Damascus
1:
DAMASCUS (PLACE) [Heb dammeśeq (דַּמֶּשֶׂק), dûmmeśeq (דּוּמֶּשֶׂק), darmeśeq (דַּרְמֶשֶׂק)]. DAMASCENE. A city of S Syria, which is not only the capital of modern Syria, but was the capital of the nation of Aram during the 10th through 8th centuries b.c.e. Aram was a constant rival to, and sometimes an ally of Israel, until it was incorporated in the Assyrian Empire in 732 b.c.e. See ARAM (PLACE). It is the city to which Paul went after his encounter with the risen Christ, and it is where he became converted to Christianity (Acts 9).
PRE-HELLENISTIC HISTORY
A. Location
Although on the border of the great Syrian desert, the city is located along the banks of the Barada river, the only major perennial water source in the region. The water, combined with the rich soil of the basin, has made the area of Damascus one of the richest agricultural regions in the Near East. The city has also been a major station on the main N-S caravan route since ancient times. These factors partially explain the importance of Damascus over the centuries.
The site of ancient Damascus is located under the present “Old City,” and no excavations into the pre-Roman levels have yet taken place. (On what is known of the topography of the ancient city, see Sauvaget 1949 and Watzinger and Wulzinger 1921). Because of the status of the excavation work, most of our information concerning the ancient city comes from historical sources of neighboring cultures, including those of Israel, Egypt, Hatti, Assyria, and Babylonia. These documents deal with Damascus only when the international affairs of their countries brought them into contact with the city. Thus we know very little about the domestic situation and internal affairs of Damascus.
B. Damascus in the Late Bronze Age
Although there is a popular tradition that Damascus is the oldest continuously occupied city in the world, no clear evidence for the existence of the city before the 15th century b.c.e. has yet been found. There were reports in the late 1970s that the name Damascus occurs in the Ebla tablets (ca. 2400 b.c.e.), but this has not been confirmed, and many scholars have expressed strong doubts that its name or any S Syrian or Palestinian town names actually occur at Ebla. Neither reference to Damascus in Gen (14:15 and 15:2) can be used to argue for the existence of the city during the MB Age (ca. 2000–1550), even if the patriarchs are to be dated to that period (Pitard 1987: 9).
The first undisputed occurrence of the name is in a list of Syro-Palestinian cities inscribed on the walls of the temple of Amun at Karnak in Egypt and dating from the reign of Thutmose III. This list provides the names of towns the kings of which were said to have been captured at Megiddo after Thutmose defeated their coalition in battle, ca. 1482. Damascus is also mentioned on a statue found in the funerary temple of Amenophis III (ca. 1417–1379), which names several cities and states which were subject to (or at least had friendly relations with) Egypt. The name occurs in three of the Amarna Letters (14th century) and a tablet found at Kamid el-Loz (ancient Kumidi) and also from the 14th century. These sources give little information about the city besides the fact that it existed, that it was ruled by a “king,” and that it was usually within the political sphere of Egyptian influence.
Damascus in the LB Age (ca. 1550–1250) was a city of the land of ˒Āpu/˒Ōpu (conventionally vocalized by scholars in its genitive, cuneiform version, Upi—māt ú-pı́) . A larger number of sources exist which refer to this land, and these give us a bit more information about events in the Damascus region.
The earliest reference to this land occurs in texts which date some three centuries before the first attestation of the city of Damascus. It is listed among the enemies of Egypt in the Execration Texts found at Saqqara (18th century b.c.e.), in the Egyptian form ˒ipwm, probably to be vocalized as ˒Āpum. In these texts the land of Apum is described as being divided into a N and a S part, each of which was ruled by its own prince.
During the LB, the land of Upi was normally a vassal state in the Egyptian Empire. It was, however, usually at the NE boundary of Egypt’s regular sphere of influence and therefore often found itself in the midst of the power struggles between Egypt and Mitanni or Hatti for dominance in Syria. Damascus and Upi are mentioned in four Amarna Letters, which center around a Hittite attempt to remove S Syria from the Egyptian sphere of influence, sometime during the reign of Akhenaten in Egypt (EA 53, 107, 189, 197). The Hittites do not appear to have been particularly successful in Upi, for a 13th-century letter of Rameses II to the Hittite king Ḫattusilis III indicates that Upi was under Egyptian control at that time.
C. Damascus in the Iron Age
1. The State of Aram. Nothing is known about events in S Syria and Damascus during the “dark age” which covered most of the Near East between ca. 1200 and 1050 b.c.e. When historical sources begin to reappear, the area of Damascus is one of a number of small Aramean states which had been established to the N and E of Israelite territory among a few surviving Canaanite states. The first Iron Age reference to Damascus in written sources is found in the account of David’s war with the Aramean kingdom of ZOBAH (2 Samuel 8 = 1 Chronicles 17). Zobah, probably to be located in the N Biqa˓ valley in Lebanon, appears to have been the dominant power in S Syria early in the reign of David. When Zobah came into conflict with the expanding Israelite state under David, two important battles were fought (2 Sam 8:3–8 = 1 Chr 18:3–8 and 2 Sam 10:15–19 = 1 Chr 19:15–19), in which David defeated Hadadezer of Zobah. According to the account in 2 Samuel 8, following the battle with Hadadezer, David was confronted with an army of Arameans from Damascus which arrived to support Zobah. David defeated this army, took control of Damascus, and incorporated it into his empire.
