Timeline of Damascus

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Damascus, Syria.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 7th century

Map of Damascus in 1855

View of Damascus, 1898

• 965 BCE – Ezron, King of Aram-Zobah conquers Damascus
• 843 BCE – Hazael assassinated Ben-Hadad I and made himself king of Damascus.
• 732 BCE – Neo-Assyrian Empire conquers Damascus
• 572 BCE – Neo-Babylonians conquered Damascus
• 538 BCE – Achaemenid Empire annexes Damascus
• 333 BCE – Alexander the Great conquers Damascus
• 112 BCE – Damascus fell to Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.
• 150 CE – Damascus became a Roman provincial city under Trajan.
• 4th century – Temple of Jupiter built by the Romans.

7th–19th centuries

• 613 – Sasanian captured Damascus during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
• 634 – Arab conquest of Damascus under Khalid ibn al-Walid.
• 715 – Great Mosque built by Al-Walid I by converting the church of St John the Baptist constructed by Arcadius.
• 789 – Qubbat al-Khazna built.
• 1078 – Citadel of Damascus built.
• 1126 – Crusaders attacked Damascus.
• 1129 – Crusaders march on Damascus.
• 1142 – Al-Mujahidiyah Madrasa established.
• 1154 – Nur al-Din Bimaristan built.
• 1196 – Mausoleum of Saladin built.
• 1215 – Al-Adiliyah Madrasa founded.
• 1216 – Citadel of Damascus rebuilt.
• 1224 – Al-Rukniyah Madrasa built.
• 1229 – Damascus besieged
• 1234 – Aqsab Mosque built.
• 1250 – Qaymariyya hand city over to al-Nasir Yusuf in bloodless coup.
• 1254 – Al-Qilijiyah Madrasa established.
• 1260 – Kitbuga, a confidant of the Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu, captured Damascus. Then, it was captured five days after the Battle of Ain Jalut by the Mamluk Sultanate.
• 1277 – Al-Zahiriyah Library established.
• 1400 – Timur, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, besieges Damascus.
• 1515 – Al-Sibaiyah Madrasa built.
• 1516 – Ottomans under Selim I conquered Damascus from the Mamluks.
• 1518 – Salimiyya Takiyya built.
• 1558 – Sulaymaniyya Takiyya built.
• 1566 – Salimiyya Madrasa established.
• 1574 – Khan al-Harir built.
• 1605 – Printing press established.
• 1736 – Khan Sulayman Pasha built.
• 1750 – Azm Palace built.
• 1752 – Khan As'ad Pasha built.
• 1832 – Captured by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt.
• 1840 – Return of the city to Turkish domination, when the Egyptians were driven out of Syria.
• 1860 – Massacre; the Moslem population rose against the Christians.
• 1885 – Bakdash (ice cream parlor) established.
• 1900 – Population: 154,000. (approx date)

20th century

See also: Modern history of Syria

• 1918 – October: Arab troops led by Emir Feisal, and supported by British Armed Forces, capture Damascus, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.
• 1920 – July: French Armed Forces occupy Damascus, forcing Feisal to flee abroad.
• 1923 – University founded.
• 1925/6 – French forces bombard Damascus.
• 1928 – Al-Wahda Club of Damascus founded.
• 1935 – Population: 193,912.
• 1939 – Chapel of Saint Paul inaugurated.
• 1946 – Population: 303,952.
• 1947 – Al-Jaish Sports Club founded.
• 1960 – Syrian Television begins broadcasting.
• 1961 – September: Discontent with Egyptian domination of the United Arab Republic prompts a group of Syrian Army officers to seize power in Damascus and dissolve the union.
• 1964 – Population: 562,907 (estimate).
• 1970 – Population: 836,668 city; 923,253 urban agglomeration.
• 1977 – Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts founded.
• 1981
  • Bomb explodes near Syrian Air Force headquarters.
  • Azbakiyah bombing
• 1983 – Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology founded.
• 1984 – Al-Assad National Library established.
• 1985 – Population: 1,196,710 (estimate).
• 1986 – Bombings
• 1994 – Population: 1,549,000 (estimate).
• 2000 – Spring

