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Damascus
Damascus,Arabic Dimashq,
city, capital of Syria. Located in
the southwestern corner of the
country, it has been called the
pearl of the East, praised for
its beauty and lushness; the
10th-century traveler and
geographer al-Maqdis lauded
the city as ranking among the
four earthly paradises. Upon
visiting the city in 1867, Mark
Twain wrote

Damascus, Syria.
1997; AISA, Archivo Iconogrfico, Barcelona, Espaa

Table of Contents
Introduction
Character of the city
Landscape
City site
Climate
City layout
People
Economy
Manufacturing, finance, and other services
Transportation
Administration and society
Government
Municipal services and health
Education
Cultural life
History
Early centuries
Islamic city
Ottoman period
Modern city

To
Damascus,
years are
only
moments,
decades
are only
flitting
trifles of
time. She
measures
time not by
days and
months
and years,
but by the
empires
Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

she has
seen rise
and
prosper
and
crumble to
ruin. She is
a type of
immortality.

The citys Arabic name derives from Dimashka, a word of possibly pre-Semitic etymology, suggesting that the beginnings of
Damascus go back to a time before recorded history. The city is commonly called al-Shm, the vernacular name of Syria as a
whole, which is said to mean the left or the north, where the region is situated relative to the Arabian Peninsula. Owing to
associations of Damascus with Aram, the biblical capital of the Aramaeans, some Arabic sources link Damascus and the Iram
dht al-imd (Colonnaded Aram) mentioned in the Qurn, an identification that has long been disputed. Also contended has
been the association of Damascus with Jilliq, a fertile pre-Islamic site whose name derives from a word of unknown origin in use
by the Ghassnids active there in the 6th century (see Ghassn). The city is still known by its popular epithet al-Fay (the
Fragrant), earned perhaps for the freshness of its surrounding orchards and gardens. Many scholars believe that, among the
ancient cities of the world, Damascus is perhaps the oldest continuously inhabited.
Over the centuries, Damascus has been conqueror and conquered, wealthy and destitute, and capital of empire and small
states. Its fame has been sustained by its continuous prominence as a commercial and intellectual centre. Its life has been
nourished periodically by immigrants from the hinterland and from the Mediterranean Basin and Southwest Asia. Often a focus
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of contention by powers of East and West, Damascuss fortunes have frequently been linked to those of distant capitals, most
notably Ashur, Antioch, Rome, Baghdad, Cairo, and Istanbul. Now a burgeoning metropolis of the Middle East, it retains, as it has
through centuries of triumph and disaster, an indomitable spirit and a considerable charm.
Area city, 17 square miles (43 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) municipality, 1,669,000.

Character of the city

Travelers to Damascus have been struck by the sight of aspens and poplars growing along streams, of fruit (particularly apricot)
and nut orchards, and of olive groves and vegetable gardens. A popular story about the Prophet Muhammads journey to Syria
recounts that, upon seeing verdant Damascus, he refused to go in, as man should only enter paradise once. Upon reaching
Damascus in 1326, Ibn Baah, the Arab travel writer from Tangier, said that no words could do justice to the citys charm; he
resorted to quoting his Maghribi predecessor, Ibn Jubayr, who sojourned in Damascus in 1184 and wrote that Damascus had
adorned herself with flowers of sweet scented herbs and is encircled by gardens as the moonby its halo. In 1350 a
European traveler, Ludolph van Suchem, wrote of the city as begirt with gardens and orchards and watered in and out by
waters, rivers, brooks, and fountains cunningly arranged to minister to mens luxury. While the accelerated and often
disordered growth of the city since World War II has sharply raised the ratio of buildings to trees and open space, Damascenes
still enjoy some of the former splendor of al-Ghah, the fertile belt of irrigated land adjacent to the city.