Damascus remained under Israelite control until sometime during the reign of Solomon, when Rezon, the son of Eliada, a former servant of Hadadezer of Zobah, took an army of malcontents, captured Damascus, and there proclaimed himself king (1 Kgs 11:23–25). Solomon was apparently unable to regain control of Damascus. This was the beginning of Damascus’ rise to political power as the capital of the state called ARAM in the OT.
During the 9th and 8th centuries Aram-Damascus was often a major rival to the N kingdom of Israel. Under Bir-hadad I (biblical Ben-hadad), Aram attacked Israel after making an alliance with King Asa of Judah and plundered much of its N territory (1 Kgs 15:16–22 = 2 Chr 16:1–6). Aram’s stature in the political sphere grew during the second quarter of the 9th century, when its king, Hadad-˓iḏr, became the leader of a 12-state coalition which opposed the westward expansion of Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the battle of Qarqar, 853 b.c.e. According to Shalmaneser’s account of this battle, King Ahab of Israel was one of the allies in the coalition (ANET, 278–79). The coalition was successful in keeping Shalmaneser out of central and S Syria for over a decade.
There has been considerable scholarly discussion concerning the accounts in 1 Kings 20 and 22 of wars between King Ahab of Israel and a “Ben-hadad” of Aram-Damascus. Many scholars have identified this Ben-hadad with Hadad-˓iḏr of the Shalmaneser III inscriptions and have assumed that the battle of Qarqar took place during the period between the battles described in 1 Kings 20 and 22. But recently a number of scholars (Miller 1966; and Pitard 1987: 115–25) have proposed that the stories about the Aram-Israel wars did not originally give the name of the king of Israel and that they have been misattributed to Ahab’s reign. It has been proposed that they are actually the accounts of the battles between King Joash (or perhaps Joahaz) of Israel and Bir-hadad (Heb Ben-hadad), the son of Hazael of Aram, during the early 8th century (cf. 2 Kgs 13:14–19, 24–25).
The preeminence of Aram-Damascus among the states of S Syria and Palestine continued during the reign of Hazael, a usurper who seized the throne sometime around 842 b.c.e. (2 Kgs 8:7–15). After having been initially weakened in disastrous confrontations with Shalmaneser III in 841 and 838 (and possibly again in 837), Hazael quickly consolidated his power and began an imperial policy which led to the creation of a substantial empire. By the time of his death, Hazael controlled most of S Syria and Palestine, including Israel (the areas both E and W of the Jordan), Judah, Philistia, and probably the other states in Transjordan (2 Kgs 10:32–33; 12:17–18).
Hazael was succeeded toward the end of the 9th century by his son, Bir-hadad, during whose reign the empire of Aram disintegrated. Joash of Israel was able to defeat Bir-hadad in battle (2 Kgs 13:24–25 and also probably 1 Kings 20—see above). From extrabiblical sources we learn that Aram was also defeated in a conflict with King Zakkur (formerly vocalized as “Zakir”) of Hamath and Luash to the N (ANET, 655–56) and that the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III besieged Damascus in 796 and forced Bir-hadad (called Mar˒i in the inscriptions) to render a heavy tribute.
Throughout the first half of the 8th century, Aram-Damascus continued to decline and, in fact, may have become a vassal of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (ca. 782–748. See 2 Kgs 14:25, 28). Damascus, however, took a leading role in an anti-Assyrian coalition one last time, ca. 735 b.c.e., along with Tyre, Israel, and others. See SYRO-EPHRAIMITE WAR. Raḍ̱yan (biblical Rezin) of Aram and Pekah of Israel attempted to force the young King Ahaz of Judah into joining them, but he refused (2 Kgs 16:5–9; Isa 7:1–9). When the kings of Aram and Israel attacked Judah to remove Ahaz and replace him with a more pliant puppet king, Ahaz sent a large gift to Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria and asked him for help. Before the siege of Jerusalem could succeed, Tiglath-pileser III marched into Syria, where in 733 and 732 his army attacked Aram. After destroying virtually all the towns in Aram (his annals claim 591 towns destroyed in the 16 districts of Aram; ANET, 283), Tiglath-pileser finally captured Damascus, killed Raḍ̱yan, and annexed Aram into the empire. Damascus became the capital of a province (suitably called “Damascus”), while the rest of Aram was divided into other provinces, including Hauran, Qarnini, Manṣuate, and Ṣubate.
