Damascus
:
Damascus, Syria's capital,
claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited capital in
the world. Once the capital of the Umayyad Dynasty, it now
houses the Syrian Government and with a population of 3.5
million, is the hub of Syrian economic affairs.
Geographically, Damascus is situated in the southwestern
corner of Syria. It is built at the foot of a buttress of
the Anti-Lebanon, Mount Kassioun, and at the border of a
fertile plain, the Ghouta. It is situated just a two-hour
drive away from the Lebanese capital Beirut and the
Jordanian border, and about the same from the temporary
Israeli border at the Golan Heights. The villages of
Maaloula and Seidnaya are less than an hour away, and so is
the Mosque of Al Sayidah Zeinab.
There is a direct route from Damascus to the ancient city
of Palmyra, and a direct route running all the way to
Aleppo, via Homs and Hama. There is also a direct route
leading to the Jordanian border, and another through which
you can visit Qanawat, Shahba, Bosra and other Southern
sites.
The History of Damascus
The Beginning
Its first appearance in history, is as a city conquered in
the 15th century BC by the Pharaoh Thutmosis III. According
to the Old Testament, it was once the capital of the
Aramean Kingdom in the 11th Century BC. In the 10th Century
BC, it started being attacked and it was in battle with
several other kingdoms including the Hebrews and Assyrians.
Finally, in 732 BC, it was taken over by Tiglath Pileser II
ordered by the King of Judea, Achaz. Some years after the
fall of the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, the Kingdom of
Damascus was destroyed by Babylon.
The Greeks
Damascus was conquered in 333 BC by Parmenion, one of
Alexander's lieutenants, who took it from the Persians. It
later fell to the Seleucids who fell into dispute with a
branch of the empire of the Macedonian conqueror, the
Lagides, who ruled Egypt. In 66 BC it was occupied by
Pompey and belonged to the province of Syria.
St. Paul
It was on the way to Damascus, that St. Paul, who was sent
to put down the Christians, had the revelation of faith. He
was directed by Jesus (in the vision of light) to the house
of Judas. There he met Ananias and together they preached
for Christ.
Byzantium and the Persians
Under the Byzantine Empire, .Damascus was an important base
for watching over the Syrian Desert, But it was fatally
looted by the Sassanid Persians. Damascus was later
besieged by the Muslim faith fighters in 635, and was
retaken by Khaled Ibn al Waleed in 636. This meant a
radical change of civilization for this city as it swung
from Byzantium and Christianity to the Orient and the
Semitic world.
Arab Dynasties
Damascus's most glorious time was in the first decades of
Islam, when it became the capital of an empire spreading
from the Atlantic coast to central Asia, the Umayyad
Empire. This golden age ended with the Abbassids who moved
the Capital to Baghdad. From then on, it fell under the
power of various Muslim sects and sovereigns, the most
important of which was the Egyptian Fatimids. It later went
through another rich period, when Saladin took it from the
Fatimids and started the Ayyubid Dynasty. At the time it
was battling against the Franks (the Crusaders). Numerous
monuments built by Nur al Din and Saladin are still the
pride of Damascus.
Mamelukes and Ottomans
In 1260 it was taken over by the Mamelukes of Egypt who
pushed the Mongols back. In 1516, the Ottomans from Turkey
(Anatolia), took over from the Mamelukes and kept control
until World War I. After World War I, a very exhausted
Damascus was liberated in 1918, by an Arab contingent under
the command of the British Army of General Allenby. The
Syrian National Congress was formed in 1919 under the
patronage of Emir Faisal who came from Hedjaz. He was named
King of Syria in 1920, and one month later was taken over
by the French in the name of the League of Nations.
Independence
After resistance and a few uprisings, Syria was proclaimed
Independent by the French general, Catroux, on September
16th 1941. This however was not taken into effect until
1946 and since then has been considerably developed and
industrialized while its political role was strengthened
thanks to an increased centralization.
Copyright © Syrian embassy-London 2005