Landscape
City site
Water and geography have determined the site and role of Damascus. Early settlers were naturally attracted to a place where a
river, the Barad, rising in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains (Al-Jabal al-Sharq), watered a large and fertile oasis before vanishing into
the desert. This tract, al-Ghah, has supported a substantial population for thousands of years. Damascus itself grew on a
terrace 2,250 feet (690 metres) above sea level, south of Mount Qsiyn and overlooking the Barad River. The original
settlement appears to have been situated in the eastern part of the walled Old City. City and oasis grew together, and over time
Damascus came to dominate the lesser rural settlements surrounding it.
The natural endowments of an assured water supply and fertile land made Damascus self-sufficient. Successive colonizers from
the 2nd millennium BCE onward developed an intricate irrigation system that fed the city through a system of branches derived
from the river, contributing to a steady expansion of al-Ghah, especially to the east and west. Damascuss position on the edge
of the desert and at the eastern end of the easiest route through the Anti-Lebanon range made it a trade centre where caravan
routes originated and terminated. Since the advent of Islam, the city has also been the starting point of the northern pilgrimage
road, the Darb al-Hajj al-Shm, to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Climate
Some 50 miles (80 km) from the sea yet separated from it by two mountain ranges, Damascus receives only about 7 inches (178
mm) of precipitation annually, most of it from November through February. The Anti-Lebanon range gets far greater amounts of
both rain and winter snow, which annually replenish the water table that is a source of the Barad River and other, more minor
springs watering Damascus. Owing to the citys elevation, winter is rather cold, with average temperatures of around 40 to 45 F
(5 to 7 C). A short blossoming spring in March and April is followed by six to seven months of hot dry summer. Temperatures
average around 80 F (27 C) in midseason, although they occasionally reach 100 F (38 C) or above. Summer evenings tend to
be tempered by cooler breezes, with temperatures dropping to 65 F (18 C). Dust-laden winds blowing in from the desert are
somewhat mitigated by small mountain ranges to the east and south of the city.

City layout

Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria.

1997; AISA, Archivo Iconogrfico, Barcelona, Espaa

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Damascus was an active commercial centre in the 2nd millennium BCE

and developed through different stages of urbanization thereafter,
reaching its zenith at the beginning of the 7th century CE when it
became the capital of the Umayyad empire. The heart of Damascuss
Old City, which contains most of the citys historical monuments, is
Hellenistic in origin, with significant Roman additions and
modifications. It is a rough oblong about 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) long
and 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) wide and is defined by historic walls, of
which sizeable stretches still stand, especially in the north and west.
Eight gates, seven of which are of Classical derivation, pierce the walls.
The long axis of the oblong runs between two gates, Bb al-Jbiyya (the
Roman Jupiter Gate) in the west and Bb Sharq (the Roman Sun Gate)
in the east. It occupies the former location of the decumanus maximus
(main east-west thoroughfare) of the Classical city, which lies some 15
feet (5 metres) below the modern street level; no cardo maximus (main
north-south thoroughfare) has been positively identified. Many
secondary streets and some of the most prominent features of the Old
City owe their positions to the Roman city planners of the 2nd and 3rd
centuries CE.
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The citys orthogonal plan deteriorated during the late Byzantine period in the 6th and 7th centuries. The Umayyads (661750)
chose Damascus as their capital but did not much change its layout or considerably expand beyond its walls. Although the city
was neglected and its population drastically decreased between the 8th and 11th centuries, by the 13th century Damascus had
revived and was outgrowing its walls. Two axes of development extra-muros, beyond the city walls, predominated. One linked the
city to the northwest with the suburb of liyyah, which was established in the 12th century by immigrants from Jerusalem on
the slopes of Mount Qsiyn; the second extended as a long, narrow strip southward along the road leading to the awrn and
Palestine. The Old City was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
The modern city began with the Ottoman Tanzimat (Reorganization) in the late 19th century. Buildings in pseudo-European
styles were constructed along new, straight streets to the west and north of the walled city or in Al-Mujhirn, the new quarter for
immigrants on Mount Qsiyn. Later developments followed a plan originally devised by the French during the mandate period
(192046), with a number of revisions attempted thereafter. Its basic elements include wide boulevards radiating from squares
spread around the Old City, especially in the west and northwest and, later, in the east. New housing has developed in the form
of concrete blocks of ats along these boulevards. Government buildings are concentrated in an area west of the walled city
around Marjah Square, along Nasr Street, and in several districts west of liyyah Street. Stimulated by the appeal of modern
housing and amenities, well-to-do families began in the 1930s to move to the area northwest of the Old City, whose magni cent
courtyard houses were left to poorer tenants recently arrived from the countryside, or to light industry. As the population grew,
more and more of the garden and farm area was converted into residential districts, many of them illegal settlements, while
mukhalaft (informal districts, such as upper Al-Muhjirn and the Kurdish quarter) expanded up the slopes of Mount Qsiyn.
Ancient farming villages close by, such as Al-Mazzah, Barzah, Kafr Ssah, Al-Qbn, and Al-Qadam, were incorporated into the
city, both administratively and physically. Government efforts to retain green areas and to zone housing and industry have been
plagued not only by overwhelming population growth but also by administrative laxity and corruption. The development of
affluent residential suburbs in the 1990s added precious new parks and gardens in the north, northwest, and southeast of the
city, yet more than half of the citys green space has been lost since 1945.