In 720 Damascus, along with several other cities, joined Hamath, the only independent Syrian state not yet annexed into the Assyrian empire, in another anti-Assyrian coalition. But the new Assyrian king, Sargon II, met and defeated their forces at the city of Qarqar. Hamath was incorporated into the empire and we hear of no other rebellions by Damascus for the rest of the Assyrian period. In 717 Sargon settled exiles from the cities of Papa, Lullukna, and perhaps some others in Damascus.
2. Under Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Control. Little is known about Damascus during the succeeding centuries. That it remained under Assyrian control during the first half of the 7th century seems fairly certain. The Assyrian governor of Damascus is listed in the eponym canon for the year 694 and apparently for a year ca. 650. During the course of a campaign against a number of Arabian tribes, Assurbanipal of Assyria found Damascus a loyal and convenient location in which to spend a short period of time before engaging in a battle with the Arab confederation (640s). But Damascus presumably regained its independence temporarily with the collapse of the Assyrian Empire.
As did most of the states in S Syria and Palestine, Damascus came under Babylonian domination in 604. But the extent of its involvement with the various rebellions in the succeeding decades is unknown. Damascus remained a provincial capital under the Persians, but very little specific information has been preserved about its role in the events of the period.
A few other pertinent facts may be gleaned from the texts. The patron deity of Damascus was the storm-fertility god Hadad, who was given the epithet rimmōn, probably better vocalized as rammān ‘the Thunderer.’ The temple of Hadad-ramman was the chief temple of Damascus (cf. 2 Kgs 5:18), and it is thought to have been located on the site of the Umayyad mosque in the current Old City of Damascus.
The wine of the region of Damascus, particularly of the area of Helbon, a few miles N of Damascus, was famed in antiquity throughout the Near East. It is mentioned in Ezek 27:18, as well as in Strabo xv.3.22. For further discussion see POTT: 134–55.
Bibliography
Dupont-Sommer, A. 1949. Les Araméens. Paris.
Mazar, B. 1962. The Aramean Empire and its Relations with Israel. BA 25: 98–120.
Miller, J. M. 1966. The Elisha Cycle and the Accounts of the Omride Wars. JBL 85: 441–54.
Pitard, W. T. 1987. Ancient Damascus. Winona Lake, IN.
Sauvaget, J. 1949. Le plan antique de Damas. Syria 26: 314–458.
Unger, M. 1957. Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus. Grand Rapids.
Watzinger, C., and Wulzinger, K. 1921. Damaskus: Die Antike Stadt. Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen des deutsch-türkischen Denkmalschutz-Kommandos 4. Berlin.
Wayne T. Pitard
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (2:5). New York: Doubleday.
2:
Damascus — activity, the most ancient of Oriental cities; the capital of Syria (Isa. 7:8; 17:3); situated about 133 miles to the north of Jerusalem. Its modern name is Esh-Sham; i.e., “the East.”
The situation of this city is said to be the most beautiful of all Western Asia. It is mentioned among the conquests of the Egyptian king Thothmes III. (B.C. 1500), and in the Amarna tablets (B.C. 1400).
It is first mentioned in Scripture in connection with Abraham’s victory over the confederate kings under Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:15). It was the native place of Abraham’s steward (15:2). It is not again noticed till the time of David, when “the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer” (q.v.), 2 Sam. 8:5; 1 Chr. 18:5. In the reign of Solomon, Rezon became leader of a band who revolted from Hadadezer (1 Kings 11:23), and betaking themselves to Damascus, settled there and made their leader king. There was a long war, with varying success, between the Israelites and Syrians, who at a later period became allies of Israel against Judah (2 Kings 15:37).
The Syrians were at length subdued by the Assyrians, the city of Damascus was taken and destroyed, and the inhabitants carried captive into Assyria (2 Kings 16:7–9; comp. Isa. 7:8). In this, prophecy was fulfilled (Isa. 17:1; Amos 1:4; Jer. 49:24). The kingdom of Syria remained a province of Assyria till the capture of Nineveh by the Medes (B.C. 625), when it fell under the conquerors. After passing through various vicissitudes, Syria was invaded by the Romans (B.C. 64), and Damascus became the seat of the government of the province. In A.D. 37 Aretas, the king of Arabia, became master of Damascus, having driven back Herod Antipas.
This city is memorable as the scene of Saul’s conversion (Acts 9:1–25). The street called “Straight,” in which Judas lived, in whose house Saul was found by Ananias, is known by the name Sultany, or “Queen’s Street.” It is the principal street of the city. Paul visited Damascus again on his return from Arabia (Gal. 1:16, 17). Christianity was planted here as a centre (Acts 9:20), from which it spread to the surrounding regions.
In A.D. 634 Damascus was conquered by the growing Mohammedan power. In A.D. 1516 it fell under the dominion of the Turks, its present rulers. It is now the largest city in Asiatic Turkey. Christianity has again found a firm footing within its walls.
Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3:
DAMASCUS Syrian oasis city protected on three sides by mountains and situated on trade routes about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northeast of Jerusalem. The name Damascus can also refer to the surrounding area and to the southern Syrian state. Though close to the desert, the district is rich in almonds, apricots, cotton, flax, grains, hemp, olives, pistachios, pomegranates, tobacco, vineyards, and walnuts. These crops grow well because the land is watered by two rivers: the Nahr Barada, “the Cool” (biblical Abana), which runs from the northwest mountains through a deep ravine to the city; and the Nahr el-A waj, “the Crooked” (biblical Pharpar), which flows west to east. Together the two rivers irrigate 400 square miles (643.6 square kilometers) of land. Their beauty and importance in biblical times is conveyed by the haughty words of Naaman, a resident of the area, who almost refused to wash his leprosy away in the Jordan, as Elisha had prescribed, because it was such a poor river in comparison with the Abana and Pharpar (2 Kgs 5).
Damascus The apostle Paul had his famous conversion experience on his way to Damascus. Paul (then called Saul) traveled 150 miles (241.4 kilometers) from Jerusalem to Damuscus in order to bring Christians back in chains. But as he neared the ancient city, he discovered that God had other plans for him (Acts 9:15)
Of the several trade routes that converged in the area, one led to Tyre and down the Mediterranean coastline, another to Megiddo and eventually to Memphis and Egypt, and a third to the Gulf of Aqaba.
The first biblical mention of Damascus (Gn 14:15) refers to the city in connection with Abraham’s successful attack upon the confederation of kings who kidnapped Lot and his family. The Bible does not refer to the city again until the time of David (c. 1000 bc).
Israel occupied a strategic position along the trade routes between Mesopotamia and Egypt. Although in the time of Joshua and the judges Israel was in conflict with its immediate neighbors, the Amorites, Moabites, Philistines, Ammonites, and Midianites, there was relatively little opposition from Syria.
By the time of Saul, Zobah, an Aramean kingdom to the north of Damascus, was menacing the Israelites. Damascus was possibly in alliance with Zobah at this time, and the Israelites fought a defensive action (1 Sm 14:47). David subsequently defeated Hadadezer of Zobah and gained control over southern Syria and Damascus, where he garrisoned his troops. David’s forces under Joab continued to be successful, and tribute was sent from Damascus to Israel. One of Hadadezer’s officers, Rezon, deserted and formed a guerilla band in the Damascus area. Subsequently, in Solomon’s reign he eroded even the Israelites’ economic control of the region and set himself up as king in Damascus around 940 bc (1 Kgs 11:23–25).
In the reign of Ben-hadad I, about 883–843 bc, soldiers from Damascus besieged Samaria and sent reasonable terms to Ahab, which were accepted swiftly. Damascus was at the height of its power when Ben-hadad was campaigning successfully against the Assyrians. At this time, when Jehoram, Ahab’s son, was king of Israel, Naaman the leper, a Syrian captain, was healed by the prophet Elisha when he accepted humbly the prescribed cure.
The strategy of overcoming the kingdom by killing the king had been successful for Ben-hadad in his fight with Ahab, and he continued to follow the same policy. Shortly afterward, in a further effort to subdue Samaria, he sent assassination squads to murder either Jehoram or the prophet Elisha. The Lord preserved the lives of the pursued, and the Syrian attacked without success. Several years later, Elisha, who had gained the respect of the Syrians, entered Damascus boldly and announced that Ben-hadad’s illness was not fatal but that his death was imminent. Ben-hadad was thereafter murdered by Hazael, who then succeeded him. Although Damascus was soundly defeated by Assyria about 838 bc, Hazael rebounded quickly, and by 830 bc other predictions of Elisha were fulfilled. Damascene troops then controlled large areas of Palestinian territory, and the temple treasure was used to bribe the Syrians and save Jerusalem (2 Kgs 12:17–18).
Planning to continue the subjection of Israel, Ben-hadad II found himself having to contend instead with resumed attacks from Assyria. In 803 bc Damascus became a tributary of Assyria, but the northern forces were unable to hold the area. After a further campaign in which Assyria again proved dominant, a weakened Damascus was unable to quash an Israelite rebellion in 795 bc. By the time of Jeroboam II, the Damascenes were forced to pay tribute to Samaria (2 Kgs 14:28).
About 738 bc the Syrians, led by their new leader Rezin, joined forces with Pekah, king of Israel, to subjugate Judah. Much land was captured, although their siege of Jerusalem was unsuccessful (2 Kgs 16:5–6; 2 Chr 28:5). At this time of seeming success for Damascus, the city’s doom was predicted by Isaiah (Is 8:4; 17:1), Amos (Am 1:3–5), and Jeremiah (Jer 49:23–27). Rejecting God, Ahaz of Judah turned for protection to an alliance with the Assyrians, whom he bribed with the temple treasure. The Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III (“Pul”) agreed and marched against the Syro-Israelite confederation. After defeating Israel, he attacked Damascus, plundered the city, deported the population, and replaced them with foreigners from other captured lands. Damascus was no longer an independent city-state.
