History of Damascus Syria played an incomparable role in the history of mankind. It is often described as the cradle of civilizations, since many of the greatest human achievements that later spread to encompass the world had their beginnings in ancient Syria. In this land, Man discovered the secrets of Agriculture and Metallurgy, and invented the very first Alphabet, Religions, Philosophies, Language of trade, Systems of urban development, of diplomatic and cultural exchange; all these germinated in geographical Syria. It has been rightly said, therefore, that every cultured man belongs to two nations: his own, and Syria. Damascus Through the Ages Damascus (Sham or Dimashq as we call it) has the reputation of being the oldest city in the world. More recent discoveries suggest that Damascus was first settled ca. 6,000 B.C. but some discoveries suggest that it is older than 8,000 B.C. but we don't know exactly who ruled Damascus at that time. An old story says that its name "Sham" was derived from "Shem" the eldest son of Noah because he chose to live there after the flood. There is no real knowledge, however, of what Damascus was like at that time. It is unclear 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 that time the city became the capital of a small, Aramaean principality. The Aramaeans were Arab people who spoke a northern Arabian dialect of Arabic called Syriac, originated in the Arabian peninsula. Damascus became a focal point for the Aramaean kingdoms, as documented in the Old Testament. The Assyrian army reached the Syrian-Phoenician coast and Damascus in 732-841 B.C. After many repeated incursions.It is most probable that the remains of the Aramaean city lie buried under the western part of the present day walled city. Excavation of the area is impossible because of the architectural value of the buildings now situated on top of the Aramaean site so information about the layout of the city is sparse. Then 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., it was the first time that Damascus had come under Western control.Syria became later the heart of a huge empire that included all of Asia Minor up to Iran and Afghanistan. In 64 B.C., the Roman made Syria a part of the Roman Empire. Certain principalities with large Arab populations, such as Palmyra, were given the right to retain a degree of autonomy. Damascenes became the mercantile middlemen of the Roman Empire, marketing and distributing products between Europe and the Orient. They built an entirely new city over the ruins of the ancient one. As a result, Damascenes products, such as swords, glassware, and cloth, became renowned throughout the Empire. Damascus had gained the distinction of being counted among the ten most prominent cities of the Roman Empire. It was during this period that Christianity was introduced in Damascus. It had already taken root by the time 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. 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. 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 that was very welcomed by the Syrians at large. The Muslim invaders had traveled north from the Arabian peninsula, inspired by their new religion, and had come across a strong opposition (from the Romanians) 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. 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 and from south of France to west of China. In 661 A.D., Damascus was made the capital of the empire by Muawiya Bin Abu Sufian, who founded the Umayyad 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. In 750 The Abbasids, an Arab family of Meccan origin that had settled in eastern Iraq, put an end to Omayad rule. They transferred the capital of the Islamic Empire to Baghdad, and Damascus became nothing more than a provincial town with a declining population and no political role to play. The Umayyad Dynasty escaped to Andalos (Spain) and rebuild Qutuba, their capital, to be very similar to Damascus. Latter on, Mongols destroyed Damascus while Spain remain on the Damascus's style. During the next three centuries from the Abbasids rule, the physical appearance of Damascus was further scarred by successive assaults and civil strife. Most of the city was burnt down, including the Omayad Mosque (Umawi Masjid). Damascus was controlled by non-Arabs rulers later. The First Crusade in 1096 invaded Syrian coast and captured one of the holiest cities in Islam, Jerusalem, in 1099. The arabs start to make state extends from Iraq to Egypt and retrieve Jerusalem later. The period between 1260 and the invasion of Tamurlane in 1400 was one of relative prosperity for Damascus. One after another, the Crusader states fell to the Arabs. In 1400, while the Damascus armies were in the south, Tamurlane took advantage of the cities lack of defenses. His Mongol hordes almost completely destroyed the city and killed everyone they could capture. After a ransom of one million pieces of gold was paid, Tamurlane departed the ruins of Damascus, taking the surviving armorers with him. From thence forward, the famous Damascus swords were to be manufactured in Samarkand. From 1516 to 1918, Damascus was part of the Ottoman Empire. They have stopped the scientific movement and isolated the Arabs from the outer world. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers and lost. Syrian nationalists, however, conspired against the Turks and assisted Faisal, the son of the Sherif of Mecca, in capturing Damascus. At the end of the war, the Kingdom of Syria, which included Lebanon and Palestine, was proclaimed, and Faisal was crowned king. The kingdom was short-lived, however, as the British had made a separate, secret agreement with the French, giving the latter the right to control Syria after the war. The newly formed League of Nations gave the French the Mandate for Syria, and the French forced Faisal out of power in 1920. The people of Syria revolted against the French in 1925, 1936, and 1945, but didn't regain their freedom from foreign rule until 1946. Damascus suffered heavy bombardments during the French Mandate. Syria grew up quickly after the independence, and had in 1953 the second strongest economy in Asia (after Japan). Syria tried later to join other arabic states but it failed. In 1963 The Baa'th socialist party took control over Syria by military coup and started a new era in the Syrian history.