, one of the Western termini of the Silk Road, gave the English language "damask".[87]

Mamluk period

Woodcut of 1497
Venetian delegation in Damascus, painting of 1511. Louvre-Lens.

Ayyubid rule (and independence) came to an end with the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1260, in which the Mongols led by

Mamluk Sultanate, ruled from Egypt, following the Mongol withdrawal. Following their victory at the Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar, the Mongols led by Ghazan besieged the city for ten days, which surrendered between December 30, 1299, and January 6, 1300, though its Citadel resisted.[89] Ghazan then retreated with most of his forces in February, probably because the Mongol horses needed fodder, and left behind about 10,000 horsemen under the Mongol general Mulay.[90] Around March 1300, Mulay returned with his horsemen to Damascus,[91] then followed Ghazan back across the Euphrates. In May 1300, the Egyptian Mamluks returned from Egypt and reclaimed the entire area[92] without a battle.[93] In April 1303, the Mamluks managed to defeat the Mongol army led by Kutlushah and Mulay along with their Armenian allies at the Battle of Marj al-Saffar, to put an end to Mongol invasions of the Levant.[94] Later on, the Black Death of 1348–1349 killed as much as half of the city's population.[95]

In 1400,

Turco-Mongol conqueror, besieged Damascus. The Mamluk sultan dispatched a deputation from Cairo, including Ibn Khaldun, who negotiated with him, but after their withdrawal Timur sacked the city on 17 March 1401.[96] The Umayyad Mosque was burnt and men and women taken into slavery. A huge number of the city's artisans were taken to Timur's capital at Samarkand. These were the luckier citizens: many were slaughtered and their heads piled up in a field outside the north-east corner of the walls, where a city square still bears the name Burj al-Ru'us (between modern-day Al-Qassaa and Bab Tuma
), originally "the tower of heads".

Rebuilt, Damascus continued to serve as a Mamluk provincial capital until 1516.

Ottoman period

Damascus in 1690 by Jacob Balthasar Peeters
A Turkish Divan in Damascus, in 1836, by John Carne
Damascus, view taken from the Christian quarter, in 1876.[97]

In early 1516, the

khutba in the Umayyad mosque was pronounced in the name of Selim I. The day after, the victorious sultan entered the city, staying for three months. On 15 December, he left Damascus by Bab al-Jabiya, intent on the conquest of Egypt. Little appeared to have changed in the city: one army had simply replaced another. However, on his return in October 1517, the sultan ordered the construction of a mosque, tekkiye and mausoleum at the shrine of Shaikh Muhi al-Din ibn Arabi in al-Salihiyah
. This was to be the first of Damascus' great Ottoman monuments. During this time, according to an Ottoman census, Damascus had 10,423 households.[98]

The Ottomans remained for the next 400 years, except for a brief occupation by

Porte than its size might have warranted—for most of this period, Aleppo was more populous and commercially more important. In 1559 the western building of Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, comprising a mosque and khan for pilgrims on the road to Mecca, was completed to a design by the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, and soon afterwards the Salimiyya Madrasa was built adjoining it.[99]

Early in the nineteenth century, Damascus was noted for its shady cafes along the banks of the Barada. A depiction of these by

Midan
district outside the walls (mostly Orthodox) were, however, protected by their Muslim neighbors.

American Missionary E.C. Miller records that in 1867 the population of the city was 'about' 140,000, of whom 30,000 were Christians, 10,000 Jews and 100,000 'Mohammedans' with fewer than 100 Protestant Christians.

Wilhelm II toured Damascus, during his trip to the Ottoman Empire.[102]

Modern period

20th century

The Turkish Hospital in Damascus on 1 October 1918, shortly after the entry of the Australian 4th Light Horse Regiment

In the early years of the 20th century, nationalist sentiment in Damascus, initially cultural in its interest, began to take a political coloring, largely in reaction to the

Jamal Pasha, governor of Damascus, in Beirut and Damascus in 1915 and 1916 further stoked nationalist feeling, and in 1918, as the forces of the Arab Revolt
and the British Imperial forces approached, residents fired on the retreating Turkish troops.

, 1918.

On 1 October 1918,

Mandate for Syria
.

When in 1925 the

Ghouta
, and a new road was built outside the northern ramparts to facilitate the movement of armored cars.

On 21 June 1941, 3 weeks into the Allied

Vichy French forces by a mixed British Indian and Free French force. The French agreed to withdraw in 1946, following the British intervention during the Levant Crisis
, thus leading to the full independence of Syria. Damascus remained the capital.

In 1979, the

Old City of Damascus, with its collection of archaeological and historical religious sites, was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
.

