lofty masonry along the borders of the plain. But of none of these is there any trace. We shall see at Bessîma, that perhaps the tunnel there was more probably for conducting water to the Sahra.2 Many ancient coins of Damascus, as the metropolis of Syria, are still extant, bearing the names of all the Roman emperors from Augustus to Alexander Severus. A later series, from Philip to Gallien, marks the city as a Colonia.3 HISTORY.-The origin of Damascus is lost in the shadows of a hoary antiquity. In the days of Abraham it was already a city of note; and is now probably the only known city of that epoch, which is still inhabited and flourishing. Of all this long history there is room here only for the very briefest outline. 5 The city is not further mentioned until the reign of David. At that time Syria was divided into several petty sovereignties, and Damascus was the seat of a king. In David's war against the king of Zobah, the "Syrians of Damascus" aided the latter; and were subdued by David, who placed garrisons in their territory. Yet, under Solomon, Damascus again threw off the yoke. Rezon, a former servant of the king of Zobah, established there a kingdom; and "was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon. Later there was a league between Abijam the son of Rehoboam and Tabrimon king of Syria, "who dwelt at Damascus; " and who seems to have succeeded his father Hezion.' When Baasha king of Israel made war upon Asa king of Judah, the son of Abijam, about B. C. 940, the latter applied to Benhadad I, then upon the throne of Syria, to aid him against Israel. Benhadad did so; and seized several cities in the northeastern part of Israel. His son, Benhadad II, in league with thirtytwo minor kings, invaded Israel under Ahab, about B. C. 900; but was twice driven back, and sued for peace.' Three years later, as he did not fulfil the conditions, Ahab and Jehoshaphat king of Judah both made war upon him; and the former fell in battle. Twice again did Benhadad invade Israel during the 329 sq. Mionnet Descr. des Méd. V. pp. 283-297. Suppl. VIII. p. 193 sq. 10 At Jerju'a and towards Sidon the traces of the comparatively small ancient aqueduct are still quite distinct. Much more should we expect like traces here, where the supposed aqueduct must have been ten times as large and important. See above, pp. 45, 46. 2 See further on, under June 7th.-This supposed aqueduct to Palmyra is mentioned by Pococke, II. i. pp. 136, 137; by Volney, Ruins p. 252; by Seetzen, Reisen I. p 138. For the view at the present day, which seems to vary considerably from the earlier one, see W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sacra, 1848. p. 763 sq. See Eckhel Doctr. Nummor. III. p. reign of Jehoram; and was in each case compelled to retire.1 2 The Syrian dynasty was now changed. Benhadad was put to death by his servant Hazael, who seized the throne, and raised the kingdom of Damascus to a high pitch of prosperity and power. He defeated the kings of Israel and Judah; seized upon all the provinces east of the Jordan; levied a contribution upon Jerusalem; and reduced Israel to the condition of a tributary kingdom. The son of Hazael, Benhadad III, was thrice beaten by Joash king of Israel; who recovered the cities which his father had lost." Jeroboam II, the successor of Joash, B. C. 825, drove the Syrians into still greater straits, took Damascus, and extended his conquests to Hamath. Nevertheless, more than half a century later, we find Pekah king of Israel and Rezin king of Damascus in alliance against Ahaz king of Judah; and Rezin gained possession of Elath on the Red Sea. In this extremity Ahaz invoked the aid of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. This monarch took Damascus, slew Rezin, carried the people into exile to Kir; and thus all Syria about B. C. 740 became a province of the Assyrian empire. The city is mentioned by Jeremiah; also once by Ezekiel during the exile, in reference to its trade with Tyre; and once by Zechariah after the exile." 