People
Damascus experienced tremendous growth during the second half of the 20th century, with
its population estimated to have increased more than tenfold. The citys growth rate is
higher than that of the country as a whole, owing mainly to steady migration from rural
areas. So heavy has been the influx of young migrants drawn by employment and
educational opportunities that the average age of Damascenes has dropped below that of
the national level. Among the religious minorities, the Alawites from the coastal mountain
region are notable for their prominence in the army and in the intelligence services (almukhbart). Other religious and ethnic groups, principally the Druze, Kurds, Circassians,
Twelver Shites, and Ismls (see Islam: Ismls) maintain their identity among the majority
Arab Sunni Muslim populace. The citys minorities include a Palestinian community. There is
also a substantial Christian population representing various denominations, including Syriac
and Armenian, while a once-flourishing Jewish population has been greatly decreased. The
population decline owes largely to emigration in the late 20th century following pressure on
Syria to allow the remainder of its Jewish populationpreviously subject to limitations on
travel, employment, and other restrictionsto leave the country.
The market of Al-amdiyyah at the ruins
of the Temple of Jupiter, Damascus, Syria.
1997; AISA, Archivo Iconogrfico, Barcelona,
Espaa

Economy
Manufacturing, finance, and other services
Government is Damascuss most important economic activity. National politics and administration, including large military and
secret services establishments, are centred there. Well-known over the centuries for luxurious manufactured wares, especially
textiles, the growing city has attracted many new industries since the mid-20th century. All major factories and most strategic
industries are state-run, but the private sector began in the 1990s to assert its economic agility in small, service-oriented
industries. Textile plants, the chemical industry, cement works, and food-processing factories are principally distributed to the
south, east, and northeast. Most of the populations requirements for food, clothing, and the like are met by private businesses.
Traditional artisan crafts such as copper engraving, mother-of-pearl-encrusted woodwork, and brocades are still practiced in the
Old City.
The historical role of Damascus as a desert port has changed because of political developments and the scale of modern
commerce. Most imports come through Syrias own ports of Latakia, Tartus, and Bniys instead of through Lebanon, as was the
case until about the mid-20th century. Goods are transshipped to countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Damascus distributes its
own products and imported goods within Syria as well. A large international trade exposition is held there in the autumn. The
potential for a highly profitable tourism sectorparticularly cultural tourism, for which Damascus is well suitedhas been
modestly explored since the late 1980s through the active promotion and development of new accommodations and
transportation facilities. Attempts to modernize the financial and banking systems and to liberalize trade that took place under
Pres. Bashar al-Assad in the early 2000s largely lacked the vigour required for a measurable impact on the economy. After a
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series of delays, the countrys first stock exchange formally opened for trading in Damascus in March 2009.

