Damascus

DAMASCUS, a celebrated city in Syria. It was for a long time the capital of a kingdom called the kingdom of Damascus, or Aram of Damascus, or Syria of Damascus. It was in being in the time of Abraham; and some of the antients inform us, that this Patriarch reigned there immediately after Damascus the founder of it. So Gen. xv. 2. In the year of the World 2092, before J. C. 1908. before the Vulgar Æra 1912. Gen. xiv. 15. 2 Sam. viii. 5. and 1 Chron xviii. 4, 5, &c. Joseph. Antiq. l. 7. c. 6. In the year of the World 3027, before J. C. 973. before the Vulgar Æra 977. 1 King. xi. 23,24,25. 1 Kings xv. 18. In the year of the World 3064, before J. C. 936, before the Vulgar Æra 940.much is certain, that one, whom he had made free, and appointed the Steward of his house, was of Damascus; and pursued Chedorlaomer, and the five confederated Kings as far as Hobah, which is to the left, or northward of Damascus. The Scripture says nothing more of this city till David’s time; when Hadad king of Damascus, sending troops to the assistance of Hadadezer king of Zobah, David defeated both, and subdued their country. Josephus says, that this Hadad was the first, who took upon him the title of king in this city; and this he takes notice of from Nicholas of Damascus, the historian of that country, who lived in the time of Herod the Great.

Towards the end of Solomon’s reign, God stir’d up Rezin the son of Eliadah, who restored the kingdom Damascus, and shook off the yoke of the Jewish kings. A good while after, Asa king of Judah, implored the help of Benhadad son of Tabrimon, king of Damascus, against Baasha king of Israel, and engaged him to invade his enemy’s territories. From this time the kings of Damascus were generally called Benhadad: for example, Benhadad, the son of him, whom we have just mentioned, the same who laid siege to Samaria, attended by two and thirty kings, in the reign of Ahab, 1 Kings xx, 1, 2, & seq.Ahab king of Israel. Benhadad was obliged to raise the siege, and the year following having set another army on foot, he was 1 Kings xx. 23, 24.overcome by Ahab; and was obliged to restore those places to the king of Israel, which his ancestors had taken from that crown. Benhadad not having executed faithfully his promise, and refusing to make restitution of Ramoth in Gilead, occasion was hereby given for several wars between the kings of Israel and Damascus.

Benhadad made war with Jehoram the son of Ahab, as he had done before with his father. He besieged Samaria, and undertook several expeditions against Israel; but the prophet Elisha disappointed all his designs, by discovering them to king Jehoram: so that Benhadad sent troops to seize the prophet, and bring him to him. But Elisha struck them with blindness, and without their perceiving it, carried them to Samaria. 2 Kings vi. 13, 14, 15.Some time after, Benhadad falling sick at Damascus, Elisha went thither, and the King having sent great presents to him by Hazael, the prophet told Hazael, he should be king; and he hereupon returning to Benhadad, stifled him in his bed, and reigned in 2 Kings viii. 7, 8, &c.his room.

He inherited the aversion which his predecessors had always entertained against the kingdom of Israel, upon which he made war, and committed a thousand ravages throughout all parts of it. He attacked 2 Kings xii. 17.likewise the kingdom of Judah; and Joash king of Judah, to prevent him from pillaging his country and his capital, was obliged to pay him great sums of money. Benhadad the son of Hazael, followed his father’s steps, and made war with success against the 2 Kings xiii. 3, 21, 25.kings of Israel and Judah. However, Joash king of Israel defeated him in three several engagements, and obliged him to restore the cities which Hazael had taken from his father.

Judith ii. 17.Jeroboam II. king of Israel, resumed the old superiority over the kings of Syria. He conquered Damascus and Hamath, the two 2 Kings xiv. 25, &c. Ezek. xxvii. 18.principal cities of Syria: but after the death of Jeroboam II. the Syrians re-established their monarchy. Rezin took upon him the title of king of Damascus; entred into a confederacy with Pekah, the usurper of the kingdom of Israel, and with him made great havock in the territories of Jotham 2 Kings xvi. 5, &c.and Ahaz kings of Judah. Ahaz being sensible, that he was not strong enough to resist them; sent to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and desired his assistance. Hereupon 2 Kings xvi. 9. Isai. vii. 4, 8. viii. 4. x. 9. xxii. 1, 2, 3. Amos i. 3, 4.this prince, in order to make a diversion, invaded the dominions belonging to Rezin, took Damascus, destroy’d it, killed Rezin, and sent the Syrians his subjects into captivity beyond the Euphrates, according to the predictions of Isaiah and Amos.

Damascus recovered itself out of all these misfortunes. It is our belief, that Sennacherib took it, when he marched against Hezekiah, as is observed by Isaiah, ch. ix. 9. Holofernes also took it in the time of Manasseh, king of Judah. Ezekiel speaks as if it were a flourishing city in his time. JeremiahJerem. xxv. 9, 10. xxvii. 8. xlix. 23, 24. Zech. ix. 1. Plutarch. in Alex. Q. Curt. l. 3. threatens it with Nebuchadnezzar’s arms, who subdued that, and all the other cities of Syria. After the return from the captivity, Zechary foretold several calamities which should befall it, and which in all probability did then befall it, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great’s generals. It seems, as if Jonathan Maccabæus, Simon’s brother, had made himself master of Damascus, during the troubles in Syria: but 1 Macc. xii. 32.it does not appear that he kept it for any time. The Romans took possession of it Joseph. Antiq. l. 14. c. 4.about the year of the world 3939, when Pompey made war against Tigranes, and sent Metellus and Lælius thither, who seized upon it. Scaurus came thither some time after; and after him Pompey, who sent for Hircanus and Aristobulus, while he continued in this place, and heard the dispute which was between them concerning their Antiq. l. 14. c. 56.title to the crown of Judæa.

