Damascus has the reputation of being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. There is firm evidence that in the third millennium Damascus was a population center of a civilization that was considerably prosperous and economically influential. The earliest reference to the city was found in Ebla (Tall Mardikh) in 1975: on one of the clay tablets discovered in the record depository of this site was the name “Dimaski.”
There is no real knowledge, however, of what Damascus was like in the third millennium. It is unclear what role it played, how prominent it was, and what the lifestyle of its peoples was. The documented history of Damascus starts half-way through the second millennium B.C., in the Amorite period. At the end of the second millennium, the city became the capital of a small, Aramaean principality. The Aramaeans, who were a semi-nomadic people who spoke a northern Arabian dialect of Arabic called Syriac, originated in the Arabian peninsula. They moved northwards in search of new prosperity and settled in the Fertile Crescent in successive waves. The abundant water supplies, moderate climate, and fertile soil made Syria an ideal place for settlement and the Aramaeans established small principalities throughout the area. Being a natural oasis irrigated by the river Barada, Damascus became a focal point for the Aramaean kingdoms, as documented in the Old Testament. They say it was known as “Dar Mesheq” (a well-watered place) and from this time onwards its size and importance increased.
The Assyrian nation to the east became a threat to the Aramaean kingdoms in the middle of the first millennium. Political relations between all the neighboring Aramaean kingdoms were good, and a federation was set up to counter the hostile advances of the Assyrians. The names of most of the Aramaean kings of Damascus who led their armies in the defense of the city are known. Ben Hadad II, allied with Hama, managed to conquer the armies of Salmanesar III (r. 858-824 B.C.) in the battle of Quarquar in 853 B.C. Ben Hadad’s successor, Hazael, could not stand up to Salmanesar’s armies as effectively and as a result the Assyrian army reached the Syrian-Phoenician coast in 841 B.C. After repeated Assyrian incursions, Damascus was besieged and taken by Hadad Nirari III.
It is most probable that the remains of the Aramaean city lie buried under the western part of the present day walled city.
This is true because the western part of the city is notably raised compared to the eastern part, forming a rough tell (a mound which has evolved due to repeated settlement throughout the centuries). Excavation of the area is impossible because of the architectural value of the buildings now situated on top of the Aramaean site. Consequently, information about the layout of the city is sparse.
The major buildings of the Aramaean city were the celebrated Temple of Hadad and the Royal Palace. The French scholar Sauvaget has mapped a likely plan of the city in the Aramaean period, showing that most of its main thoroughfares ran on lines similar to those of the present day Old City. The temple was built on the site that is now occupied by the great Omayad Mosque, and was dedicated to the storm god, Hadad.
After the capture of Damascus by Tiglath Pileser III, the Assyrian king, in 732 B.C., sovereignty passed into the hands of the Assyrians and subsequently to the Neo-Babylonians (Chaldeans) under Nebuchadnezzar in 572 B.C. Babylonian domination was cut short by the Persian king, Cyrus, who took the city in 538 B.C. and made Damascus the capital and military headquarters of the Persian province of Syria. The Macedonian general, Alexander the Great, and his armies swept through Syria and the Persian Empire in 333 B.C., marking a turning point in the history of Damascus: the beginning of an age of classical civilization in this area that lasted until 630 A.D. In its long history of domination by outside powers, it was the first time that Damascus had come under Western control.
Seleucus, Alexander’s successor, who came to power in 312 B.C., made Syria the heart of a huge empire that included all of Asia Minor up to Iran and Afghanistan. He made Antioch his capital, which thus supplanted Damascus as the most prominent political and economic center in the Fertile Crescent. Successive wars between the Seleucids and the Egyptian Empire under the Ptolemies meant that the control of Damascus passed rapidly from one side to the other.
The Greek occupation lasted for approximately 250 years, but few traces of this occupation remain in present day Damascus. When the Romans arrived, they built an entirely new city over the ruins of the ancient one.
In 64 B.C., the Roman statesman and general Pompeii annexed Syria and declared it a province of the Roman Empire. Certain principalities with large Arab populations, such as Palmyra, were given the right to retain a degree of autonomy. Until 635 A.D., Damascus and its surrounding area remained under the control of theRoman and Byzantine authorities. The city flourished as a result of the political stability that accompanied these administrations. Peace and stability brought about an economic boom, making Damascus an important cross-road on the east-west trade route. The Damascenes became the mercantile middlemen of the Roman Empire, marketing and distributing products between Europe and the Orient. As a result, Damascenes products, such as swords, glassware, and cloth, became renowned throughout the Empire. This prosperity led to a significant increase in population and consequently an expansion of the city. In the second century A.D., the Emperor Hadrian gave Damascus the status of metropolis, and it was raise to the rank of Colony under Alexander Severus. Under Emperor Diocletian, Damascus became the headquarters of the Roman army in the eastern Empire. By the end of Roman rule in Syria, Damascus had gained the distinction of being counted among the ten most prominent cities of the Roman Empire. The major architectural construction in Damascus during the Roman period was the Temple of Jupiter. Some of its remains can be seen at the far end of the Souq al-Hamidiyeh, in front of the Omayad Mosque, on the site of the Temple of Hadad.
It was during this period that Christianity was introduced in Damascus. It had already taken root by thetime St. Paul (Saul of Tarsus) arrived in Damascus in approximately 34 A.D. It was on the road to Damascus that he had his vision that left him blinded and convinced him that he should not carry out his mission to arrest the Christians of Damascus. Paul was cured of his blindness by Ananias, who was later canonized. Damascus became an important center for Christians and the Bishop of Damascus became the second most important ecclesiastical figure after the Patriarch of Antioch.
The creation of the second imperial capital of the Roman Empire in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 330 A.D. and the emperor’s growing tolerance of Christianity marked the beginning of a new era in Damascus. With the break-up of the Roman Empire in ca. 395 A.D., Syria became a part of the eastern province of the Byzantine Empire. Strategically placed between Anatolia and Egypt, the two most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire, Damascus did not lose the status it had acquired during the period of Roman rule. Byzantine Damascus remainedmuch the same as it had during the Roman period, except for the mass construction of churches. The most significant change was the transformation of the Temple of Jupiter into acathedral dedicated to St. John the Baptist in the latter part of the
fourth century A.D.
635 A.D. was a turning point in the history of Damascus. In March of that year, the city faced the onslaught of the Islamic armies led by Khalid ibn al-Walid. The Muslim invaders had traveled north from the Arabian peninsula, inspired by their new religion, and had come across little opposition on their way. Damascus was now subject to an empire of Eastern origin once again, after a thousand years of Western control. There was mass conversion to Islam, and Muslims and Christians are said to have prayed side by side in the Cathedral of St. John until the Muslims insisted on building the Great Mosque in the same place. The first decades of Islamic rule in Damascus are considered the “golden age” of the city. Damascus became in effect the capital of an empire that stretched from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus River basin.
In 661 A.D., Damascus was made the capital of the empire by Muawiya Abu Sufian, who establishedhimself as the fifth Caliph, or successor to the Prophet, and founded the Omayad Dynasty. This dynasty ruled Damascus for less than a hundred years, but made a significant contribution to the cultural and artistic heritage of the city. Although there are no remains of the splendid palaces that were built by the Omayad Caliphs, it is believed that over one hundred such structures were constructed during this period. Architectural plans of these palaces show that they had magnificent interiors with wall paneling made of the finest woods inlaid with ivory and mother of pearl. The central core of the city remained behind the old city walls, but suburbs like al-Shaghour, Midan, Qanawat, and al-Neiral sprung up to incorporate the expanded population.
text from madeinsyria.com