Transportation
Damascuss traffic problems are relatively few and are largely resolvable. Damascus is adequately connected to its surrounding
regions; major highways fan out in all directions, connecting Damascus with such cities as Beirut, Ammn, Aleppo, and Baghdad.
A rail line north to Homs ties in with the national railroad system; along with the trucking industry, it transports imported
products to the city. Damascus International Airport, located some 20 miles (32 km) east of the city, is served by many
commercial airlines that offer direct flights to major regional and international cities. Inner-city transportation is largely provided
by motor vehicles. Animal-drawn carts, which once gave the city a picturesque aura, have largely disappeared, except in some of
the poorer residential quarters. Buses and taxis carry passengers both within the city and to other parts of the country; these are
supplemented by the microbus and the service, a car or van that travels an established route for a fare. The substantial
increase in the number of private cars since the early 1980s with no corresponding expansion of the basic street system has
subjected the city to unprecedented congestion, especially in the administrative and commercial centre. New projects aimed at
alleviating this problem have included the construction of a highway belt encircling the city, as well as the creation of satellite
towns through ventures such as the Dummar Project and the Qur al-Assad (the Assad Villages) west and northwest of the city.

Administration and society

Government
The municipality is administered as a mufaah (governorate), one of 14 in the country. The president of Syria appoints a
governor who administers the city with the assistance of a council made up of elected and appointed members. The city is
divided into quarters (ay), each of which has a mayor appointed by the governor. The post of governor of Damascus is an
important one with national implications. Political activity is national, not municipal, as Syria is a centralized state with one party
dominating public affairs. The outlying portions of al-Ghtah and a vast surrounding district constitute another governorate, Rf
Dimashq (Rural Damascus), of which Damascus city is the capital.

Municipal services and health

Rapid population growth has put a strain on the citys services, health facilities, and water supply. Damascus draws its water
mainly from the Barad River as well as other, smaller springs, receiving it through a centuries-old system that has been
enlarged several times. At the beginning of the 21st century, increasing demand on established water sources forced a steep
drop in the surrounding water table. As the water supply crisis grew more urgent, resources were rationed and plans were
considered to supply the city with water from the Euphrates River or other sources. The citys electricity is generated locally and
also is brought from the hydroelectric station at the Euphrates Dam. Health care has been improving and is better than in much
of the country. About half of the countrys doctors practice in the capital, dividing their services between government hospitals
and private clinics. The ratio of hospital beds to population has been rising but is still low compared to more industrialized
countries.

Education
On the whole, Syrian literacy rates are high by regional standards, with more than nine-tenths of males and more than threefourths of females being literate. Primary education is mandatory; an extensive public school system provides primary and
secondary education for the vast majority of Damascene children. Private schools supplement the public schools, and there is a
separate system run by the United Nations for Palestinian refugee children. The University of Damascus was founded in 1923
through the joining of four older institutions of higher learning and was a pioneer in the Arab world for introducing Arabic as the
sole language of instruction and research. It is the largest and oldest of Syrias universities, and there are several institutes of
technical training and advanced research.

