Timeline of Damascus
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Damascus, Syria.
Prior to 7th century
- 965 BCE – Rezon, leader of a marauding band, conquers Damascus and becomes King of the Arameans.
- 843 BCE – Hazael assassinated Ben-Hadad I and made himself king of Aram-Damascus.
- 732 BCE – Neo-Assyrian Empire conquers Damascus
- 572 BCE – Neo-Babylonians conquered Damascus
- 538 BCE – Achaemenid Empire annexes Damascus
- 333 BCE – Alexander the Great conquers Damascus
- 112 BCE – Damascus fell to Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.
- 150 CE – Damascus became a Roman provincial city under Trajan.
- 4th century – Temple of Jupiter built by the Romans.
7th–19th centuries
- 613 – Sasanian captured Damascus during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
- 634 – 21 August to 19 September: Arab conquest of Damascus under Khalid ibn al-Walid.
- 715 – Great Mosque built by Al-Walid I by converting the church of St John the Baptist constructed by Arcadius.
- 789 – Qubbat al-Khazna built.
- 1078 – Citadel of Damascus built.
- 1126 – Crusaders attacked Damascus.
- 1129 – Crusaders march on Damascus.
- 1142 – Al-Mujahidiyah Madrasa established.
- 1154 – Nur al-Din Bimaristan built.
- 1196 – Mausoleum of Saladin built.
- 1215 – Al-Adiliyah Madrasa founded.
- 1216 – Citadel of Damascus rebuilt.
- 1224 – Al-Rukniyah Madrasa built.
- 1229 – Damascus besieged
- 1234 – Aqsab Mosque built.
- 1250 – Qaymariyya hand city over to al-Nasir Yusuf in bloodless coup.
- 1254 – Al-Qilijiyah Madrasa established.
- 1260 – Kitbuga, a confidant of the Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu, captured Damascus. Then, it was captured five days after the Battle of Ain Jalut by the Mamluk Sultanate.
- 1277 – Al-Zahiriyah Library established.
- 1400 – Timur, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, besieges Damascus.
- 1515 – Al-Sibaiyah Madrasa built.
- 1516 – Ottomans under Selim I conquered Damascus from the Mamluks.
- 1518 – Salimiyya Takiyya built.
- 1558 – Sulaymaniyya Takiyya built.
- 1566 – Salimiyya Madrasa established.
- 1574 – Khan al-Harir built.
- 1605 – Printing press established.
- 1736 – Khan Sulayman Pasha built.
- 1750 – Azm Palace built.
- 1752 – Khan As'ad Pasha built.
- 1832 – Captured by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt.
- 1840 – Return of the city to Turkish domination, when the Egyptians were driven out of Syria.
- 1860 – Massacre; the Moslem population rose against the Christians.
- 1885 – Bakdash (ice cream parlor) established.
- 1900 – Population: 154,000.
20th century
- 1918 – October: Arab troops led by Emir Feisal, and supported by British Armed Forces, capture Damascus, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.
- 1920 – July: French Armed Forces occupy Damascus, forcing Feisal to flee abroad.
- 1923 – University founded.
- 1925/6 – French forces bombard Damascus.
- 1928 – Al-Wahda Club of Damascus founded.
- 1933 – Arab Women's Union in Damascus founded.
- 1935 – Population: 193,912.
- 1939 – Chapel of Saint Paul inaugurated.
- 1946 – Population: 303,952.
- 1947 – Al-Jaish Sports Club founded.
- 1960 – Syrian Television begins broadcasting.
- 1961 – September: Discontent with Egyptian domination of the United Arab Republic prompts a group of Syrian Army officers to seize power in Damascus and dissolve the union.
- 1964 – Population: 562,907.
- 1970 – Population: 836,668 city; 923,253 urban agglomeration.
- 1977 – Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts founded.
- 1981
- * Bomb explodes near Syrian Air Force headquarters.
- * Azbakiyah bombing
- 1983 – Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology founded.
- 1984 – Al-Assad National Library established.
- 1985 – Population: 1,196,710.
- 1986 – Bombings
- 1994 – Population: 1,549,000.
- 2000 – Spring
21st century
- 2004 – Damascus Opera House inaugurated.
- 2006
- * February: "Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus are set on fire."
- *September: "Attack on the US embassy."
- 2008 – Population: 1,680,000.
- 2009 – Damascus Securities Exchange founded.
- 2011
- * March: Protest; crackdown.
- * Syrian civil war begins.
- 2012
- * January 2012 al-Midan bombing
- * March 2012 Damascus bombings
- * April 2012 Damascus bombings
- * 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings.
- * Summer 2012 Damascus clashes
- * Battle of Damascus (2012)
- 2013
- * Damascus offensive
- 2018
- * May: Syrian Armed Forces recapture the entire city of Damascus.
- 2024
- * December: Syrian opposition forces captured the city.
Published in 19th century
- .
Published in 20th century
- R. Stephen Humphreys. "Urban Topography and Urban Society: Damascus under the Ayyubids and Mamluks." In his, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry. Minneapolis, 1988. pp. 209–32.
- Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus, 1190–1350. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. pp. 27–68.