6.2.1 - Damascus, the oldest inhabited city in history

Considered as the oldest inhabited city in human history, Damascus dates back more than twelve thousand years. It occupied a prominent position in the field of science, culture, politics and arts during the third millennium BC. At the end of the second millennium, the Aramean leader Rayson established his kingdom in Damascus, followed by the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Persians, and the Macedonian invasion came to mark a major turning point in the history of the region in general and the history of Damascus in particular. The history of Damascus has been also associated with Greek civilization for centuries, during which the city experienced the flourishing of Hellenistic civilization, where elements of Greek culture were blended with the civilization and culture of the East.

Muslim armies entered Damascus in the 7th century, and in the Umayyad period, the city became the capital of a state that stretched to the borders of China in the east and to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, during which palaces were built and sprawled. One of the most important landmarks was the Great Umayyad Mosque built during the reign of Caliph Al-Walid Ibn Abdul-Malik, and it was a favorite place for many scholars and Sufis such as Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, as well as Shaykh Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi as we shall see shortly.

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The Umayyad Mosque.

During the Abbasid Caliphate, the capital of the Islamic State became Baghdad, but Damascus remained an important center of culture and science. After the Abbasid power was weakened, Damascus was associated with the Tulunid state before being subjected to the Fatimid Caliphate. In that era, it was subjected to the invasions of the Carmatians who had occupied it several times, causing much destruction and demolition. The Seljuks then extended their authority over Damascus which was ruled by some of their Atabaks in a form semi-independent from the Abbasid Caliphate.

As the Frankish reign intensified and occupied many cities of the Syrian coast and Palestine, they besieged Damascus but they were resisted by Muin al-Din Anar who repelled them and broke the siege imposed by their forces in Daraya. After him, Nur al-Din Mahmoud Zanki united the East and extended his influence to Egypt, thanks to the historical leader Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (Salahuddin, or: Salahuddin). The death of the Fatimid caliph al-Aadhid in 567/1171 marked the end of the Fatimid rule in Egypt, which were united with Syria under Salahuddin’s rule. Damascus then regained its luster by taking the lead in the political and military field in the Arab East. However, this did not last for long, after the death of Salahuddin, because the Ayyubid reign were divided between his sons and cousins, who fought with each other for a long time, and the state began to collapse gradually until it fell into the hands of the Mongols in 658/1260, to begin the era of the Mamluks [For more see: The History of Damascus, by Ibn Katheer].