Cultural life
Damascus is both Syrias cultural and political centre; the city has long attracted great interest for its numerous sites of historic
and cultural significance, including the Great Mosque of the Umayyad period and the turbah, or tomb, of Saladin. Under the
Ministry of Culture, which supervises most of the formal aspects of the cultural life of the capital, there has been an effort to
combine elements of the citys heritage with contemporary developments. The prestigious Arabic Language Academy of
Damascus (1919) is a bastion of Arabic language, working both to preserve and modernize the language. The National Museum,
established in 1936, boasts an extraordinary collection of artifacts from across the country, representing six millennia of
civilization. A military museum occupies the cells of the 16th-century Ottoman takiyyah (monastic complex) of Sleyman I. The
small yet impressive Museum of Arabic Calligraphy is housed in a 15th-century Mamlk madrasah, whereas the Museum of Arts
and Popular Traditions is situated in the splendid 18th-century al-Am Palace. An institute for music instructs in both traditional
and Western styles, another institute promotes the theatre arts, and a third sponsors a performing folklore troupe. The Dr alAssad for Culture and Arts, a major cultural complex featuring a range of dance, musical, and lm productions, was inaugurated
in 2004.
Since the final decades of the 20th century, Damascus has been the centre of a burgeoning artistic movement. The work of both
Syrian and international artists is exhibited regularly, increasingly in the private galleries proliferating around Damascus. The arts
are subsidized by the government, though artistic expression is impeded by bureaucratic restrictions. State control dominates
publishing and journalism, both of which are centred in Damascus. Three national dailies, largely reflecting the states
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viewpoints, are edited in the city, as are most of the

countrys magazines. Damascus also leads the country
in book publication, an enterprise that involves the
government as the leading publisher and ultimate
censor. Al-Assad National Library was inaugurated in
1984. Among other important materials, it contains
the precious collection of manuscripts and rare books
of Damascuss venerable public library, al-hiriyyah.
The library associated with the University of Damascus
is also significant.

The Great Mosque, view of the courtyard and northern portico, Damascus, Syria.
Nasser Rabbat

stadiums draw large crowds for a heavy schedule of events.

Television enjoys considerable appeal; programming

includes locally produced material in addition to
imports from other Arab countries and from abroad. A
number of locally produced television series,
especially those treating historical topics, have begun
to enjoy immense popularity across the Arab world.
Damascus radio broadcasts in Arabic, English, French,
Turkish, Hebrew, and other languages. Sports are very
popular among Damascenes. Football (soccer)
especially is a national pastime, and swimming and
basketball, along with wrestling, boxing, and tennis,
are among other widespread recreations. The citys

History
Early centuries
Although Damascus is well-known to be an ancient city, it remains unclear exactly when the oasis was first settled. Excavations in
1950 demonstrated that an urban centre existed in the 4th millennium BCE at Tall al-liyyah, southeast of Damascus. Pottery
from the 3rd millennium BCE has been discovered in the Old City, and mention of Damaski was found in a clay tablet at Ebla
(present-day Tall Mardkh) dating to the same period. The first certain written reference to the city is in the hieroglyphic tablets of
Tell el-Amarna in Egypt, where it is listed among territories conquered by Thutmose III in 1490 BCE. In the 1st millennium BCE,
Damascus became the capital of an Aramaean principality whose history is known mainly through biblical references and
Assyrian records. An important material trace from that period is a basalt orthostat (stone slab) depicting a winged sphinx, found
during excavations at the Great Mosque. The Aramaeans, however, also left a legacy in portions of the canal system, placenames in and around the city, and, in one outlying area, the Aramaic language itself, which served as the lingua franca of the
wider Levant until the advent of Islam. In succeeding centuries before Christ, Damascus fell like other capitals of the region to
foreign conquerorsto Assyrians in the 8th century, Babylonians in the 7th, Persians in the 6th, Greeks in the 4th, and Romans
in the 1st.
With Alexander the Greats conquest in 333 BCE, Damascus became part of the Hellenistic world for almost a thousand years. The
Aramaean quarters coexisted with a new Greek settlement, which followed a Hippodamian, or orthogonal, plan. Incorporation
into the Roman Empire continued the Hellenistic tradition and gave Damascus the enviable status and endowments of a
metropolis under Hadrian (ruled CE 117138) and of a colonia under Severus Alexander (ruled CE 222235). The citadel in the
northwest corner rests on Roman foundations. About 660 feet (200 metres) east of it is the Great Mosque of Damascus, built by
the Umayyads on the same site as the Byzantine Church of St. John, the Roman Temple of Jupiter (Iuppiter Optimus Maximus
Damascenus), and the Aramaean sanctuary of Hadad. Still preserved is Ananias (Hanania) Chapel, commemorating the
conversion in Damascus of Saul of Tarsus, who became St. Paul, the Apostle. It stands near the eastern end of Midhat Pasha
Street, also known as the Street Called Straight in the New Testament, which was the decumanus maximus (main east-west
thoroughfare) of the Romans.
Like the rest of Syria, the city was Christianized by the 4th century. With the division of the Roman Empire in 395, Damascus
became an important military outpost for the Byzantine Empire. Doctrinal, theological, and political differences, however,
increasingly divided Constantinople from the Syrians. Furthermore, the Persian wars of the 6th century, fought largely on Syrian
soil, ruined the economic life of the country. As a result, Damascus opened its gates not unwillingly to the Muslim armies in 635.

