Let's go to Damascus

HOW MUCH OF DAMASCUS DO YOU KNOW?

Damascus is the capital of Syria.

Damascus looks back on over 10,000 years of history, making it the oldest city in the world.

Note that the history of Jesus is just 2000+ years.

The streets and bazaars (markets) of Damascus still look ancient.

Damascus is the Pearl of the Middle East. It remains an Arab city despite influences from the Ottoman Turkey and French colonisation.

The Umayyad or the Great Mosque in Damascus was opened in 715 AD. It still stands. It is one of the oldest buildings in the Islamic world. It was built by Caliph al-Walid on a foundation that previously had a Christian church.

Saladin died in Damascus on the 4th of March 1193.

Saladin, or Salah al-Din, was a famous Muslim hero. He was the sultan/king of all the Muslim territories of Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and northern Mesopotamia. He was a great military commander. His greatest success was the capture of Jerusalem in 1187, during the Crusades. Before Saladin’s victory, Jerusalem had been held for almost 90 years by Christian Crusaders from Europe.

Saul was blinded for 3 days by Jesus on his was to Damascus to kill more Christians. After this experience, his name was changed to Paul and he began preaching about Jesus.

Ananias of Damascus was a disciple of Jesus who was sent by Jesus to restore the sight of Saul.

In today's Damascus, you will find an underground house named after Ananias. It is at the end of a street called Straight near the Bab Sharqi. It is believed that Ananias baptized Saul in this house.

Just 10 kilometres South of Damascus is the Sayyidah Zeinab mosque. Zeinab was the granddaughter of Prophet Mohammed. She was buried there. It is a very important pilgrimage site for Shia muslims.

The current president of Syria is Bashar al-Assad. He is a medical doctor and has ruled Syria since the year 2000 (for 23 years). His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000 (for 29 years).

Syria is an old civilisation and that's why the USA could not defeat Syria in the recent war.

Pictured is a Roman City gate in Damascus. In its current form, the gate was built in 1537 (486 years ago) under the rule of Suleiman the Magnificent who was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire at the time.