21st century

See also: Timeline of the Syrian Civil War

• 2004 – Damascus Opera House inaugurated.
• 2006
  • February: "Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus are set on fire."
  • September: "Attack on the US embassy."
• 2008 – Population: 1,680,000 (estimate).
• 2009 – Damascus Securities Exchange founded.
• 2011
  • March: Protest; crackdown.
  • Syrian civil war begins.
• 2012
  • January 2012 al-Midan bombing
  • March 2012 Damascus bombings
  • April 2012 Damascus bombings
  • 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings.
  • Summer 2012 Damascus clashes
  • Battle of Damascus (2012)
• 2013
  • Damascus offensive
• 2018
  • May: Syrian Armed Forces recapture the entire city of Damascus.
• 2024
  • December: Syrian opposition forces captured the city.

See also

• Timeline of Syrian history
• Timelines of other cities in Syria: Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Latakia

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

• H. A. S. Dearborn (1819), "Damascus", A Memoir on the Commerce and Navigation of the Black Sea, Boston: Wells & Lilly
• Josiah Conder (1824), "Damascus", Syria and Asia Minor, London: James Duncan, OCLC 8888382
• John Fuller (1830), "Damascus", Narrative of a Tour Through Some Parts of the Turkish Empire, John Murray, OCLC 15470157
• David Brewster, ed. (1832). "Damascus". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Vol. 7. Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker. hdl:2027/mdp.39015068302770.
• Thomas Bartlett (1841). "Damascus". New Tablet of Memory; or, Chronicle of Remarkable Events. London: Thomas Kelly.
• Josias Leslie Porter (1855), Five years in Damascus: Including an Account of the History, Topography, and Antiquities of That City, London: J. Murray, OCLC 399684, OL 6951148M
• Charles Knight, ed. (1866). "Damascus". Geography. English Cyclopaedia. Vol. 2. London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co. hdl:2027/nyp.33433000064794.
• George Henry Townsend (1867), "Damascus", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co.
• "Damascus", Cook's Tourists' Handbook for Palestine and Syria, London: T. Cook & Son, 1876
• "Damascus", Palestine and Syria, Leipsig: Karl Baedeker, 1876. (+ 1898 ed.)
• Èmile Isambert (1881). "Damas". Itinéraire descriptif, historique et archéologique de l'Orient. Guides Joanne (in French). Vol. 3: Syrie, Palestine. hdl:2027/nyp.33433002689614.
• Guy Le Strange (1890), "Damascus", Palestine under the Moslems: a description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500, London: A.P. Watt

Published in 20th century

• "Damascus", Chambers's Encyclopaedia, London: W. & R. Chambers, 1901
• D.S. Margoliouth (1907), Cairo, Jerusalem, and Damascus, London: Chatto & Windus, OL 23283598M
• Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart (1910). "Damascus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). pp. 784–785.
• Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Damascus", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co.
• R. Stephen Humphreys. "Urban Topography and Urban Society: Damascus under the Ayyubids and Mamluks." In his, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry. Minneapolis, 1988. pp. 209–32.
• Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus, 1190–1350. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. pp. 27–68.
• John Block Friedman; Kristen Mossler Figg (2000). "Damascus". Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: an Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 146+. ISBN 978-1-135-59094-9.

Published in 21st century

• Josef W. Meri, ed. (2006). "Damascus". Medieval Islamic Civilization. Routledge. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7.
• C. Edmund Bosworth, ed. (2007). "Damascus". Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. pp. 107–125. ISBN 978-9004153882.
• Michael R.T. Dumper; Bruce E. Stanley, eds. (2008), "Damascus", Cities of the Middle East and North Africa, Santa Barbara, USA: ABC-CLIO, p. 119+, ISBN 9781576079195
• "Damascus". Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture. Oxford University Press. 2009. pp. 513–517. ISBN 9780195309911.
• Gabor Agoston; Bruce Alan Masters (2009). "Damascus". Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Facts on File. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-4381-1025-7.

External links

• ArchNet. "Damascus". Archived from the original on 30 October 2013.
• Michel Ecochard (1930s). "Damascus Albums". Regional Surveys. ArchNet.