Damascus (
Arabic ?????,
transliteration Dimashq, also commonly known as
????? ash-Sham) is the capital and largest city of
Syria. It is one of
the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (
see section Ancient history), before
Al Fayyum, and
Gaziantep. Its current population is estimated at about 1.67 million. The city is a
governorate by itself, and the capital of the governorate of
Rif Dimashq (Rural Damascus).
In Arabic, the city is called ???? ????? Dimashq ash-Sham. Although this is often shortened to either Dimashq or ash-Sham by many, the citizens of Damascus, and of Syria and some other Arab neighbors, colloquially call the city ash-Sham. Ash-Sham is an Arabic term for north and for Syria. (Syria — particularly historical Greater Syria — is called Bilad ash-Sham — ???? ?????, 'land of the north' — in Arabic, or 'land of Shem (son of Noah)' — in Arabic, but with Shem being from the native Syriac language.) The etymology of the ancient name 'Damascus' is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, T-ms-?w in Egyptian, Dammasq (????) in Old Aramaic and Dammeseq (????) in Biblical Hebrew. The Akkadian spelling is the earliest attestation, found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC. Later Aramaic spellings of the name often include an intrusive resh (letter r), perhaps influenced by the root dr, meaning 'dwelling'. Thus, the Qumranic Darmeseq (?????), and Darmsûq (??????) in Syriac.[1][2]
Excavations at Tell Ramad on the outskirts of the city have demonstrated that Damascus has been inhabited as early as 6,000 to 5,000 BC. It is due to this that Damascus is considered to be among the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. However, Damascus is not documented as an important city until the coming of the Aramaeans, Semitic nomads who arrived from Mesopotamia. It is known that it was the Aramaeans who first established the water distribution system of Damascus by constructing canals and tunnels which maximized the efficiency of the Barada river. The same network was later improved by the Romans and the Umayyads, and still forms the basis of the water system of the old part of Damascus today. It was mentioned in Genesis 14 as existing at the time of the War of the Kings.
According to the 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his twenty-one volume Antiquities of the Jews, Damascus (along with Trachonitis), was founded by Uz, the son of Aram. Elsewhere, he states
