City
Damascus
duh-MASS-kus · Modern Damascus, Syria
Damascus is a city of the biblical world.
What is known
- Site of Saul of Tarsus's dramatic conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus
- Saul's escape from the city, lowered over the wall in a basket to avoid a plot against his life
History
- Founded
- One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, settled by at least the 3rd millennium BC
- Population
- A major regional city, estimated in the tens of thousands in the 1st century AD
- Industry
- A major trade hub on caravan routes linking Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean; metalworking and textiles
- Coordinates
- 33.5138° N, 36.2765° E
Rulers and powers
- Nabatean King Aretas IV (controlled or influenced Damascus at times) — 9 BC – AD 40
- Roman provincial administration (Syria) — 1st century AD
Archaeology
The "Street Called Straight" (Via Recta), the Roman decumanus maximus running east–west through Damascus's Old City, is the street named in Acts 9:11; portions of its Roman-era colonnade and paving are still visible amid the later Ottoman-era market street. Bab Kisan, a gate in the old Roman city wall in the southeastern quarter, is traditionally associated with Paul's nighttime escape by being lowered in a basket over the wall (Acts 9:25), and a chapel commemorating St. Paul now stands at the site — though the identification of this specific gate with the Acts narrative is a longstanding tradition rather than an archaeologically certain fact.
Scripture references
- Acts 9:2-3
- Acts 9:8
- Acts 9:19
- Acts 9:22
- Acts 9:25 — Paul lowered in a basket
- 2 Corinthians 11:32
- Galatians 1:17
On a modern map
Further reading
Reflect
Paul's whole direction changed on the road to Damascus — when has an interruption turned out to be a redirection?
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