Syrian Damascus and its Unique Temple
In the oldest and most beautiful city in the world, from the thunderer Hadad to the mosque with the minaret of Jesus…
The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world, rebuilt between 706 and 715 from the Christian Basilica of John the Baptist, which was built on the site of the original ancient temple of Hadad, the god of storms and thunder (Sumerian Ishkur, Akkadian Adad), which historians date to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. For centuries (perhaps millennia, according to some historians) before that, the site had been used for religious purposes. After the Roman conquest of Damascus, arguably the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world (ten thousand years of continuous existence is said), in 64 BC, the Temple of Hadad was renamed the Temple of the God Jupiter, after the supreme Roman god who ruled the heavens as well as the thunder. The temple was lavishly rebuilt and expanded to compete with, among other things, the Jewish temple of Jerusalem, which eventually fell to a Roman blow.
In 391, the Temple of Jupiter was transformed and rebuilt into an imposing Christian basilica by order of the Christian emperor Theodosius I. It served Christians for a total of three centuries, seven decades of which were after the city had been overrun by the expanding Muslims. According to the Persian historian Ibn al-Faqih, 12,000 craftsmen and artists from many countries (not only) in the Middle East worked on the reconstruction. The eastern minaret of the temple is known as the “minaret of Jesus” and is the tallest of the mosque’s three minarets. While Pope Urban II exhorted Christians to crusade in the Clermont Cathedral, here in the Umayyad Mosque, in response to the Crusades, Muslims later exhorted to repel attacks and drive back Christian armies. In 1193, Sultan Saladin was buried on the grounds of the cathedral.
The religious significance of the Umayyad Mosque is reinforced by its eschatological dimension: according to local Muslim tradition, Jesus (Ísa) is supposed to descend to the minaret of Jesus on the eve of the Day of Judgement to fight the powers of evil. According to a long Christian and Muslim tradition, the head of the great prophet John the Baptist is located in a small shrine on the premises of the Umayyad Mosque. There is also the shrine of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad Hussein ibn Ali, whose martyrdom is often compared to that of John the Baptist or even Jesus Christ. In Damascus today, Sunni Islam (predominantly the Hanif Madhab) dominates the religious landscape, with approximately three-quarters of the Damascus population, followed by Shi’a Islam with more than a tenth of the population and a significant Alawite presence, Christianity in several Eastern Orthodox churches with a tenth of the population, and other small religious minorities. There used to be a relatively large Jewish group in Damascus. The Umayyad Mosque is a major Muslim pilgrimage site, and many Muslims visit the site on their pilgrimage to Mecca. In the run-up to the great pilgrimage — the Hajj — the traveller will meet Muslims from all over the world here, dressed in their best traditional dress, in an uplifting, very friendly and fraternal mood, which they have always (I have visited the place many times at different times) shown even to me as a non-believer. The Damascus Temple, because of its history, is also of particular importance to Christians, and because it is a perfect historical cross-section of religious traditions rooted at the very beginning of the cultural history of mankind, it is a real treat for historians, religious scholars and theologians.
The entire temple grounds are now accessible, a traveller can immerse themselves in history and lift their heart and I have to say it is my favourite temple in the whole world. Its history, architecture, location, atmosphere, and also its vibrant present is unmatched, and it is this temple that has become my “gateway to mystical Damascus” (to later pass through the Damascus Gate to heavenly Jerusalem). This unique temple remembers legions of gods, but streams of blood have also flowed through it — after all, the hot Syrian soil is unfortunately fed with blood even today. The virtue of the Damascus temple is that it is not just an antiquarian corpse-museum relic of the good old days, but at the same time a shrine brimming with the life and faith of its contemporaries.
In front of the colossal entrance gate to the Damascus Temple, travellers will find a vibrant Arabic bazaar where they can shop for imaginative Arabic dresses, taste the unmistakable local shawerma with yoghurt or great strong coffee. Surrounding the temple are several beautiful historic teahouses where gentlemen and surprisingly ladies, even without men (unthinkable in other Arab countries), enjoy tea, smoke shisha, play dominoes and watch the daily hustle and bustle. A traditional storyteller of the Thousand and One Nights still works in one of the adjacent teahouses. Going there for tea or coffee and a hookah, listening to his emotional narrative, rhythmed by the boys playing dominoes, is beautiful even without knowledge of Syrian Arabic. Creative architects and builders have really come into their own in Damascus, and for lovers of Arabic architecture, it’s a veritable paradise; the most enjoyable thing you can do in Damascus (when it’s quiet again) is wander aimlessly through the narrow streets and be uplifted by the art of the old architects who gave the city its unique atmosphere. Be sure to end a lovely day of travel at the baths and sauna, which have an exceptionally long and rich tradition in Syria.
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