A first indication of settlement on the site of present-day Damascus (Tal Aswad – Tal Al Ramad – Tal Al Greeqa – …)
2,000 B.C.
Amorite settlement
1,000 B.C.
City conquered by Tuthmos III of Egypt.
732 B.C.
City taken by the Assyrian king, Tiglath Pileser III.
572 B.C.
The Chaldean armies, under Nebuchadnezzar, conquer Syria and occupy Damascus.
539 B.C.
The Persian leader, Cyrus, takes Damascus and declares it the capital of the Fifth Satrapy (administrative district) of the Persian Empire, which incorporated Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
334 B.C.
Alexander the Great takes Syria. Beginning of Greek settlement in Damascus.
312 B.C.
Seleucus Nicator, the successor of Alexander, takes power.
64 B.C.
The Roman general, Pompeii, incorporates Syria and Damascus into the Roman Empire.
20-30 A.D.
Christianity comes to Damascus.
31 A.D.
Arrival of Saul [of Tarsus] and his assumption of his new name, Paul, upon conversion to Christianity.
395 A.D.
Division of the Roman Empire into Western and Easter (Byzantine) Empires. Damascus under Byzantine control.
635 A.D.
Damascus taken by Khalid ibn al-walid. Arab Muslim conquest of Syria.
661 A.D.
The Caliph Mauwiya makes Damascus the capital of the Ommayad Empire.
750 A.D.
Fall of the Omayad Dynasty. Damascus falls to the ‘Abbasids and the capital of the Muslim empire is transferred to Baghdad.
969-1076 A.D.
Rule of the Fatamids, based in Cairo.
1076-1174 A.D.
Rule in Damascus of the Prince of Turkish origin, the Seljuks and Atabegs, including the rule of Nur al-Din (Atabeg) (1146- 1176) and the beginning of the Crusader campaigns(1096).
1174-1260 A.D.
The Ayyubid Dynasty, founded by Salah al-Din (Saladin), rules Damascus.
1260 A.D.
Tartar invasion, led by Houlagou (son of Ghengis Khan), repulsed by Sultan Baybars.
1260-1516 A.D.
The Mamluke, an Egypt-based dynasty, rule Damascus.
1400 A.D.
Devastation of Damascus by the Mongols, led by Tamurlane.
1516 A.D.
The Ottoman Turks take power.
1918 A.D.
The Ottomans are driven out of Syria at the end of the First World War by the combined forces of the Western Allies and Arab forces.
