DAMASCUS, a large, opulent, and handsome city of Syria, which stands on the western edge of a fine plain, and on a level site, having a chain of hills passing close to it on the north-west, and the plain extending away beyond the range of vision to the east, adorned everywhere with extensive gardens, and forming a circuit of between twenty-five and thirty miles. It was formerly surrounded by walls defended by towers, which have now fallen into a ruinous state; and the buildings also have so increased that the number of houses without the walls is double that of those within. The streets are in general narrow compared with those in European cities; but the narrowest streets of Damascus are wider than most of the streets of Cairo, and conveniently admit two foot passengers to move with safety on each side of a loaded camel; the greater number of the streets would allow two loaded camels to pass without incommoding those on foot, and many streets are so wide as to allow six or eight camels or horses to pass abreast. They are all well paved, and have elevated foot-paths on each side. All the houses in the suburbs are surmounted with cupolas; and these, viewed from a distance, present an appearance of an encampment of conical tents ten or twelve feet high. The houses in this quarter [7:7:606] of the town are built of bricks baked in the sun, which, were they not protected by the cupolas, would be wasted away by the rains. The buildings in the interior of the town are constructed chiefly of stone below and light yellow bricks above; they are about two stories high, with flat roofs, whilst the prinċipal edifices are painted in the gayest colours, and the aspect is light and airy in the extreme. The town, however, in the interior has a dull and monotonous appearance; the houses, from the size of the doors, and the small number of windows, presenting a great proportion of dead surface. Damascus is one of the most splendid cities in the East, and contains about 500 houses, which are entitled to the name of palaces: all their splendour is, however, confined to the interior, which contains a number of spacious and splendid apartments, courts, terraces, and galleries, adorned with marble pavements of various colours, ingeniously and fancifully arranged, mosaic work of the same materials, friezes painted and gilded, and the ceilings so many broad canopies of gold and brilliant colours, with rich additions of sculpture and enamel, and the furniture consisting of sofas richly embroidered, Persian carpets, mirrors, and other valuable articles, worth frequently from L. 5000 to L.25,000. Into many of the apartments beautiful fountains are introduced. No city contains so many canals and fountains; each house has one; and this abundant supply of water is derived from three rivulets or branches of the river called Barrady, which, after fertilizing the gardens for a course of about three leagues, arc lost in a hollow of the desert to the southeast, where they form a morass, called Behairat-el-Merdi, or the Lake of the Meadow. The mosques and chapels throughout the city are exceedingly numerous, the former being not less than one hundred, large and small. Of these, the Great Mosque, so called on account of its extent, is the most remarkable. The architecture is of the Corinthian order throughout every part of the edifice. Its form is an oblong square, composed of three aisles running parallel to each other, and divided by rows of fine Corinthian columns. It has two minarets at each end, and is crowned by a large stone cupola, supported by four enormous pillars. The interior produces a most imposing effect from its dimensions, and the square court in front is also magnificent from its extent. It has on three of its sides a porticoor colonnade of Syrian granite pillars, mostly of a fine grain and reddish colour, and on the outside is a superb fountain, which throws the water twenty feet high. Another with a grove of trees on each side stands in a spacious court within. The galleries are supported by numerous columns, and on the walls are still seen the remains of mosaic work with which they were once adorned. An hospital for the indigent sick is attached to this edifice. This mosque is said to have been originally built by the Emperor Heraclius, and to have been dedicated to Zachariah; by others it has been considered to have been the work of the bishops of this see, and by them dedicated to St John of Damascus; whilst the Turks call it the Mosque of St John the Baptist, and think it was built by the Khalif Valid in the 86th year of the Hegira (a. d. 692). The mosque of the dervishes, where these fanatics dance until they are excited to a temporary fit of madness, is a large, regular, and handsome edifice, and has two of the loftiest and finest minarets to be seen in Damascus. Besides the principal dome, which is very large, a line of smaller ones is carried round three sides of the open court in front of the building, after the same manner as those in the great mosque of Mecca, of which it appears to be a close imitation. In the court adjoining this mosque is an hospital or charitable institution, constructed