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 DAMASCUS

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DAMASCUS

had risen from its decay; however, it appears only occasionally in the history of the Jews, Greeks, and Romans. After the battle of Issus.(333 B. c.) the city, which held the wives and treasures of Darius, was betrayed to Parmenion. It soon became, next to Antioch, the most important city of Syria. From 112 to 85 B. c. it was the capital of a little Graeco- Roman kingdom, but fell successively into the power of Aretas III, King of Petra, of Tigranes, lung of Armenia, and finally of the Roman general Metellus. In 64 B. c. Pompcy received there the ambassadors and gifts of the neighbouring kings; in the following year Syria became a Roman province. Herod the Great built a theatre and a gymnasium at Damascus, though the town was outside his dominion. Its popu- lation, though Syrian by race and language, was deep- ly affected by Grceco- Roman culture, and made rapid progress in trade and industry; then, as now, Damas- cus was the chief commercial emporium for the nomad Arabs. In the time of St. Paid there were in Damas- cus about 50,000 Jews; most of the women in the upper classes of society had embraced this creed. It was on the road to and near the city that Saul, the severe persecutor of the Chiistians, recognized and worshipped the Jesus whom he had hated so much. Saul was brought to Damascus, lodged at Juda's in the Via Recta (to-day Souk el-Taouil), was baptized by Ananias (who is thought to have been the first Bishop of Damascus), preached Christ, and was obliged to flee by night to Arabia (Acts, ix, 3 sqq., xxii, 6 sqq., xxvi, 12 sqq.; Gal. i, 17; II Cor., xi, 32). The city then belonged to Aretas, King of the Arabs. Under Nero the heathen slaughtered by treachery 10,000 Jews in the gymnasium of Herod. After the destruction of the Nabatean Kingdom of Petra by Trajan, Damascus became a Roman city. Under Arcadius the great temple of the local god, Rimmon, was transformed into the magnificent church of St. John the Baptist. In 610 the city was used by Chosroes as his head-quarters during the long war he then began against Heraclius.

The See of D.^m.vscus. — Damascus was then the metropolis of Phoenicia Secunda, or Libanensis, with eleven suffragan sees; it was subject to the Patri- archate of Antioch and held the sixth rank in the hierarchy (see Vailh(5, in Echos d'Orient, X, 95, I-IO). Lequien (Oriens christ., II, 833) was acquainted (from the first to the sixteenth century) with the names of only fourteen Greek bishops, among them St. Peter, who suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Arabs in the eighth century. Numerous Jacobite bishops are also known (Lequien, II, 1423; Revue de I'Orient Chretien, VI, 194; Brooks, The Sixth Book of the Select Letters of Severus, London, 1903, II, 20, 57). Among the many illustrious men born at Damascus, we must mention Nicholas, a Greek writer under Augustus, Damascius, a heathen philosopher of the sixth century, John Moschus, the author of the charm- ing "Pratum spirituale", St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638), St. Andrew, Metropolitan of Crete, orator and hymnographer, finally, the cele- brated Greek theologian, St. John Damascene.

Early in 635 Damascus was captured by the Arabs under Khalid and Abou Obeidah. Free public wor- ship was allowed to the Christians in several churches, also in the western aisle of St. John's, the eastern aisle being reserved to the Mussulmans. It was only at the beginning of the eighth century that Abd el- Melek obtained from the Christians the use of tlie whole building, in return for which he allowed them four chm-ches. From 660 to 753, under the Ommayad caliphs, Damascus was the capital of the Arabian empire; at that date Abou Abbas removed the seat of governmc^nt to Bagdad. In the following centuries, amid broils and ri'X'olutions, Damascus fell into the hands of the Toulounidcs of Egypt, later into those of the Ikshidites and of the Futimites. In 1075-1076

it was taken by the Seljuk Turk Aziz. In 1126 the crusaders, commanded by Baldwin of Jerusalem, de- feated Prince Toghtekin near and south of the city, but were obliged to retreat. Nor were the allied princes, Conrad III of Germany, Louis VII of France, and Baldwin III of Jerusalem, more successful in their siege of Damascus (1148), owing to the treason of the barons of Syria. Nour-ed-Din, Sultan of Aleppo, captured Damascus in 1158. In 1177 Saladin re- pulsed a new attack of the Christian army. Damas- cus then became the commercial, industrial, and scientific centre of Syria ; it had a school of medicine and an observatory on the Djebel Kasioun. Under Saladin's successors it had to sustain several sieges; in 1260 it opened its gates to the Mongols of Houla- gou. It then fell into the hands of Kotouz, Prince of the Mamelukes of Egypt, whose successor, Bibars, re- built its citadel. In 1300 it was pluntlered and partly burnt by the Tatars commanded by Ghazzen Khan. In 1399 Timur-Leng put to death almost all the in- habitants, except the sword-cutlers. These he brought to Samarkand and Khorassan where they continued to make the beautiful damascened blades, the secret of which has long been lost at Damascus. In 1516 Selim I conquered Syria from the Mamelukes; since that time Damascus has belonged to the Ottoman Empire. Mention should be made of the Egj'ptian occupation by Ibrahim Pasha (1832-1840), and the frightful slaughter of the Christians (July, 1860), which caused the flight of many thousands and brought about the occupation of Syria by a French army.

The Turkish City. — Damascus (Arab. Dimisk es- Sham, or simply es-Shayn), the eye or the pearl of the East for the Arabs, is the chief town of the vilayet of Syria and the second city m the Ottoman Empire. Three railways start thence to Beirut, Mzerib, and Mecca; there is also a tramway to Hama. Trade flourishes throughout the province. The city stands 2267 feet above sea level and enjoys a very mild climate, owing to the Barada, which runs through it, and to its numerous fountains or springs. It is sur- rounded by the groves and gardens of the Ghouta, which stretch about ten miles south and east and in- clude twenty-mne villages, the mhabitants of which are devoted to fruit culture (oranges, lemons, etc., especially plums and apricots). Within the city are the tomijs of Noured-Din, Saladin, and Bibars, 850 fountains, 64 hamtmims (baths), 25 bazaars, a stock exchange for the local trade, a half-ruined citadel, 248 mosques, etc. The mosque of the Ommayads (an- ciently St. John's church) was burned in 1893, on which occasion many manuscripts and works of art were lost.

Religious Conditions. — Damascus is a Latin archiepiscopal titular see; three bishops of the six- teenth century are mentioned in the "Revue bene- dictine" 1907, (82-85). It is moreover a metropoli tan see for the Catholic (also for the non-Catholic) Melchite Greeks, and for the Catholic Syrians, and finally an episcopal see for the Maronites. The popu lation, including the rich Europeanized suburb of Es Salayieh, is about 300,000. Of this nimiber 255,000 j are Mussulmans, 20,000 non-Catholic Melchite Greeks, 500 Protestants, 10,000 Jews, 1000 Armenian and Syrian Jacobites, and 20,200 Catholics (15,000 of whom arc Melchite Greeks, 2500 Syrians, 1500 Maron itcs, 400 Latins, 700 Armenians, and 100 Chaldeans) Since the sixteenth century the non-Catholic Greek Patriarchs of .Vntioch have lived at Damascus. The Catholic Greek Patriarch of .Vntioch also resides at Damascus and governs his diocese through a titulai bishop. The Syrian Catholic patriarch has recent!) transferred his residence to Damascus. The Catholic Greek archdiocese has about 15,000 faithful, 2( priests, and 12 churches. The Catholic SjTian arch- diocese has 3000 faithful, 9 priests, 4 parishes, (