8 6 Of the fortunes of Damascus during the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires, under the dominion of which it successively passed, there is hardly a trace in history. The language of Ezekiel, above referred to, shows that it continued to be a mart of manufactures and commerce. After the battle of Issus, B. C. 333, all Syria came under the power of Alexander; and Damascus, where the harem and treasures of Darius had been left, was surrendered to Parmenio by treachery. In the SyroGrecian kingdom of the Seleucidæ, the sovereigns established their court, not at Damascus, but at Antioch; and during their wars with Egypt, the regions of Palestine and Colesyria sometimes came into the hands of the Ptolemies.10 In B. C. 111, the step-brothers Antiochus Grypus and Antiochus Cyzicenus divided Syria between them; the latter received Phenicia and Colesyria, and fixed his residence at Damascus.11 The Jews under Hyrcanus took occasion of the weakness of this prince, to extend their territory.' After various civil wars and commotions, Demetrius Eucarus, fourth son of Grypus, supported by Ptolemy Lathyrus of Egypt, took possession of Damascus as king; and divided the empire of Syria with his brother Philip." At the invitation of the Jews opposed to Alexander Jannæus, Demetrius marched into Palestine, and defeated Alexander at Shechem, B. C. 88. On his return he made war against his brother Philip; but through the aid of the Parthians was overthrown and sent to Parthia, where he died. His younger brother, Antiochus Dionysius, now seized upon Damascus; ruled over Syria for three years; and fell in a battle with Aretas king of Arabia, B. C. 84. The Damascenes then invited Aretas to be their king, out of hatred to a pretender, Ptolemy Mennæus.* Not long afterwards we find Tigranes king of Armenia in possession of Syria; and he also subdued Ptolemais. Being compelled, however, to defend his own country against the Romans, the latter meantime under Metellus subdued Damascus. Here Pompey in B. C. 64 received ambassadors and presents from the neighbouring kings; and in the following year all Syria became a Roman province. The Roman proconsuls resided mostly at Antioch; rarely at Damascus. It was here that the young Herod visited the proconsul Sextus Cæsar, and received from him for a while the government of Colesyria." Here too Herod, after he became king, built a theatre and gymnasium, as in other cities out of his dominions.8 In the history of the New Testament, Damascus is celebrated as the scene of the conversion, baptism, and earliest labours of the apostle Paul. At that time Damascus was under the temporary dominion of a later Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa; and was governed in his name by an ethnarch. Through his agency the Jews attempted to seize Paul; but the apostle escaped from the city, being let down in a basket through a window in the wall. It is singular that Josephus rarely mentions Damascus after the time of the first Herod. Yet great numbers of Jews were resident in the city during that period. The same historian relates, that on one occasion ten thousand Jews were slain by the citizens; and also that most of the women of the city were converts to Judaism."1 10 1 Jos. Antt. 13. c. 10. Jos. Antt. 13. 13. 4. Porphyr. 1. c. p. 67. Jos. Antt. 14. 3. 1. Acts 9, 2-27. 22, 5 sq. 26, 12. 20. Gal. 1, 17. 10 2 Cor. 11, 32. 33. For the history of Aretas, see in Vol. II. p. 160. [ii. 560 sq.] -Monkish legendary tradition still points out the various spots mentioned in conneetion with the apostle, as also this window in the wall; although the wall itself has been several times rebuilt. Jos. B. J. 2. 20. 2. 2 In the following centuries Damascus was the seat of a Christian bishop, who was reckoned second in rank within the patriarchate of Antioch. Magnus of Damascus is enumerated among the bishops of the council of Nicea, and also in the synod held at Antioch in A. D. 340. Thomas, a monophysite, was bishop of Damascus in A. D. 518; and refusing to acknowledge the council of Chalcedon, was expelled by the emperor Justin I.3 Various others are mentioned. At the present day there is a Maronite bishop; and the nominal patriarch of Antioch resides at Damascus.' In the wild conquests of early Muhammedanism, Damascus in A. D. 635 fell under the power of the Khalif 'Omar. His two generals, Khâlid and Ibn 'Obeideh, invested the city. The emperor Heraclius sent troops to relieve it; but in vain. After a siege of two months the city was taken, partly by storm and partly by capitulation. The Khalifs of the house of Ommiyeh fixed their court at Damascus; which thus became for the time the metropolis of the east. The Abassides resided at Bagdad, and governed Damascus by a prefect." In A. D. 877, Damascus, and by degrees all Syria, was seized by Ahmed the first of the Tulunides; and retained by his successors for about thirty years." They were overthrown by the Khalif Moktefy; but Damascus came not long after under the rule of the Ikhshidites; then under that of the Fatimite Khalifs of Egypt; who again were driven out by the Seljuk line in A. D. 1075. In the middle of the next century, A. D. 1148, the army of the crusaders under the three sovereigns Baldwin, Conrad, and Louis VII, made an assault upon Damascus; but were compelled to retire. It then passed into the power of Nureddin, and afterwards of Saladin. 