by the Sultan Selim, for the manufacture of silk. There are other mosques, distinguished for their beautiful and ancient architecture. One is adorned with all kinds of fine marble like mosaic pavement, and another is remarkable for its minaret, which is entirely cased with pantiles. Besides the mosques of the Mahommedans, the Jews have six synagogues, the Catholic Christians one convent, with a church included in it, the Greeks one place of worship larger and richer than the Catholics, the Armenians a convent and a church, and the Syrians and Maronites one each. To all these places of worship there can hardly be less than 1000 persons attached, including the ulemah of the Mahommedans, the rabbin of the Jews, and the priests of the Christian sects, whose sole business it is to promote their several religions, and increase the number of their proselytes. The patriarch of Antioch has his see at Damascus, where he resides. The castle is situated towards the south-west part of the city, and is about three quarters of a mile in circuit. It is a large and fine edifice, with three square towers in front and five on each side, and is surrounded with a broad and deep ditch of rustic masonry. Within it resembles a small town. It is supposed to have been built in the middle ages, either by the Greeks or the first Mahommedan conquerors of Syria. It appears to be a work of great antiquity, and to have undergone many additions, alterations, and repairs at different periods. In the oldest parts of it, near the foundation, the stones are of an extraordinary size, and the rustic masonry is the only feature of Roman architecture which it possesses. It is mentioned by Buckingham, one of the latest European travellers who visited Damascus, and to whom we are chiefly indebted for this account, that the castle presents, in the interior, a confused heap, in which are mingled together strong works of defence, ruined palaces retaining marks of ancient splendour, and rich ornaments of the most florid arabesque, with remains of fountains, aqueducts, and gardens attached, besides dark passages, gloomy dungeons, secret stairs, and a labyrinth of other objects which could not be penetrated without a guide acquainted with the localities. Some of the finest buildings in Damascus are the khans or caravanserais appropriated to the reception of goods brought in caravans from various quarters by wholesale merchants. Mr Buckingham mentions one of these as superior to every other, its architecture being in the finest style of the Saracen order. It consists of a spacious court, with a superb gateway in the form of a pointed arch, vaulted and highly ornamented with sculpture. The court was finely paved, and in the centre a large fountain sent forth cooling and agreeable streams, the whole being crowned with a cluster of lofty domes. The masonry is in the ancient Saracenic and Turkish taste, with alternate layers of black and white stone, and the ornaments are profusely rich. The coffee-houses in Damascus are exceedingly spacious; they have benches on each side of the street, extending fifty yards in length, and rooms of the same space, in which passengers smoke and drink coffee. There are many houses also at which sherbet and other sweet drinks are prepared, cooled with the ice and snow brought down to the city from a snowy mountain to the south-west of the town. Skins of iced water, sweetened and perfumed, are retailed through the streets at a para for each draught.

Damascus is a magnificent city, whether we consider its spacious streets and splendid public buildings, or the beauty of the environs, exhibiting finely-cultivated fieldsinter-mingled with gardens. The suburb of Salheyah, which lies at the foot of the mountains that bound the city on the west and north-west, is a great resort on the last day of every week, whither all the inhabitants of Damascus of every age and condition repair in their holiday dress to enjoy the free air and pleasures of the country. Here are to be seen parties by the way-side, some smoking, others engaged in loud and merry conversation, and others [7:7:607]amusing themselves and their children; the women enveloped in snow-white muslin robes, with veils of a dark gauze, their usual dress; the men of the city mounted on horses richly caparisoned, or on fine mules and asses; others sauntering on foot, or reposing on the banks that skirt the road, either smoking, playing at chess, or touching the Arnaout guitar to their songs. Mr Buckingham celebrates the beauty of Damascus above that of all the cities of the East. “The gardens,” he observes, “that surround the city on the north, the fine olive grounds and long avenues of trees to the south, the numerous villages pressing the skirts of the town on the east, and the great suburb of Salheyah, with the thronged public way that leads to it on the west, added to the sombre but rich and thickly planted cypresses, the slender poplars, the corn grounds, and the rivers and streams which so abundantly water the whole, give to this charming spot a character becoming fairy land, and render it a fit object for the descriptive powers of an Arabian tale.”