Islamic city
Though the Muslim Arabs brought with them a budding creed, with its sacred text, tentative worldviews, and still-developing
legal framework, they did little to change the physical layout of Damascus. In 661 Muwiyah, the first Umayyad caliph,
established his court in the Syrian capital and founded a dr al-imrah (centre of government) there. For almost a century
thereafter the city functioned as the capital of a widening empire stretching from what is now Spain to the borders of presentday Chinathe most far-reaching of any achieved in Islamic history. The principal extant monument of this period is the Great
Mosque of Damascus, built by the Umayyad caliph al-Wald between 706 and 715. Although it has been damaged, burned, and
repaired several times, it is still one of the marvels of Islamic architecture. Gilded mosaic once adorned the entirety of its walled
surfaces; of those embellishments, only fragments remain. They suggest that the whole composition featured largely vegetal
themes and scenes made up of picturesque buildings, suburbs, and villages set in fanciful landscapes. These renditions have
been variously interpreted as scenes of paradise or of Damascus as it then was.
After the fall of the Umayyads in 750, the successor Abbsids moved their capital to Baghdad. Damascus retreated to the status
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of a provincial town, subjected to punishments by the new dynasty for its numerous revolts. Umayyad buildings were sacked and
the citys fortifications dismantled. As trade routes changed, Damascus also lost much of its economic prominence. The situation
did not improve with the transfer of sovereignty from
Baghdad to Cairo in the late 9th century, or when Turkish
adventurers took turns ruling Damascuswhether
independently or under the nominal suzerainty of either the
Fimids or the Seljuqsduring most of the 11th century. The
Crusades posed a serious threat to the city at the end of the
11th century, and although Damascus managed to escape
direct occupation, it endured numerous attacks and sieges
and lost large parts of its hinterland.
During this chaotic period, the city walls were rebuilt with
strengthened gates, and a citadel was founded in the
northwestern corner of the city. The appearance of
homogeneous, introverted, and self-reliant residential
quarters emerged in this period. By the 12th century, the city
was divided into segregated communities, each
neighbourhood equipped with its own amenities, including a
mosque, bath, public oven, independent water supply, and
small markets. The Great Mosque and central market
remained loci of civic unity.
A new era opened when Nr al-Dn ibn Zang, a powerful
Turkish emir (military commander), captured the city in 1154
and made it once again the capital of a strong kingdom and
the base for his military campaigns against the Crusaders. The
town revived, and its fortifications were strengthened.
Detail of a mosaic from the Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria.
Religious and civic buildings were erected, new forms of
CiccioneRapho/Photo Researchers
architecture were introduced, and new quarters for
immigrants sprang up. Despite some military and economic
setbacks, the city continued to flourish under Saladin and his Ayybid successors, who ruled there until 1260. Damascus
developed into a major religious and educational centre, with emirs competing to build madrasahs (religious colleges) and
qubbahs (funerary domes) and to bestow them with generous waqfs (land held in trust and dedicated to religious or educational
purposes) to support their teachers and students. The Ayybid patronage was concentrated around the Great Mosque and in
the Kurdish quarter on the slopes of Mount Qsiyn, where many Kurds, owing to their ethnic affinity with the Ayybids, moved
to serve in the army.
After the devastating Mongol invasion of 1260, much of Syria again became directly dependent on the new rulers in Egypt, the
Mamlks. Damascus was the seat of the sultans deputy in Syria, with a miniature court fashioned after that of Cairo. The
economy recovered quickly after the Mongol withdrawal in 1260, and it was booming by the beginning of the 14th century,
particularly during the governorate of Tankiz (131240). The city continued to expand: a new, southern quarter grew along the
road leading to awrn (Damascuss wheat basket), Palestine, and Egypt, where most of the citys exports of foodstuffs and
luxury items were traded. Trade travel was facilitated by the numerous khns (warehouse inns) dotting its main thoroughfare. A
new northern quarter, Sq Srja, emerged as a market area around the citadel. Owing to its proximity to the citadel, this area
became the Mamlks choice residential quarter in the 15th century.
For more than 150 years, Damascus was the base for the Muslim struggle against the Crusades. The four most celebrated
leaders of that struggleNr al-Dn ibn Zang, Saladin, al-dil (Saladins brother), and the Mamlk sultan Baybars Iare interred
in the vicinity of the Great Mosque. Their tombs, featuring relatively large domes and tall arched portals with intricate muqarnas
an architectural ornamentation of honeycombed nichesare combined with madrasahs. The tombs are among the citys most
prominent medieval buildings and were all restored during the 1990s.
Damascus suffered two major disasters in close succession in the middle of the Mamlk period. The first of these, the outbreak
of plague in 134849 (see Black Death), wiped out perhaps as much as half of the citys population. The second disaster was the
pillage of the city in 1401 by Timur, accompanied by his policy of deporting skilled artisans to his own capital at Samarkand (in
present-day Uzbekistan). Coupled with the later Mamlks rapacious administration, these calamities resulted in a chronically
anemic economy that was reflected negatively in the form and structure of the city. Although the built-up area increased in the
15th century, the expansion was mostly due to migration from depressed rural regions. In addition, the extended urban domain
concealed countless deserted plots, called kharb (uninhabited, or in ruin) in the waqf documents, where ruins stood as
attestations to the bankrupt economy and dismal urban order on the eve of the Ottoman conquest by Sultan Selim I in 1516.

