Damascus is the capital of Syria, and the largest town in Western Asia. It is called by the natives Dimashk es-Sham, or simply es-Sham, the name which is generally applied to all Syria. The city stands mile from the mouth of the gorge, through which the Barada, the Chrysorrhoas of the Greeks, forces its way into the plain; and it is now connected with Beyrout on the Mediterranean by an excellent French road about 70 miles long. The plain of Damascus, 500 sq. m. in area, is dotted by over a hundred towns and villages. It is bounded on the north-west by the Anti-Libanus range, on the south by the Black Mountains, beyond which are the hills of Bashan, and on the east by the marshes of the plain. Damascus is situated on the western side of the great plain at an elevation of 2260 feet above the level of the sea, and immediately to the north-west of the city the Anti-Libanus rises to a height of 3840 feet. This elevated part of the mountain, called Jebel Kasyún, is crowned by the Kubbet en-Nasr ('Dome of Victory'). From the base of this dome the best view of Damascus is obtained. Its exquisite beauty, as seen from the mountain, is greatly enhanced by contrast. Towards the west there are the bare chocolate sahara and the storm-bleached, lime-streaked mountains. But the Barada, having forced its way through the mountain, spreads fan-like by seven rivers over the plain of Damascus, 'and everything lives whither the river cometh.' A beautiful green meadow, the joy of all orientals, extends almost from the mountain to the city; gardens, in which all the trees of the forest and the field blend their many shades, extend for many a mile and hold the desert at bay. From out this bower of soft green the city lifts to heaven its forest of minarets towering above pearly domes. The rivers of Damascus are the constant source of the city's perennial existence. According to tradition, Abraham on his westward march lingered by the crystal waters, and ruled the city in peace.
The seven canals by which water is drawn off from the central Barada are called rivers. The most important on the right side is Nahar Abanias. This is the river Abana, and it flowed through the fashionable west-end suburb in the palmy days of Damascus. The most important canal on the left side of the Barada is Nahar Taura—the Pharpar of 2 Kings, v. 12. Both rivers flowed through the residential parts of the city, and were largely used for bathing purposes.
The appearance of Damascus as viewed from the mountain resembles a tennis-racquet. The handle, which lies in a south-westerly direction, is the Meidán, a suburb which extends along the Mecca pilgrim-route for about a mile, and ends at the Bawabat Alla ('Gate of God'). The other part is concentrated on the rivers, and is inclosed within ancient walls and encompassed by luxuriant gardens which seem to surge around and over the pearl-coloured city like a sea. At the western side of the city within the walls stands the citadel. It is a large quadrangular structure about 300 yards long and 250 wide, with projecting towers, and surrounded by a moat. It was erected in 1219 by Melik-el-Ashraf, and has a massive appearance, but it is a good deal dilapidated. The palace stands outside the walls west of the citadel, and about 400 yards east of the citadel stands the Great Mosque, burnt in October 1893. The Mosque was erected by Walid 'Abd-el-Melik at the beginning of the 8th century on the site of the church of St John, just as that church had been erected by Arcadius about the beginning of the 5th century on the site of a pagan temple, which probably occupied the site of the ancient Beit Rimmun. The church was constructed from the splendid material of ancient temples, and the mosque is made up of the materials of ancient churches. The old walls and many of the columns of the church are still in position, and on a portal, older than Mohammedan or Christian times, is carved a cross, followed by the 13th verse of the 145th Psalm in Greek, from the Septuagint, with the abbreviation Xe added. The mosque is adorned by three minarets, one of which, called the minaret of Jesus, rises to a height of 250 feet, and on this minaret, according to Mohammedan tradition, Jesus will appear when he comes to judge the world. Near to the pulpit there is a richly gilded dome, beneath which the head of John the Baptist is said to rest, and in the court there is another dome which contains precious fragments of Kufic, Syriac, and other manuscripts. Damascus contains 70 other mosques, and more than 150 chapels for prayer and instruction. The churches and synagogues have no architectural pretensions, and their internal decorations are gorgeous but tawdry. The tomb of Nûr ed-Dîn is one of the ornaments of the city, and the walls of the best baths are decorated with beautiful Kishani tiles, and the floors with parian marble. The public cafés, though picturesque when lighted up, are dirty and sodden.
The religious communities occupy different quarters of Damascus. The Jewish quarter (Harat-el-Yahoud) lies to the south of the 'street called Straight,' which runs east and west for about a mile, with Roman gateways at either end. The course of the Via Recta can be traced by the columns in situ. The Christian quarter (Harat-en-Nasara) lies north of the street called Straight in the eastern part of the city, and the remainder of the city is occupied by Mohammedans. It is spoken of as Harat-el-Islam. The Christians are superior in physique, in education, in enterprise, in skill, in industry to their Mohammedan neighbours.
The different industries are also carried on in separate quarters. There is the silversmiths' bazaar, where rough but very effective personal ornaments are made; the saddlers' bazaar, where scarlet saddles and horse-trappings are gaily decorated with gold and silver thread; the shoemakers' bazaar, where red and yellow slippers of gondola-form and gorgeous top-boots are made; the Greek bazaar, where imitation 'Damascus blades' and 'antiques' newly made are offered to the unwary. The book bazaar (the Paternoster Row of the East), the cloth bazaar, the seed bazaar, the silk bazaar, and all the other trades and commodities, have their distinct locations. The narrow and badly paved streets of Damascus are dusty in summer and muddy in winter. On either side are the rows of arched niches which are the shops of the place. Each shopkeeper sits cross-legged in his dukkān, with his spices or Manchester goods piled up around him, awaiting customers, whom he serves with great stateliness of manner. Behind the mud walls and mean entrances there are splendid houses in Damascus. On entering, one is dazzled by the barbaric grandeur—white marble pavements, tessellated with coloured stone; snowy fountains where the constant music of falling water mingles with the cooing of doves from their nests in the lemon-trees or trellised vines; walls frescoed and decorated with mosaics and Persian tiles, and slabs inlaid with coloured pastes and precious stones; arabesque ceilings set with Venetian mirrors, and adorned with blue and purple and gold—all that oriental art and lavish expenditure can do has been done to attract and charm the eye.
Great and steady progress is being made in Damascus in education, especially by the Christians; but the Jews and Mohammedans are also awaking to the necessity of a higher standard of civilisation. For many years the Irish Presbyterians have conducted successful educational establishments in the city and neighbouring villages as auxiliary to their mission work. The British Syrian schools have also an establishment, and the London Jews' Society.
One of the sights of Damascus is the Haj (q.v.). When it is starting for Mecca the whole city turns out to see the procession. For miles around there is a surging sea of human beings, dressed in the brightest and most striking colours. Circassians and Afghans, Kurds and Kalmuks, Turkomans and Tekkes, Bedawin from the desert, and shepherds from the steppes, and all the heterogeneous tribes and peoples of the East, are represented in that brilliant procession. Damascus is also one of the meeting-places between the East and West. Enormous caravans of camels pass to and fro between Bagdad and Damascus, exchanging the dates and tobacco and spices and carpets of the East for the produce of the looms and workshops of Europe. The chief exports are grain, flour, native cotton and silk manufactures, wool, apricot paste and stones, raisins, and liquorice-root; the imports include textiles, indigo, tobacco, coffee, sugar, and leather. The exports have an annual value of £350,000, and the imports of about £400,000, half of the latter British. In 1889 gas and tramways were introduced into the city; and since 1892 two railways hither (from Haifa and from Beyrout) were begun, but not finished. Pop. about 150,000, of whom 20,000 are Christians of various sects; 6000 are Jews.