Due to its key location, Damascus remained important, and the Assyrians used the city as a provincial capital. Their records mention it in 727, 720, and 694 bc, and also in the days of Ashurbanipal (669–663 bc). Assyrian world dominance succumbed to that of Neo-Babylon, which was later replaced by that of Medo-Persia. During the period of Persian control, Damascus was a noted administrative center. Under the regime of Alexander the Great, the importance of Damascus was diminished by the rise in commercial significance of Antioch.
During intertestamental times, Damascus passed from one ruler to another. Following the death of Alexander, the city was controlled by the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Babylon. Somewhat before 100 bc, Syria was divided, with Damascus becoming the capital of Coele-Syria. Its non-Syrian kings were constantly in trouble at home with the economy and abroad with the Parthians, Hasmoneans, and Nabateans, who under Aretas controlled Damascus from 84 to 72 bc. Subsequently, authority passed to the Hasmoneans, descendants of the Maccabees, and then the Idumeans (the Herods). The area was subjected to Roman dominance after the defeat of Syria by the Romans in 65 bc.
Shortly after the death of Christ, the Nabateans regained control of the area, ruling Damascus from Petra through an ethnarch. It was under the control of an Arab appointee, probably Aretas IV, when Saul of Tarsus sought Jewish authority to purge Damascus of its Christians (2 Cor 11:32). Luke’s report in Acts 9, corroborated by Paul’s own confession (Acts 22:5–21; 26:11–23), relates Saul’s vision, blinding, and subsequent conversion on the road to Damascus. This may have been close to the place where Syrian soldiers were blinded when planning to assassinate Elisha (2 Kgs 6:18–23). After Saul’s sight was restored in a house on the street called “Straight,” he preached Christianity. Apparently the uproar in the Jewish quarter concerning his preaching was so great that the ethnarch was willing to condone Saul’s murder by orthodox Jews. Acts 9:23–25 describes his escape to Jerusalem. Damascus is not mentioned thereafter in biblical history.
See also Syria, Syrians.
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (345). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
4:
DAMAS´CUS (da-masʹkus). Said to be the oldest city in the East.
Situation. Damascus lies about seventy miles from the seaboard, just E of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, in the valley of the Abana, a great plain about 2,300 feet above the sea and thirty miles by ten in extent. This plain is called the Ghutah and is generously watered by the Abana (modern Barada) and Pharpar (Awaj) rivers. It is fertile, abounding in gardens, orchards, and meadows. It is to Abana that Damascus chiefly owes her importance and stability. Another important factor is that the city lies on the border of the desert and that she is situated on the natural highway from the E to the W. Three great roads lead out of the city to the W, S, and E. The western, or southwestern, road travels by Galilee to the Levant and the Nile. The southern, which leaves the city by the “Gates of God,” takes the pilgrims to Mecca. The eastern is the road to Baghdad.
History. Josephus (Ant. 1.6.4) says that Damascus was founded by Uz, son of Aram. It is first mentioned in Scripture in connection with Abraham (Gen. 14:15), whose steward was a native of the place (15:2). We may gather from the name of this person, as well as from the statement of Josephus, which connects the city with the Aramaeans, that it was a Semitic settlement.
In the time of David the Syrians of Damascus supported Hadadezer king of Zobah, with whom David was at war (2 Sam. 8:5; 1 Chron. 18:5). But the Syrians were defeated, and David became master of the whole territory, garrisoning it with Israelites (2 Sam. 8:6). In the reign of Solomon, Rezon (which see) became master of Damascus (1 Kings 11:23–25). The family of Hadad appears to have recovered the throne, as we find Ben-hadad in league with Baasha of Israel against Asa (1 Kings 15:18–19; 2 Chron. 16:2–3), and later in league with Asa against Baasha (1 Kings 15:20). The defeat and death of Ahab at Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22:15–37) enabled the Syrians of Damascus to resume the offensive. Their bands ravaged Israel during Jehoram’s reign and laid siege to Samaria.
Hazael, the servant of Ben-hadad, murdered the king (2 Kings 8:15) and was soon after defeated by the Assyrians. He and his son waged successful war against Israel and Judah, but Joash defeated the Syrians three times and recovered the cities of Israel (2 Kings 13:3, 22–25). Jeroboam II (about 783 b.c.) is said to have recovered Damascus (2 Kings 14:28). Later (about 735 b.c.) Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, laid unsuccessful siege to Jerusalem (2 Kings 16:5), but Elath—built by Azariah in Syrian territory—having been taken by Rezin, Ahaz sought the aid of Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 16:7–8). Rezin was slain, the kingdom of Damascus brought to an end, the city destroyed, and its inhabitants carried captive into Assyria (v. 9; cf. Amos 1:5). It was long before Damascus recovered from this serious blow. We do not know at what time Damascus was rebuilt, but Strabo says that it was the most famous place in Syria during the Persian period. At the time of the gospel history and of the apostle Paul it formed a part of the kingdom of Aretas (2 Cor. 11:32), an Arabian prince, who held his kingdom at the pleasure of the Romans.