Damascus remained under the dominion of the Romans till it fell into the hands of the Arabians. Obodas the father of Aretas2 Cor. ix. 32. Antiq. l. 16. c. 15. In the year of J. C. 37. king of Arabia, whom St. Paul speaks of, was already master of Damascus in the reign of Augustus; but tho’ he was possessed of it, he was not intirely independant; he, as well as many other kings, being subject to the Romans. Aretas, who had a governour at Damascus, when St. Paul came thither, quarrell’d with the Romans; and when the Jews of Damascus shewed a disposition to lay hands on this Apostle, Aretas was then at war with them. This is as much as it is necessary to know concerning the several states and revolutions of Damascus, at least with relation to the Sacred Writings, the History of the Hebrews, and the New Testament.

Naaman, the king of Syria’s general, coming to Elisha, in order to be cured of his leprosy, the prophet bid him go, and bathe seven times in Jordan. But Naaman with some disorder replied, Are not Abana and 2 Kings v. 1, 2, 3, &c.Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? There are some Authors who take Abana to be the Orontes, and Pharphar the Chrysorroas, celebrated rivers in Syria. Benjamin of Tudela says, that the river Abana or Amana waters the city of Damascus, and Pharphar the country about it. Travellers inform us, that the See Daviti’s Syria.river which runs into Damascus, is still at this day called Tarfar, Tarfaro, Farfaro, or Fer, or Pir. Stephens the Geographer calls the river of Damascus, Baradin; and Maundrel assures us, that Maundrel’s Journey from Alepo to Jerusalem.the Syrians call it Barrady. The source of this river is in the Antilibanus, and loses itself in the marshes four or five leagues from Damascus towards the south. This Traveller says, that he could find no traces¹ in this country of the names Abana or Pharphar.

At about five hundred paces from Damascus on the south side, upon the highway, the place is shewn, where St. Paul was thrown upon the ground and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Here a church was built, which at present is intirely ruined. In the same city there is still to be seen the house which is said to be Ananias’s, who baptized and instructed St. Paul; it was changed into a Church, but the Turks have made a Mosque of it. Several writers have been of opinion that Cain and Abel dwelt near Damascus, and that this city takes its name from the blood of Abel. For damsak in Hebrew signifies a sack of blood. They still shew in these parts Abel’s monument, which is, as they say, forty foot in length. But there is no reckoning upon the truth of such relations.

The Arabians call this city Damaschk or Demeschk, or Scham, which is the name of the province whereof Damascus is the Bibl. Orient. p. 282, 772, &c.capital. They generally believe, that this city derived its name from Dameschek Eliezer, Abraham’s servant or steward; and that this Patriarch was the founder of it. Notwithstanding there are some Arabian Historians, who make the city of Damascus still more antient than Abraham’s time, and pretend that it was founded and named by Demschak the son of Canaan, son to Ham, and grandson to Noah.

The Persian Geographer says, that the Field or Plain of Damascus, which extends itself between Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and is called by the Arabians Ganthah, is one of the four Paradises of the East. The three others are Obilla in Chaldæa, where there is a river of the same name, Scheb- Baoran in Persia, and the Sogdian, which the eastern people call the valley of Samarcand. They assert, that Adam was created near Damascus, of a certain red earth, which is to be seen at the same place, and which to them seemed more proper than any other to form live flesh. Many suppose the terrestrial Paradise to have been in the same place.

The city of Damascus, according to Stephens the Geographer, borrow’d its name from its founder Damascus the son of Mercury and Alcimeda. In the first Book of Darmasch דרמשקinstead of דמשק Damash.Chronicles ch. xviii. 5,6. Damascus is call’d Darmasch. Some derive the name of Damasch or Damsak from the Hebrew, Dam blood, and sak a righteous person, as it were to denote that this city was polluted with the blood of Abel. Damascus was a metropolitan See under the Patriarch of Antioch; but at present the Greek Patriarch of Antioch resides there. The Temple of Damascus passes for one of the finest that the Turks have. They say this Temple was first built by the Sabians, Disciples to St. John Baptist, who kept the head of this Saint hung up at the roof of this building: afterwards the Christians made themselves masters of it, and were driven from thence by the Caliph Valid, son of Abdalmelech, who for several years laid out the whole revenue which he received from Syria in embellishing it. There is a magnificent Dome which goes by the name of Aliat’s Dome. There are many other Domes of a lesser size about it, one whereof is called the Dome of the Stairs, or of Mahomet’s ascension up to Heaven; the third the Dome of the Resurrection of the Dead; and the fourth the Dome of the Balance, or of the last Judgement. Notwithstanding all the revolutions which have happened to Damascus, this city still passes for one of the finest and most considerable in the East.

Read this article in its place on the printed pages