Damascus (Arabic: دمشق Dimashq IPA: [ˈdiːmaːʃq]) is the capital and the second-largest city of Syria after Aleppo. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham (Arabic: الشام ash-Shām) and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine (Arabic: مدينة الياسمين Madīnat al-Yāsmīn). In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious center of the Levant. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 as of 2009.
Located in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area of 2.6 million people (2004). Geographically embedded on the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau 680 metres (2,230 ft) above sea-level, Damascus experiences a semi-arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.
First settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. During Ottoman rule, the city decayed while maintaining a certain cultural prestige. Today, it is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries.
Damascus is the capital of Syria. It may also refer to:
Damascus (April 14, 1964 – August 8, 1995) was a Thoroughbred race horse sired by Sword Dancer (1959's Horse of the Year) out of Kerala (by My Babu) foaled at the Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1967, he won the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes*, Jockey Club Gold Cup*, Wood Memorial, Travers Stakes, Dwyer Stakes (closing from 12 lengths back and spotting the runner up 16 pounds), and Woodward Stakes and was named Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old colt, plus he shared the champion handicap male honors with Buckpasser. Also in 1967, Damascus finished third in the 1967 Kentucky Derby. A high-strung horse, he was enervated by the humidity and spooked by the crowd noise, so he was thereafter given a stable pony to calm him. During the same year, top horses Dr. Fager and Buckpasser were also competing. In Blood-Horse magazine's top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Buckpasser ranks 14th and Dr. Fager ranks 6th. In a race many consider the "Race of the Century," Damascus won the 1967 Woodward by 10 lengths over both of these horses after his connections, as well as those of Buckpasser, used stablemates to set a blistering pace, thus weakening Dr. Fager. Damascus himself ranks number 16 in the Blood Horse listing.
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Rich Mullins and Beaker
Second Samuel 22:50, First Chronicles 16:9, Psalm 7:17
Psalm 51:15, Psalm 57:5-11, Jude 5:3
On the road to Damascus
I was hung in the ropes of success
When You stripped away the mask of life
They had placed upon the face of death
And I wanna thank You, Lord
More than all of my words can say
(I give my life)
And I give my life to sing Your praise
And all those fortunes I hoarded
They were the well from which my poverty sprang
Oh, they led me to no greater glory
And they left me with no less shame
And I wanna thank You, Lord
More than all of my words can say
(I give my life)
So I give my life to sing Your praise
I say I wanna give You glory Lord, and I do
But everything that I could ever find to offer comes from You
But if my darkness can praise Your light
You give me breath, and I'll give my life to sing Your praise
On the road to Damascus
I was hung in the ropes of success
When You stripped away the mask of life
They had placed upon the face of death
And I wanna thank You, Lord
More than all of my words can say
(I give my life)
And I give my life to sing Your praise
(And beyond this I would not beg)
For anything except the grace
(To give my life to sing Your praise)
And beyond this I would not beg
(For anything except the grace)
To give my life to sing Your praise
(And beyond this I would not beg)
For anything except the grace
(To give my life to sing Your praise)
And beyond this I would not beg
For anything except the grace
To give my life, I give my life