Civil war

The Damascus Opera House, opened in 2004
Damascus in 2006, taken from the International Space Station

By January 2012, clashes between the regular army and rebels reached the outskirts of Damascus, reportedly preventing people from leaving or reaching their houses, especially when security operations there intensified from the end of January into February.[105]

Umayyad Square

By June 2012, bullets and shrapnel shells smashed into homes in Damascus overnight as troops battled the Free Syrian Army in the streets. At least three tank shells slammed into residential areas in the central Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, according to activists. Intense exchanges of assault-rifle fire marked the clash, according to residents and amateur video posted online.[106]

The Damascus suburb of

Ghouta suffered heavy bombing in December 2017 and a further wave of bombing started in February 2018, also known as Rif Dimashq Offensive
.

On 20 May 2018, Damascus and the entire Rif Dimashq Governorate came fully under government control for the first time in 7 years after the evacuation of

IS from Yarmouk Camp.[107] In September 2019, Damascus entered the Guinness World Records as the least liveable city, scoring 30.7 points on the Economist's Global Liveability Index in 2019, based on factors such as: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.[108] However, the trend of being the least liveable city on Earth started in 2017,[109] and continued as of 2023.[110]

Economy

The historical role that Damascus played as an important trade center has changed in recent years due to political development in the region as well as the development of modern trade.[2] Most goods produced in Damascus, as well as in Syria, are distributed to countries of the Arabian peninsula.[2] Damascus has also held an annual international trade exposition every fall, since 1954.[111]

The tourism industry in Damascus has a lot of potential, however the civil war has hampered these prospects. The abundance of cultural wealth in Damascus has been modestly employed since the late 1980s with the development of many accommodation and transportation establishments and other related investments.[2] Since the early 2000s, numerous boutique hotels and bustling cafes opened in the old city which attract plenty of European tourists and Damascenes alike.[112]
In 2009 new office space was built and became available on the real estate market.[113]

Bank Al-Sharq and the Blue Tower Hotel, a 4 star hotel in Hamra Street.

Damascus is home to a wide range of industrial activity, such as textile, food processing, cement and various chemical industries.[2] The majority of factories are run by the state, however limited privatization in addition to economic activities led by the private sector, were permitted starting in the early 2000s with the liberalization of trade that took place.[2] Traditional handcrafts and artisan copper engravings are still produced in the old city.[2]

The Damascus stock exchange formally opened for trade in March 2009, and the exchange is the only stock exchange in Syria.[114] It is located in the Barzeh district, within Syria's financial markets and securities commission. Its final home is to be located in the upmarket business district of Yaafur.[115]

Demographics

Population

platform shoes
)
Scene in a bazaar in Damascus, in 1838, by Charles G. Addison. British Library.

Damascus's population in 2004 was estimated to be 2.7 million people.[116] The estimated population of Damascus in 2011 was 1,711,000. However, in 2022, the city had an estimated population of 2,503,000, which in early 2023 rose to 2,584,771.[117]

Damascus is the center of a crowded metropolitan area with an estimated population of 5 million. The metropolitan area of Damascus includes the cities of

Al-Tall and Jaramana
.

The city's growth rate is higher than Syria as a whole, primarily due to rural-urban migration and the influx of young Syrian migrants drawn by employment and educational opportunities.[118] The migration of Syrian youths to Damascus has resulted in an average age within the city that is below the national average.[118] Nonetheless, the population of Damascus is thought to have decreased in recent years as a result of the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Ethnicity

The vast majority of Damascenes are Syrian

.

There was once a significant Jewish community in Damascus, but as of 2023 no Jews remain.[122]

Religion

Twelver Shi'a comprise sizeable minorities. Alawites live primarily in the Mezzeh districts of Mezzeh 86 and Sumariyah. Twelvers primarily live near the Shia holy sites of Sayyidah Ruqayya and Sayyidah Zaynab. It is believed that there are more than 200 mosques in Damascus, the most well-known being the Umayyad Mosque.[123]

Christians represent about 10%–15% of the population.[

apparitions of the Virgin Mary have reportedly been observed between 1982 and 2004.[124]
The Patriarchal See of the Syriac Orthodox is based in Damascus, Bab Touma.

A smaller Druze minority inhabits the city, notably in the mixed Christian-Druze suburbs of Tadamon,[125] Jaramana,[126] and Sahnaya.