The mention of Damascus in the NT is in connection with the conversion and ministry of Paul (which see).
bibliography: M. F. Unger, Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus (1957); C. Thubron, Mirror to Damascus (1967).
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
5:
DAMASCUS.
a. Location
The capital city of Syria (Is. 7:8) situated E of the Anti-Lebanon Mts and overshadowed in the SW by Mt Hermon (Ct. 7:4). It lies in the NW of the Ghuta plain 700 m above sea-level and W of the Syrian-Arabian desert. The district is famous for its orchards and gardens, being irrigated by the clear Abana (mod. Barada) and adjacent Pharpar rivers, which compared favourably with the slower, muddy Jordan (2 Ki. 5:12) and Euphrates rivers (Is. 8:5–8). It is a natural communications centre, linking the caravan route to the Mediterranean coast (c. 100 km to the W) through Tyre (Ezk. 27:18) to Egypt with the tracks E across the desert to Assyria and Babylonia, S to Arabia, and N to Aleppo. The city was of special importance as head of an *Aramaean state in the 10th-8th centuries bc.
The centre of the modern city lies beside the Barada river, part of it occupying the area of the old walled city. Some streets follow the lines of Roman times, including Straight Street (Darb al-mustaqim) or Long Street (Sûq al-Tawilēh) as in Acts 9:11. The great mosque built in the 8th century ad is said to cover the site of the temple of *Rimmon (2 Ki. 5:18).
b. Name
The meaning of Damascus (Gk. Damaskos; Heb. Dammeseq; Aram. Darmeseq; 1 Ch. 18:5; 2 Ch. 28:5) is unknown. The ’aram darmeseq of 1 Ch. 18:6 corresponds to the modern (Dimašk-)eš-šām as ‘Damascus of the North (Syria)‘. The name is found in Egyp. Tjmšqw (Tuthmosis III) and Amarna Letters (14th century) and cuneiform inscriptions as Dimašqi. Other names in the latter texts are ša imerišu (perhaps ‘caravan city’) and Bı̄t-Haza’-ili (‘House of Hazael’) in the 8th century bc (DOTT, p. 57). See ANET, p. 278, n. 8.
c. History
Damascus appears to have been occupied from prehistoric times. In the 2nd millennium bc it was a well-known city near which Abraham defeated a coalition of kings (Gn. 14:15). It is possible that his servant Eliezer was from this city (Gn. 15:2; Syr. and vss). David captured and garrisoned Damascus after his defeat of the troops it had contributed in support of Hadadezer of Zobah (2 Sa. 8:5f.; 1 Ch. 18:5). Rezon of Zobah, who escaped from this battle, later entered the city which was made the capital of a newly formed Aramaean city-state of *Aram (Syria; 1 Ki. 11:24). The city increased its influence under Rezon’s successors Hezion and his son Tabrimmon. By the time of the accession of the latter’s son Benhadad I (c. 900–860 bc) Damascus was the dominant partner in the treaty made by Asa of Judah to offset the pressure brought against him by Baasha of Israel (2 Ch. 16:2). The same king (if not Benhadad II—see *Chronology Of The Old Testament) made the provision of merchants’ quarters in Damascus a term of a treaty made with Ahab (1 Ki. 20:34). The aim of this treaty was to gain the support of Israel for the coalition of city-states to oppose the Assyrians. Ben-hadad (Assyr. Adad-idri) of Damascus provided the largest contingent of 20,000 men at the indecisive battle of Qarqar in 853 bc. Ben-hadad may be the unnamed ‘king of Aram’, in fighting whom Ahab met his death (see 1 Ki. 22:29–36).
In the plain near Damascus the prophet Elijah anointed Hazael, a Damascene noble, as the future king of Syria (1 Ki. 19:15), and Elisha, who had healed the general Naaman of Damascus, was invited there by Hazael to advise on Benhadad’s health (2 Ki. 8:7). In 841 bc Hazael had to face renewed attacks by the Assyrians under Shalmaneser III. For a time he held the pass leading through the Lebanon Mts, but having lost 16,000 men, 1,121 chariots and 470 cavalry was forced to retreat within Damascus, where he successfully withstood a siege. The Assyrians fired orchards and plantations round the city before they withdrew (DOTT, p. 48; ANET, p. 280). In 805–803 bc Adad-nirari III led fresh Assyrian attacks on Hazael and Damascus. A further campaign in 797 bc by Adad-nirari so weakened Damascus that J(eh)oash of Israel was able to recover towns on his N border previously lost to Hazael (2 Ki. 13:25).