10 In A. D. 1260, Damascus surrendered without resistance to Hulaku the leader of the Moguls; the castle alone held out, and was besieged and captured. In the following centuries the city often changed masters among the various Muslim dynasties. In A. D. 1401 it came under the power of the Tartar conqueror Tamerlane (Timur Leng), who sent a colony of its best artisans to Samarkand.12 The Mameluks of Egypt afterwards 1 Le Quien Oriens Christ. II. 834. 2 Ibid. * Ibid. 836. • Ibid. 698. * Abulfeda Annal. I. p. 222. Elmakîn p. 21. v. Hammer's Gesch. des Osman. Reichs, II. p. 481 sq.-Other accounts say that the city was lost through the treachery of the father of John of Damascus ; Elmakin p. 27. Asseman. Bibl. Or. II. p. 97. For the succession and history of the Ommiades and Abassides, see Deguignes Hist. des Huns, Introd. lib. VI. §§ VII, VIII. Gibbon's Hist. of the Decline etc. b. 1, li. See also above, Vol. I. pp. 390, 393, 400. [ii. 38, 42, 53.] Comp. above, p. 462. Abulfeda Annales II. p. 250. Deguignes 1. c. Tom. II. lib. IX. c. 1. Deguignes 1. c. Tom. II. lib. IX. c. 2. Ibid. lib. X. c. 1. " Wilken Gesch. der Kreuzz. III. 1. F. 241, and App. p. 18. 10 Ibid. III. ii. pp. 31, 161. 11 Wilken ibid. VII. p. 411. 12 Sherifeddin, Hist. de Timur Bec ou held possession of Damascus. At length, in the autumn of A. D. 1516, the city was taken by Sultan Selim I; and has ever since belonged to the Turkish empire. It is the head of a large Pashalik, extending from Marrah, half way between Hamah and Aleppo on the north, to Jerusalem and Hebron on the south, and from Hâsbeiya on the west to Tadmor in the east; including the vast plains of Haurân and all the region towards the desert.2 Like the rest of Syria, Damascus has ever been exposed to earthquakes. It seems however never to have suffered from them in the same degree as Antioch, Tiberias, and some other places.3 Such is Damascus and its far famed plain; and such the outline of its long history. Nature would seem to have marked out the spot as the site of an important city; and such it has always been from the earliest ages. The oldest city in the world, unlike most other ancient cities, its prosperity has been comparatively uninterrupted. The waves of many wars have rolled over it; the city and the plain have often been deluged with blood; but the traces of war and pillage have never long remained. The course of its history has been even. It has rarely been the seat of a mighty empire; but rather the head of a petty kingdom or of a subordinate province. Hence, though an oriental city, it has never equalled a Nineveh or a Babylon in the greatness of its power or the grandeur of its edifices; nor does it now resemble them in the depths of their fall or the extent of their ruins. It has flourished, while they have fallen; and even now it continues to flourish amid all the neglect and oppression of Turkish misrule. The glory of Damascus is its splendid plain, sparkling and gushing with streams and fountains from the Barada. Without the waters of this river, the plain would be a desert; with them it is an earthly paradise, luxuriating with fields of the heaviest grain, as also with groves and orchards of the finest fruit. Damascus is still a gem, "the eye of the whole east." PLACES IN THE ENVIRONS OF DAMASCUS. There are several places in the vicinity of Damascus, which are of interest as connected with the history and topography of Tamerlan, par Le Croix, Par. 1723, lib. V. c. 24-27. Tom III. pp. 312-347. Deguignes, Tom. IV. p. 306 sq. Germ. Hammer Gesch. der Osman. Reichs II. p. 481 sq. 1 v. Hammer ibid. V. "A sketch of the history of Damascus in the last half of the eighteenth century, Bee in Volney's Voyage II. p. 230 sq. For earthquakes in 1139, 1157, and 1170, see Deguignes Hist. des Huns, II. pp. 474, 494, 527, Germ. For that of 1759, see Volney's Voyage I. p. 276 sq. For the last terrible earthquake of Jan. 1, 1837, by which Safed was destroyed and Tiberias overthrown, see above in Vol. II pp. 381 sq. 422 sq. [iii. 254 sq. 321 sq.] 4 See above, p. 453. |