Damascus

:This article is about Damascus, the capital of Syria. See Damascus (disambiguation) for alternate meanings.

Name

In Arabic, the city is called دمشق الشام Dimashq ash-Sham. Although this is often shortened to Dimashq by many, the citizens of Damascus, and of Syria and some other Arab neighbors, colloquially call the city ash-Sham. Ash-Sham is derived from the Arabic root for North, and Syria - particularly historical Greater Syria - is called bilad ash-sham in Arabic. The English name for Damascus is taken from the Greek Δαμασκός, via Latin. This comes from the old Aramaic name for the city — דרמשק Darmeśeq, which means "a well-watered place". However, pre-Aramaic tablets unearthed at Ebla refer to a city to the south of Ebla named Damaski. It is possible that the name Damascus pre-dates the Aramaic era of the city.

Related Topics:
Arabic - North - Greater Syria - Greek - Latin - Aramaic - Ebla

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