There was a small Jewish community namely in what is called Harat al-Yahud the Jewish quarter. They are the remnants of an ancient and much larger Jewish presence in Syria, dating back at least to Roman times, if not before to the time of King David.[127]

Gallery

Sufism

Historical sites

Typical historic Damascene street
Al-Hamidiyah Souq, dating back to the Ottoman era

Damascus has a wealth of historical sites dating back to many different periods of the city's history. Since the city has been built up with every passing occupation, it has become almost impossible to excavate all the ruins of Damascus that lie up to 2.4 m (8 ft) below the modern level.[

St. John the Baptist. The mausoleum where Saladin was buried is located in the gardens just outside the mosque. Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, the shrine of the youngest daughter of Husayn ibn Ali, can also be found near the Umayyad Mosque. The ancient district of Amara is also within a walking distance from these sites. Another heavily visited site is Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, where the tomb of Zaynab bint Ali
is located.

Shias, Fatemids and Dawoodi Bohras believe that after the battle of Karbala (680 AD), in Iraq, the Umayyad Caliph Yezid brought Imam Husain's head to Damascus, where it was first kept in the courtyard of Yezid Mahal, now part of Umayyad Mosque complex. All other remaining members of Imam Husain's family (left alive after Karbala) along with heads of all other companions, who were killed at Karbala, were also brought to Damascus. These members were kept as prisoners on the outskirts of the city (near

Imam Ali-Zain-ul-Abedin used to pray while in captivity.[citation needed
]

The Harat Al Yehud[130] or Jewish Quarter is a recently restored historical tourist destination popular among Europeans before the outbreak of civil war.[citation needed]

Walls and gates of Damascus

Bab Tuma gate

The Old City of Damascus with an approximate area of 86.12 hectares[131] is surrounded by ramparts on the northern and eastern sides and part of the southern side. There are seven extant city gates, the oldest of which dates back to the Roman period. These are, clockwise from the north of the citadel:

  • Bab al-Faradis ("the gate of the orchards", or "of the paradise")
  • Bab al-Salam ("the gate of peace"), all on the north boundary of the Old City
  • Bab Tuma ("Touma" or "Thomas's Gate") in the north-east corner, leading into the Christian quarter of the same name,
  • Bab Sharqi ("eastern gate") in the east wall, the only one to retain its Roman plan
  • Bab Kisan in the south-east, from which tradition holds that Saint Paul made his escape from Damascus, lowered from the ramparts in a basket; this gate has been closed and turned into Chapel of Saint Paul marking this event,
  • Bab al-Saghir
    (The Small Gate)
  • Bab al-Jabiya
    at the entrance to Souk Midhat Pasha, in the south-west.

Other areas outside the walled city also bear the name "gate": Bab al-Faraj, Bab Mousalla and Bab Sreija, both to the south-west of the walled city.

Churches in the old city

Chapel of Saint Paul

Islamic sites in the old city

Saladin mausoleum
Bab al-Saghir
cemetery, Damascus

Madrasas

Khans

Old Damascene houses

Narrow alley in old Damascus

Threats to the future of the old City

Due to the rapid decline of the population of Old Damascus (between 1995 and 2009 about 30,000 people moved out of the old city for more modern accommodation),[133] a growing number of buildings are being abandoned or are falling into disrepair. In March 2007, the local government announced that it would be demolishing Old City buildings along a 1,400 m (4,600 ft) stretch of rampart walls as part of a redevelopment scheme. These factors resulted in the Old City being placed by the World Monuments Fund on its 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world.[134][135] It is hoped that its inclusion on the list will draw more public awareness to these significant threats to the future of the historic Old City of Damascus.

State of old Damascus

In spite of the recommendations of the UNESCO World Heritage Center:[136]

  • Souq al-Atiq, a protected buffer zone, was destroyed in three days in November 2006;
  • King Faysal Street, a traditional hand-craft region in a protected buffer zone near the walls of Old Damascus between the Citadel and Bab Touma, is threatened by a proposed motorway.
  • In 2007, the
    Old City of Damascus and notably the district of Bab Tuma have been recognized by The World Monument Fund as one of the most endangered sites in the world.[137]

In October 2010, Global Heritage Fund named Damascus one of 12 cultural heritage sites most "on the verge" of irreparable loss and destruction.[138]

Education

Damascus University

Damascus is the main center of education in Syria. It is home to Damascus University, which is the oldest and largest university in Syria. After the enactment of legislation allowing private higher institutions, several new universities were established in the city and in the surrounding area, including:

The institutes play an important rule in the education, including:

  • Higher Institute of Business Administration
  • Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology
  • Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts
  • National Institute of Administration

In Damascus, Higher education in Syrian Arab Republic started with sustainable development steps through Damascus University. [141]

  • Additional:
    • Syrian International Academy for Training and Development

Transportation

A highway in Damascus

Damascus is linked with other major cities in Syria via a motorway network. The M5 connects Damascus with Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Turkey in the north and Jordan in the south. The M1 is going from Homs onto Latakia and Tartus. The M4 links the city with Al-Hasakah and Iraq. The M1 highway connects the city to the western Syria and Beirut.

