Entries by Admin 2

Damascus blacksmiths had made steel blades with carbon nanotubes long before they were scientifically discovered

02/05/2017 in , /by

Originally published in Thevintagenews.com This is one of those stories about a technology invented and then forgotten. For example, when the Romans invented concrete and then another civilization reinvented it thousand years later. Well, it turns out that the skilled Damascus blacksmiths had produced blades containing carbon nanotubes at least 400 years before modern science began […]

Great Mosque of Damascus

01/23/2017 in , /by

Annie Labatt | Orignially published in Metmuseum.org In an address to the citizens of Damascus, the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715) proclaimed: “Inhabitants of Damascus, four things give you a marked superiority over the rest of the world: your climate, your water, your fruits, and your baths. To these I wanted to add a […]

The Commercial Reorientation of Late Ottoman Damascus

01/16/2017 in , /by

Dr. Hayssam Kadah | Dimashq Blog In mid 18th century, Damascus formed a hub that connected north to south, from Constantinople to Mecca, and east to west, from India and the Far East through Baghdad all the way to Cairo. For several months every year, pilgrimage constituted the backbone of the city’s economy as somewhere between […]

Ibrahim Pasha’s Reforms in Syria and Palestine (1832-1840)

01/09/2017 in , /by

Dimashq Blog | Vladimir Borisovich Lutsky Introduction by Fadi Esber Ten years ago, I remember picking up a copy of ‘The Modern History of the Arab Countries’ (translated to Arabic) off a dusty shelf in a Damascus bookstore. The book was used, put on sale, and obviously forgotten by both the seller and the potential buyers. I could […]