Under Rezin (Assyr. Rah̬ianu) Aram again oppressed Judah (2 Ki. 16:6), and in 738 was, with Menahem of Israel, a vassal of Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria. Soon thereafter Rezin revolted, captured Elath and took many Judaeans captive to Damascus (2 Ch. 28:5). Ahaz of Judah thereupon appealed for help to Assyria who responded by launching a series of punitive raids in 734–732 bc, which culminated in the capture of Damascus, as prophesied by Isaiah (17:1) and Amos (1:4–5), and the death of Rezin. The spoiling of the city (Is. 8:4), the deportation of its inhabitants to Kir (2 Ki. 16:9), and its destruction were cited as an object-lesson to Judah (Is. 10:9f.). In return for this assistance Ahaz was summoned to pay tribute to the Assyrian king at Damascus, where he saw and copied the altar (2 Ki. 16:10–12) which led to the worship of Syrian deities within the Temple at Jerusalem (2 Ch. 28:23). Damascus was reduced to a subsidiary city within the Assyrian province of Hamath and henceforth lost its political, but not completely its economic, influence (cf. Ezk. 27:18). Judaean merchants continued to reside in the city, and the border of Damascus was considered the boundary of the ideal Jewish state (Ezk. 47:16–18; 48:1; Zc. 9:1).
In the Seleucid period Damascus lost its position as capital, and thus much trade, to Antioch, though it was restored as capital of Coelesyria under Antiochus IX in 111 bc. The Nabataean Aretas won the city in 85 bc, but lost control to Tigranes of Armenia. Damascus was a Roman city from 64 bc to ad 33.
By the time of Paul’s conversion Aretas IV (9 bc-ad 40), who had defeated his son-in-law Herod Antipas, had an ethnarch in the city (2 Cor. 11:32–33). The city had many synagogues (Acts 9:2; Jos., BJ 2.20) and in these, after being led to the house of Judas in Straight Street (9:10–12) where he was visited by Ananias, Paul first preached. Opposition forced Paul to escape over the city wall (9:19–27) but he returned to the city after a period spent in nearby Arabia (Gal. 1:17). Damascus continued to be subsidiary to Antioch, both politically and economically, until its supremacy was restored by the Arab conquest of ad 634.
Bibiliography. M. F. Unger, Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus, 1957; A. Jepsen, AfO 14, 1942, pp. 153–172. d.j.w.
Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (251). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
6:
Damascus (duh-masʹkuhs), the capital city of modern Syria, located about sixty miles east of the Mediterranean coast almost directly east of Sidon. On a plateau about 2,300 feet above sea level, the city had the waters of the oasis Ghuta, which was nourished by the twin rivers draining eastward from the Anti-Lebanon range: the Nahr Barada (Abana), which subdivides into numerous branches after a course through a narrow gorge out of the hills; and the Nahr el-‘Awaj (Pharpar), just south of the town. Both rivers dissipate into the eastern desert. The quality of its water sources was compared by Naaman with the Jordan (2 Kings 5:12). The ‘River’ (Euphrates) was a political metaphor used by Isaiah to signal Assyria’s destruction of the Damascus-based Aramaean kingdom under Rezin (Isa. 8:5-8).
Damascus, one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites known to archaeologists, figured long and often in biblical awareness. It was a reference place for Abraham’s rescue of his kinsmen (Gen. 14:15). David brought it within Israelite control (2 Sam. 8:5-6), but during Solomon’s reign the first of a series of Aramaean kings made Damascus his capital city, continuing to intervene in the life of Israel and Judah until the Assyrian conquest in 732 b.c. In this series of local dynastic politics, biblical traces occur of the founder Rezon (1 Kings 11:23-25); Tabrimmon, ally of the Judean Abijam against Israel (1 Kings 15:19); his father Hezion (same verse); his son Ben-hadad (I, 900-875 b.c.), who was allied with Baasha of Israel, but later with Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:18-19); Ben-hadad II (1 Kings 20) and his son Hadadezer who fought Ahab of Israel; and Ben-hadad III who was killed by Hazael (843-797 b.c.; 2 Kings 8:7-15) who then succeeded him. The deepest penetration into Israel was under Ben-hadad IV, who even laid siege to the capital city, Samaria (2 Kings 6:24). Only under Israel’s Jeroboam II was Damascus restored to Israel’s earlier borders (2 Kings 14:28). When Assyria’s pressure worked west, the effort of Rezin of Damascus with Pekah of Israel to bring Judah’s king Ahaz into the alliance against Assyria (known as the Syro-Ephraimite War) in 734 b.c. failed (Isaiah’s counsel of Judah [7:14] on the occasion is the ‘young woman shall conceive and bear a son’ passage used in Matthew’s birth narrative in 1:23), Assyria’s success brought the destruction of Damascus in 732 b.c., including Rezin’s death.
Damascus became an administrative zone under Assyria, but not until it was made a Nabatean capital under Roman policy (85 b.c.) did any real power revive. The conquest of Aretas III by Rome in 65 b.c. led to Nabatean rule by governors, including Aretas IV who was in charge when Paul came to Damascus (Acts 9:2-30).