Ottoman period
With the Ottoman conquest, Damascus lost its political position but retained its commercial importance. The incorporation of
the Middle East and the Balkans into one empire facilitated internal trade, but the rise of European preeminence in international
commerce diminished the role of Syrian cities as final depots in the overland trade from Asia to the Mediterranean.
The main stimulus for the economic activities in Damascus during the Ottoman period was the hajj (pilgrimage) season. Ottoman
sultans, having acquired the prestigious title of Protectors of the Two Holy Cities (Mecca and Medina), were eager to organize
and secure the hajj. Damascus, as the last urban centre on the road from Anatolia to Mecca, was designated as the official
meeting station for pilgrims coming from the north and east. As a result, accommodating pilgrims during the hajj season became
the citys leading commercial activity.
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Urban development related to the hajj was naturally concentrated on the road to Mecca. Al-Maydn, an entire district
encompassing several quarters and villages, developed south of the walled city. The saturation of lucrative trades in the city
centre led to an increase in the building of khns there. This construction boom culminated in two monumental khns, erected
south of the Great Mosque in 1732 and 175152, respectively, by two members of the al-Am family, Sulaymn Paa and Asad
Paa, who dominated the political scene in the 18th century.
The 19th century ushered in a new era in which European global hegemony was felt on the local level through the dual
processes of Westernization and modernization. Both were eagerly carried out by Muammad Al Pasha, the semi-independent
ruler of Egypt who controlled Syria between 1832 and 1840. After the return of the Ottomans with the help of European powers,
the subjugation of the local economy to the markets of Europe intensified, but the process of systematic modernization slowed.
The violent outbreak of religious fanaticism in 1860 led to direct European involvement in the region, particularly in the area of
modern-day Lebanon.
Midhat Paa, the great Ottoman reformer, became governor in 1878. He made civic improvements, widening streets and
improving sanitation. In the early 20th century the Damascus-Medina rail line, which shortened the pilgrims trip to five days, was
built by German engineers. During World War I Damascus was the combined headquarters of Ottoman and German forces.
Before and during World War I the rise of Arab nationalism found ready ground in Damascus, which became a centre of antiOttoman agitation. Fayal, son of the grand sharf of Mecca, made secret visits there to enlist support for the Arab Revolt begun
by his father in 1916. In a countermove, Cemal Paa, the Ottoman commander in chief, hanged 21 Arab nationalists on May 6,
1916, a day that is still commemorated as Martyrs Day. The Ottomans, however, were defeated by the double-pronged attack of
the British and Arab forces and evacuated the city in September 1918. An independent Syrian state was declared in 1919, with
Damascus as its capital; Fayal was proclaimed king early in 1920.

