Damascus (s/; Arabic: دمشق, romanized: Dimašq[diˈmaʃq], Syrian Arabic: [dɪˈmaʃʔ], French: Damas) is the capital of Syria; it is also the country's largest city, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the battle for the city. It is colloquially known in Syria as aš-Šām (الشام) and titled the "City of Jasmine" (مدينة الياسمينMadīnat al-Yāsmīn). Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 as of 2009.[3]
Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area of 2.7 million people (2004).[5] Geographically embedded on the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau 680 metres (2,230 ft) above sea level, Damascus experiences a semi-arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.
First settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries. As of September 2019, 8 years since the start of the Syrian Civil War, Damascus has been named the world's least livable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit.[6]
The name of Damascus first appeared in the geographical list of Thutmose III as 𓍘𓄟𓊃𓈎𓅱/𓍘𓄟𓈎𓅱𓈉 T-m-ś-q in the 15th century BC.[7]
The etymology of the ancient name "T-m-ś-q" is uncertain. It is attested as 𒀲𒋙 Imerišú in Akkadian, 𓍘𓄠𓈎𓅱 T-m-ś-q in Egyptian, Dammaśq (דמשק) in Old Aramaic and Dammeśeq (דמשק) in Biblical Hebrew. A number of Akkadian spellings are found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC: 𒁲𒈦𒋡 Dimasqa, 𒁲𒈦𒀸𒄀 Dimàsqì, and 𒁲𒈦𒀸𒋡 Dimàsqa. Later Aramaic spellings of the name often include an intrusive resh (letter r), perhaps influenced by the root dr, meaning "dwelling". Thus, the English and Latin name of the city is "Damascus" which was imported from (Greek: Δαμασκός) originated from "the QumranicDarmeśeq (דרמשק), and Darmsûq (ܕܪܡܣܘܩ) in Syriac[8][9]", meaning "a well-watered land".[10] In Arabic, the city is called Dimašqu š-Šāmi (دمشق الشام), although this is often shortened to either Dimašq or aš-Šām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbors and Turkey (as Şam). Aš-Šām is an Arabic term for "Levant" and for "Syria"; the latter, and particularly the historical region of Syria, is called Bilādu š-Šāmi (بلاد الشام / "land of the Levant"). Historically, Baalshamin or Ba'al Šamem (Aramaic: ܒܥܠ ܫܡܝܢ, romanized: Lord of Heaven(s)),[11][12] was a Semitic sky-god in Canaan/Phoenicia and ancient Palmyra.[13][14] Hence, Sham refers to (heaven or sky).
