THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
foTwH (Berlin, 1903); and Lebenserinricriiri(/cn (2 vols., 1906-07).
DAMASCENUS (DAMASKINOS) THE STUDITE :
The most important popular writer of the Greek Church in the sixteenth century. He came from Thessalonica, was a disciple of Theophanes Eleabiilkos in Constantinople, and a member of the Studite monastery (see Accemeti); he became bishop of Lite and Rhendine, and in 1573 was metropolitan of Naupactus and Arta. His chief work was the " Treasury " (1st ed. probably 1570; 2d ed., 1589; many later eds., down to the present), containing thirty-six sermons or homilies, with seven ethical treatises by Joannikios Kartanos (q.v.). The addresses are written in the popular speech of the time and based upon Bible texts or saints' lives. The aim is practical rather than theological, and Damascenus does not disdain now and then to please his hearers by a joke. So far as his theology appears, he is strongly orthodox. He avoids polemics, except sometimes against the Jews.
(Philipp Meyer.)
DAMASCUS: Perhaps the oldest city in Syria. Its name appears in the principal early tongues of the region (Heb. Dammesk, Darmesek, and Dummesek ; Egyptian Timasku, Saramasku ; Assyr. Dimashki and Dimashka ; Arab. Dimashk, Dimisk el-Sham, or el-Sham). It lies east of Mt. Hermon in 33° 32' n. lat., 36'' 18' e. long., 133 m. n.n.e. of Jerusalem and about 60 m. e. of the Mediterranean, at an altitude of 2,260 feet, at the western end of the exceedingly fertile plain of the Ghuta (a hollow sheltered by hills and watered by the Barada and the Awaj), along the principal branch of the Barada (" Abana," II Kings v. 12; Gk. Chrysorrhoas) . It is about a mile in length from east to west and half a mile from north to south, with a suburb of continuous buildings on the south nearly a mile in extent, thus presenting in contour the shape of a mallet with its handle. Its site is nearly level, it is walled, only the foundations of most of the wall being ancient, and it gives entrance by seven gates. Its location on a plain unusually rich in its products of fruits in many varieties, of grains and other products useful in the arts and manufactures, and its situation on great trade routes have combined not only to prolong its life, but to cause its speedy recovery from the many disasters which have befallen it in the course of history. It has been famed at different times for its wines, its wool products (Ezek. xxvii. 18), its silk (Amos iii. 12, R. V. margin; cf. the " damask " of commerce), and its " Damascus blades." Besides a part of the wall for which an early date is claimed, there is no ancient structure. It is likely that the Ommiad Mosque is situated on the site of the old Church of St. John, which took its name from the fact that it was supposed to be the repository of the head of John the Baptist. The conjecture has been offered that this was on the site of an early temple.
The history of the city has been very varied. It is first mentioned in connection with Abraham, Gen. xiv. 5, xv. 2. In the fifteenth century B.C. it figures as one of the conquests of Thothmes III., and at the same time its name is found in the Amar-
na Tablets, while in 1 he thirteenth it is claimed as a part of the territory of Ramc.ses III. According to II Sam. viii. 3 sqq. (cf. I Chron. xviii. 5 sqq.) it was included in the realm of David, but must have been lost to the Hebrews soon after, according to I Kings xi. 23-25. It appears later to have become the head of the Syrian confederacy which opposed for so long the westward march of the Assyrian empire (see Assyria, VI., 3, §§ 7 sqq.), and the power which was centered there was almost continuously antagonistic to the Hebrew kingdoms. A Rezon son of Eliadah appears to have made himself king in the time of Solomon. A king named Ben-hadad helped Asa against Baasha (I Kings xv. 16-21), and the same king or one of the same name defeated Omri and established a trading station in Samaria (I Kings XX. 34) , while a son had to yield under defeat the same privilege to Ahab in Damascus. In a later campaign against the same power Ahab met his death (I Kings xxii.). In the years 854, 850, and 847 the forces of Damascus under a Ben-hadad were defeated by Shalmaneser II., yet the city seems to have recovered and, under a king whose name was also Ben-hadad, besieged Samaria (II Kings vi.-
vii. ). The throne was soon after seized by Hazael (II Kings viii. 15), who defeated Jehoram (II Kings
viii. 28-29), and was defeated by Shalmaneser II. in 843 and 840. Yet the same speedy recovery so often shown by the city enabled its king to regain territory from Israel east of the Jordan and even to threaten Judah (II Kings xii. 17-18) and to continue hostile operations against Jehoahaz and Jehoash (II Kings xiii. 3, 25). In 803 a king of Damascus whose name is given in the inscriptions as Mari was assailed by Ramman-nirari III., and Israel seized the opportunity to recover territory east of the Jordan (II Kings xiv. 28). In 773 the battering of the Assyrians was renewed, in 740 the ruler Rezin paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III. (cf. II Kings XV. 19 sqq., xvi. 7 sqq.), who took the city in 733, killed Rezin, deported the inhabitants, and introduced Assyrian colonists. In 732 Ahab visited the city to pay homage to the Assyrian overlord. In 713 Damascus was again found in an anti-Assyrian league and was again crushed in the defeat at Karkar. Under the Persians the city was made a seat of provincial government. When the region came under the sway of Alexander he issued coins from the city; but after his empire was divided Damascus was compelled to yield the chief place in importance to Antioch, though it was often a secondary capital. In 85 B.C. it fell into the hands of Aretas the Nabatrean. It was occupied in 65 by the Romans, and seems to have been ruled by an ethnarch for another Aretas in the time of Paul (II Cor. xi. 32). According to the testimony of coins, between 34 and 62 a.d. the city was not under Roman control. Christianity seems to have made an early entrance into the city, most likely through Jewish converts (Acts ix. 1 sqq.), and in Christian history the place is famous as the place where or near which Paul was converted. A bishopric was erected there, the incumbent of which took rank after the patriarch of Antioch. In 635 a.d. it became the residence of Mu'awiya, the first Ommiad calif. During the crusades it was frequently the