passed through a period of unrest in which it was captured and ravaged by Egyptians, Carmathians and Seljuks in turn. The crusaders attacked Damascus in 1126, but never succeeded in keeping a firm hold of it, even during their brief domination of the country. It was the headquarters of Saladin in the wars with the Franks. Of its later history we need only mention the Mongolian capture in 1260; its Egyptian recapture by the Mameluke Kotuz; the ferocious raid of Timur (Tamerlane) in 1399; and the conquest by the Turkish sultan Selim, whereby it became a city of the Ottoman empire (1516). In its more recent history the only incidents that need be mentioned are its capture by Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian general, in 1832, when the city was first opened to the representatives of foreign powers; its revolt against Ibrahim’s tyranny in 1834, which he crushed with the aid of the Druses; the return of the city to Turkish domination, when the Egyptians were driven out of Syria in 1840 by the allied powers; and the massacre of July 1860, when the Moslem population rose against the Christians, burnt their quarter, and slaughtered about 3000 adult males.
Modern City.—Damascus is a city with a population estimated at from 154,000 (35,000 Christians and Jews) to 225,000 (55,000 Christians and Jews), situated near the northern edge of a plain called the Ghutah, at the foot of Anti-Lebanon, 2250 ft. above the sea. The river Barada (the Abanah of 2 Kings v. 12) rises in the Anti-Lebanon, runs for about 10 m. in a narrow channel, and then spreads itself fan-wise over the plain. About 18 m. east of the city it loses itself in the marshlands known as the Meadow Lakes. A second river, the ʽAwaj (possibly the Pharpar of 2 Kings), pursues a similar course. The plain is thus exceptionally well irrigated, and its consequent fertility is proverbial over the East. Damascus is situated on both banks of the Barada, about 2 m. from the exit of the river from the gorge. On the right bank is all the older part of the city, and a long suburb called El-Meidān extending about a mile along the Hajj Road. On the left bank are the suburbs El ʽAmāara and El-Salihia. The waters of the river are carried by channels and conduits to all the houses of the city. The orchards, gardens, vineyards and fields of Damascus are said to extend over a circuit of at least 60 m. In the surrounding plain are one hundred and forty villages, occupied in all by about 50,000 persons (1000 Christians, 2000 Druses).
The rough mud walls in the private houses give poor promise of splendour within. The entrance is usually by a low door, and through a narrow winding passage which leads to the outer court, where the master has his reception room. From this another winding passage leads to the harem, which is the principal part of the house. The plan of all is the same—an open court, with a tesselated pavement, and one or two marble fountains; orange and lemon trees, flowering shrubs, and climbing plants give freshness and fragrance. All the apartments open into the court; and on the south side is an open alcove, with a marble floor, and raised dais round three sides, covered with cushions; the front wall is supported by an ornamented Saracenic arch. The decoration of some of the rooms is gorgeous, the walls being covered in part with mosaics and in part with carved work, while the ceilings are rich in arabesque ornaments, elaborately gilt. A few of the modern Jewish houses have been embellished at an enormous cost, but they are wanting in taste.
Antiquities.—Considering the great age of Damascus, its comparative poverty in antiquities is remarkable. The walls of the city seem to be Seleucid in origin; some of the Roman gateways being still in good order. The Derb el-Mistakīim, or “Straight Street,” still runs through the city from the eastern to the western gate. At the north-west corner is a large castle built in A.D. 1219, by El-Malik el-Ashraf, on the site of an earlier palace. It is quadrangular, surrounded by a moat filled by the Barada. The outer walls are in good preservation, but the interior is ruined.
The church of St John the Baptist constructed by Arcadius on the site of the temple was turned by Caliph Walid I. (705–717) to a mosque which was the most important building of Damascus. It was a structure 431 ft. by 125 ft. interior dimensions, extending along the south side of a quadrangle 163 yds. by 108 yds. Except the famous inscription over the door—“Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations”—every trace of Christianity was effaced from the church at its conversion. It was destroyed by fire on the 14th of October 1893, and though it was subsequently rebuilt, much that was of archaeological and historical interest perished. It is estimated that there are over two hundred mosques in Damascus.
Products, Manufactures, &c.—Damascus occupies an important commercial position, being the market for the whole of the desert; it also is of great importance religiously, as being the starting-point for the Hajj pilgrimage from Syria to Mecca, which leaves on the 15th of the lunar month of Shawwal each year. This of course brings much trade to the city. Its chief manufactures are silk work, cloths and cloaks, gold and silver ornaments, &c., brass and copper work, furniture and ornamental woodwork. The bazaars of Damascus are among the most famous of their kind. It is connected with Beirut and Mezerib by railway, and at the end of the past century the great undertaking of running a line to Mecca was commenced. In the surrounding gardens and fields walnuts, apricots, wheat, barley, maize, &c. are grown. Its commercial importance is referred to by Ezekiel (xxvii. 18), who mentions its trade in wines and wool. The climate is good; in winter there is often hard frost and much snow, and even in summer, with a day temperature of 100° F., the nights are always cool. Fever, dysentery and ophthalmia, chiefly due to exposure to heavy dews and cold nights, are prevalent. Though still the market of the nomads, the surer and cheaper sea route has almost destroyed the transit trade to which it once owed its wealth, and has even diminished the importance of the annual pilgrim caravan to Mecca. The Damascene, however, still retains his skill as a craftsman and tiller of the soil. The chief imports are cloths, prints, muslins, raw silk, sugar, rice, &c.
The value of exports and imports in certain specified years is shown in the following table:—
| 1890. | 1894. | 1898. | 1905. | |
| Exports | £325,660 | £400,830 | £302,050 | £386,000 |
| Imports | 525,710 | 614,490 | 675,080 | 872,400 |
Most of the Christians belong to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic (United) Greek Churches; and there are also communities of Melchites, Jacobites, Maronites, Nestorians, Armenians and Protestants. There are Protestant missions, founded 1843, and a British hospital.
Authorities.—Lortet, La Syrie d’aujourd’hui, p. 567 f. (Paris, 1884); Von Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen Golf, i. 49 f. (Berlin, 1899); G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land; Encyclopaedia Biblica, art. “Damascus”; Consular Reports; Baedeker-Socin, Handbook to Syria and Palestine. For the Great Mosque see Dickie, Phené Spiers, and Sir C. W. Wilson in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, Oct. 1897. (R. A. S. M.)
DAMASK, the technical term applied to certain distinct types
of fabric. The term owes its origin to the ornamental silk fabrics
of Damascus, fabrics which were elaborately woven in colours,
sometimes with the addition of gold and other metallic threads.
At the present day it denotes a linen texture richly figured in
the weaving with flowers, fruit, forms of animal life, and other
types of ornament. “China, no doubt,” says Dr Rock (Catalogue
of Textile Fabrics, Victoria and Albert Museum), “was the first
country to ornament its silken webs with a pattern. India,
Persia, and Syria, then Byzantine Greece followed, but at long
intervals between, in China’s footsteps. Stuffs so figured brought
with them to the West the name ‘diaspron’ or diaper, bestowed
upon them at Constantinople. But about the 12th century the
city of Damascus, even then long celebrated for its looms, so
far outstripped all other places for beauty of design, that her
silken textiles were in demand everywhere; and thus, as often
happens, traders fastened the name of damascen or damask upon
every silken fabric richly wrought and curiously designed, no
matter whether it came or not from Damascus.” The term is
perhaps now best known in reference to damask table-cloths, a