As reflected in the names of several monarchs, the chief deity of the city was the storm god Hadad on whose temple site the Roman emperor Theodosius (a.d. 379-395) built the church of Saint John Baptist. Under the Umayyad Muslims (a.d. eighth century) this was destroyed except for the perimeter wall and the towers at the four corners when al-Walīd built the famous Great Mosque there. R.S.B.
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (203). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
7:
Damascus (Heb. dammekeq; Gk. Damaskós)
A city in southern Syria that played an important role in the political history of Israel during the 1st millennium b.c.e. Damascus also appears in the NT in connection with the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to Christianity.
The city is located in a well-watered basin along the banks of the Barada River. The fertility of the region and its location on the primary north-south trade route have made Damascus a key player in the political and economic history of Syria-Palestine.
Because the city continues to be occupied, very little excavation has been done below the Roman period levels. However, recent work in the courtyard of the Umayyad mosque has indicated that the city was occupied at least as early as the 3rd millennium. The earliest written record of Damascus comes from an inscription of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III, in which he lists the names of cities who submitted to him in 1482, following an Egyptian campaign in Canaan. The city also appears in three of the Amarna Letters of the 14th century. These texts do not suggest that it was an important city during this period. Rather, it was simply one of a number of towns along the northern periphery of Egyptian political control.
The city became significant politically during the 1st millennium, when it emerged as the capital of an important Aramean kingdom, sometimes called Aram-Damascus, but usually referred to simply as Aram in the OT. The first information we have concerning Iron Age Damascus comes from 2 Sam. 8 = 1 Chr. 18, which recounts a battle between Israelite troops under King David and those of Damascus. The Israelites defeated Damascus, and David incorporated the city into his new empire. During the reign of Solomon, however, a certain Rezon proclaimed himself king in Damascus and withdrew from Israelite sovereignty (1 Kgs. 11:23–25). Solomon was unable to restore his control over the region. This represents the beginning of Aram-Damascus as a major political entity.
From the early 9th century Aram became a serious rival to the northern kingdom of Israel. Bir-hadad I (biblical Ben-hadad) attacked Israel during the reign of King Baasha, after making an anti-Israelite alliance with King Asa of Judah. During this campaign he captured and destroyed a number of cities in the northern part of Israel (1 Kgs. 15:16–22). By the mid-9th century Aram was the most powerful state in Syria-Palestine, its king Hadadezer leading a coalition of 12 states against the invasion of northern Syria by the Assyrians. The Monolith inscription of Shalmaneser III of Assyria refers to Ahab of Israel as one of the major allies of Hadadezer during the battle of Qarqar in 853.
Ca. 842/841 Hazael, an officer of the Damascene court, assassinated the king of Damascus and seized the throne (cf. 2 Kgs. 8:7–15). Following two or three further confrontations with Shalmaneser III between 841 and 837, Hazael began an expansionist policy by which he created a substantial Aramean empire that included Israel and Judah, as well as other Palestinian states, as vassals (2 Kgs. 10:32–33; 12:17–18). For ca. 40 years Aram dominated the region. But after the death of Hazael, his son Bir-hadad lost control over the empire. The Assyrians returned in 796, attacking the city of Damascus and forcing the king to pay a heavy tribute. Bir-hadad led a coalition of states against Zakkur, king of Hamath and Luash to the north of Aram, but was defeated by the latter. King Joash of Israel was able to throw off the Aramean domination of Israel during this time (2 Kgs. 13:14–19, 24–25). It is probable that the account of the two battles between Israel and Damascus described in 1 Kgs. 20 has been misattributed by later editors to the reign of Ahab, and that it is probably the account of Joash’s victories over Bir-hadad, son of Hazael. During the reign of Jeroboam II (ca. 786–746), Israel actually made Damascus into a vassal (2 Kgs. 14:25, 28).
The last period of political power for Aram-Damascus came in the 730s, when King Radyan (biblical Rezin) of Aram and Pekah of Israel formed an anti-Assyrian coalition. They attempted to force Ahaz of Judah to join them, but were stopped when the Assyrian army under Tiglath-pileser III marched into the region in 734 (2 Kgs. 16:5–9; Isa. 7:1–8:15). Over the next two years the Assyrians recaptured all the rebellious states, conquering Damascus and annexing it into Assyria in 732. This was the end of Aram-Damascus as an independent state.
Damascus remained a significant city throughout the following centuries. It was a provincial capital during the Persian period (539–334), and continued to flourish in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The city during the Roman period was laid out according to the traditional Hellenistic plan. It had a substantial wall, parts of which are still preserved, an impressive cardo maximus, which may be the “street called Straight” of Acts 9:11, and one of the largest temples of Roman Syria. Construction of the temple of Jupiter Damascenius (Hadad-ramman) began in the early 1st century c.e., and substantial remains of its two concentric enclosure walls still stand.
Bibliography. J. M. Miller, “The Elisha Cycle and the Accounts of the Omride Wars,” JBL 85 (1966): 441–54; W. T. Pitard, Ancient Damascus (Winona Lake, 1987).
Wayne T. Pitard
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (308). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