The main airport is Damascus International Airport, approximately 20 km (12 mi) away from the city, with connections to a few Middle Eastern cities. Before the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the airport had connectivity to many Asian, European, African, and, South American cities. Streets in Damascus are often narrow, especially in the older parts of the city, and speed bumps are widely used to limit the speed of vehicles. Many taxi companies operate in Damascus. Fares are regulated by law and taxi drivers are obliged to use a taximeter.

minibuses. There are about one hundred lines that operate inside the city and some of them extend from the city center to nearby suburbs. There is no schedule for the lines, and due to the limited number of official bus stops, buses will usually stop wherever a passenger needs to get on or off. The number of buses serving the same line is relatively high, which minimizes the waiting time. Lines are not numbered, rather they are given captions mostly indicating the two end points and possibly an important station along the line. Between 2019 and 2022, more than 100 modern buses were delivered from China as part of the international agreement. These deliveries strengthened and modernized the public transport of Damascus.[142][143]

King Long KLQ 6118GQ bus used for public transport in Damascus
Al-Hejaz Station

Served by

al-Hejaz railway station, about 1 km (58 mi) west of the old city. The station is now defunct and the tracks have been removed, but there still is a ticket counter and a shuttle to Damacus Qadam
station in the south of the city, which now functions as the main railway station.

In 2008, the government announced a plan to construct a Damascus Metro.[144] The green line will be an essential west–east axis for the future public transportation network, serving Moadamiyeh, Sumariyeh, Mezzeh, Damascus University, Hijaz, the Old City, Abbassiyeen and Qaboun Pullman bus station. A four-line metro network is expected be in operation by 2050.

Culture

National Museum of Damascus

Damascus was chosen as the 2008 Arab Capital of Culture.[145] The preparation for the festivity began in February 2007 with the establishing of the Administrative Committee for "Damascus Arab Capital of Culture" by a presidential decree.[146]

Museums

Sports and leisure

Al-Fayhaa Sports Complex

Popular sports include football, basketball, swimming, tennis, table tennis, equestrian and chess. Damascus is home to many football clubs that participate in the Syrian Premier League including al-Jaish, al-Shorta, Al-Wahda and Al-Majd. Many Other sport clubs are located in several districts of the city: Barada SC, Al-Nidal SC, Al-Muhafaza, Qasioun SC, al-Thawra SC, Maysalun SC, al-Fayhaa SC, Dummar SC, al-Majd SC and al-Arin SC.

The

Pan Arab Games
were held in Damascus in 1976 and 1992 respectively.

The now modernized Al-Fayhaa Sports City features a basketball court and a hall that can accommodate up to 8,000 people. In late November 2021,

Syria's national basketball team played there against Kazakhstan, making Damascus host of Syria's first international basketball tournament in almost two decades.[147]

The city also has a modern golf course located near the Ebla Cham Palace Hotel at the southeastern outskirts of Damascus.

Damascus has busy nightlife.

tables (backgammon variants), and chess are activities frequented in cafés.[148] These coffeehouses have had in the past an international reputation, as indicated by Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration, Cafes in Damascus, to a picture by William Henry Bartlett in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837.[149] Current movies can be seen at Cinema City which was previously known as Cinema Dimashq
.

Ghouta oasis is also a weekend-destination for recreation. Many recreation centers operate in the city including sport clubs, swimming pools and golf courses. The Syrian Arab Horse Association in Damascus offers a wide range of activities and services for horse breeders and riders.[150]

Nearby attractions

Zabadani resort near Damascus
Booza being sold in the Bakdash ice cream shop in the Damascus market
  • Madaya: a small mountainous town well known holiday resort.
  • Bloudan: a town located 51 km (32 mi) north-west of the Damascus, its moderate temperature and low humidity in summer attracts many visitors from Damascus and throughout Syria, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf.
  • Zabadani
    : a city in close to the border with Lebanon. Its mild weather along with the scenic views, made the town a popular resort both for tourists and for visitors from other Syrian cities.
  • Maaloula: a town dominated by speakers of Western Neo-Aramaic.
  • Patriarchate of Antioch
    .

Twin towns – sister cities

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Al-Fayhaa (Arabic: الْفَيْحَاء), is an adjective which means "spacious".[3]
  2. Imperial Aramaic: ܒܥܠ ܫܡܝܢ, romanized: Ba'al Šamem, lit.'Lord of Heaven(s)'),[19][20] was a Semitic sky-god in Canaan/Phoenicia and ancient Palmyra.[21][22]
    Hence, Sham refers to (heaven or sky).

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Bibliography

External links