Modern city
The independence of the Kingdom of Syria was short-lived. During World War I, European powers had held secret negotiations to
divide among themselves the provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Syria was forcibly placed under French mandate, and Damascus
fell to the army of Gen. Henri Gouraud on July 25, 1920, following the battle of Maysaln. Damascus resisted the French
takeover, and despite the French bombardment of the city in 1925, the resistance continued until early 1927. A new urban plan
was immediately put in place that resulted in a modern residential cordon around the Old City, eectively separating it from alGhah, where rebels regularly took refuge. In this modern city, European social, cultural, and architectural norms directly
competed with traditional ones, and in time displaced them.
Syrias years under French mandate witnessed intense political activities that encompassed the entire ideological spectrum,
including liberalism, communism, andabove allArab nationalism. Damascenes, along with their fellow countrymen, struggled
for their countrys independence and for the broader goal of a single Arab state. The Bath Party, devoted to this goal, was
founded in Damascus during World War II. The mandate period lasted until April 1946, when French troops finally left the
country; once again, Damascus was the capital of an independent Syria.
The fragile Syrian Republic was ill-equipped to
withstand the major political upheavals racking the
region, especially the partition of Palestine in 1948 and
the first of the Arab-Israeli wars, which followed
almost immediately. A series of coups from 1949 to
1970 brought a varied array of leadership to power
and the rumble of tanks to the streets. During Syrias
short-lived union with Egypt as the United Arab
Republic (195861), Damascus lost its title of capital to
Cairo. In 1963 the Bath Party came to power through
a coup and embarked on an experiment of socialist
reform. In 1970 a z al-Assad, then the minister of
defense, led an internal coup and established himself
at the helm of the country for 30 years, to be
succeeded on his death in 2000 by his son Bashar.
Damascus continued to function as a pole of attraction
for political forces, economic interests, and rural
Syrians seeking a better life in the capital.
Contemporary Damascus is a modern metropolis with
many of the featuresand problemsfound in cities
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad greets supporters at Damascus University, 2007.
around the world. The physical limits of terrain and
Bassem Tellawi/AP
nite water sources argue for decentralization to
satellite communities some distance away. The fragile
and invaluable heart of the city, however, requires comprehensive conservation
programs that respect both its historic character and its continued vigour. Still,
despite rapid modernization, as well as periods of neglect and greed throughout
the millennia, Damascus has thus far managed to survive with its unique core
intact. Were Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Baah, or other early visitors to return, they would
not exclaim so much over a city set in green gardens. They would, however,
recognize the spirit and dynamism of the city that has epitomized urban life since
the beginning of history.

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Entrance of the Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria.

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