CChronica Maps

Damascus: History, Former Names & Timeline

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and capital of the Umayyad caliphate.

Map showing Damascus in AD 700Damascus
Border map for AD 700. See Europe in AD 700.

Explore Damascus in the interactive map

Former names of Damascus

FromNameNote
1000 BCDimashq

Timeline of Damascus

YearEvent
AD 634Arab armies take Damascus
AD 661Muawiya founds the Umayyad caliphate with its capital at Damascus
AD 715The Great Mosque of the Umayyads is completed
1401Timur sacks Damascus
1918The Arab Revolt enters Damascus

Who ruled Damascus

Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.

PeriodState
500 BC–324 BCAchaemenid Empire
323 BC–301 BCEmpire of Alexander
300 BC–201 BCKingdom of Antigonus
200 BC–2 BCPtolemaic Kingdom
1 BC–299Roman Empire
300–399Rome (Diocletianus)
400–699Eastern Roman Empire
700–799Umayyad Caliphate
800–999Abbasid Caliphate
1000–1299Fatimid Caliphate
1300–1599Mamluk Sultanate
1600–1919Ottoman Empire
1920–1944Syria (France)
1945–todaySyria

Battles and sites near Damascus

Nearby cities