This city is the scat of an extensive trade both with India and with Europe. The productions of India, consisting chiefly of spices, cotton manufactures, coarse and fine muslins, and gold stuffs, are in great demand, and bring high prices. They arc brought from India by the Persian Gulf, Bussora, Bagdad, and Aleppo, and are consequently burdened with the heavy expenses of a circuitous land carriage. If they could be supplied by way of the Red Sea and Egypt, they might be sold at a cheaper rate, and the commerce would be more extended. The insecurity of property in these eastern countries, and the heavy transit duties levied on all goods in the ports of Egypt and the Red Sea, have hitherto prevented commerce from following this route. But the growing ascendency of Mehemmed Ali, who has imbibed European maxims of policy, and the success of his arms in the East, will probably open to the eastern trade a freer ingress into these countries. The manufactures of England, which have found their way into the bazars of Damascus, are much sought after, and held in very high esteem, particularly light woollen cloths of gay colours, printed cottons and chintzes, and silk and cotton shawls made in imitation of those of Cashmere; also needles, pins, knives, scissors, and fine hardware, as well as China and earthenware, whether English or Indian. These goods being generally imported through a roundabout route, namely, through Saida, Bairaut, and Tripoli, are sold at very high prices. Iron, lead, tin, cochineal, sugar, and such other European articles as are required in the city, are also imported through the same channel. Wearing apparel for fashionable persons of both sexes at Damascus, and clothes that have been worn, are brought from Constantinople; and being distributed all over the country, are frequently the means of spreading the contagion of the plague. Amongst the various manufactures to be found in the bazars are superb canarisons for horses, of which the Turks, as well as all the other eastern nations, are extremely fond. These are made in European Turkey; and a number of fine bridles, martingales, and silver and embossed breastpieces, come also from Persia. The fire-arms are chiefly of French and German manufacture, being prepared in an ornamented style expressly for this market. The sabre blades are almost all of the old Persian or Damascus manufacture, the art of making them being no longer known or practised in this city; so that they grow daily more valuable, as no modern sword can compare with them in temper and in quality. The silk seen in the bazars of Damascus is principally of Chinese and Indian manufacture; the furs come from Russia, Georgia, Circassia, and Armenia; the velvet from Italy; copper from Asia Minor; the manufactures of Britain through Smyrna; and various other articles of an inferior kind from Germany and France. There are few manufactures in Damascus; and these consist chiefly in silk stuffs, plain, coloured, and embroidered with gold; fabrics of plain cotton, and cotton and silk mixed, all for home consumption, and mostly of broad striped or wavy patterns for the caftans of the Turkish dress.

Commerce, as in all other places in the East, is carried on by means of caravans, of which the principal is that which goes with the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It is conducted by the pasha, who receives the standard of the prophet from the governor of the castle, and gives a solemn pledge for its restoration. This expedition unites commercial with religious objects. Three caravans, each accompanied by about 2500 armed men, go thrice a year to Bagdad, the journey occupying thirty days; those to Aleppo travel twice or thrice a month. Besides these, many other caravans go to différent ports of Syria, Damascus being a great rendezvous and emporium of trade. Provisions and fruit of all kinds are abundant; also ice and snow, which may always be obtained from the neighbouring mountains. The place is healthy, though sometimes attacked by the plague; and it is also subject to a malignant tertian fever, which is frequently fatal. The government of the city is committed to a pasha, who has a palace here. He rules with despotic power, and frequently resorts to exactions in order to increase his revenue. Damascus is a place of great antiquity. It is one of the very earliest citics of which the Scriptures make mention, being coeval with Babel, Nineveh, Sodom, Gomorrah, Ur of the Chaldees, &c. which existed very soon after the flood. It is also named as the birth-place of Eliezer, the steward of Abraham’s house; and no mention is made of any subsequent destruction of this city. It is likely therefore to contain monuments of high antiquity. Such fragments of the wall as yet remain appear accordingly to be very ancient, presenting at the lowest base a masonry apparently more ancient than either the Roman or Saracen. The blocks of stone are frequently of a square form, which is unusual except in the most ancient structures; and sometimes the height exceeds the length, which is still more rarely seen. During the earlier periods of history, Damascus was the capital of a kingdom, sometimes independent, sometimes subject to the Jews. It was conquered by the Romans, and afterwards fell into the hands of the Arabians. It underwent varions revolutions during the disorders of the middle ages; and was finally conquered, along with all Syria, by the Emperor Selim, and has since been subject to the Turkish power. The pasha at the head of a numerous army having been defeated by the French cavalry in 1799, it was the intention of Bonaparte to have marched to this city; but his course was arrested by the unsuccessful siege of Acre. In 1811 it was menaced by the Wahabees, who afterwards retired. In 1832 it was entered by Mehemmed All’s troops from Egypt under Ibrahim Pasha, who had captured Acre after a long siege, and whose subsequent successes in the war with Turkey have now (1833) secured to his father, the pasha of Egypt, the possession of this fine city, by the treaty recently concluded with Turkey. Buckingham, on the authority of the best informed residents, estimates the population of Damascus at 100,000 Mahommedan inhabitants, of whom 90,000 are native Syrian Arabs, and 10,000 arc Turks, continually replaced by new families and settlers from Constantinople and the towns of Asiatic Turkey; of these, 1000, with about 100 Albanians, form the military force of the city. From them also are chosen the various public functionaries. There arc, besides 15,000 Jews, 25,000 Christians, 3000 of the schismatic Greek communion. Altogether the population may be stated at [7:7:608] 143,000. It is 136 miles north of Jerusalem, 195 south of Antioch, and 276 south-south-west of Diarbekir. Long. 36. 30. E. Lat. 38. 30. N.