- John Of Damascus
John of Damascus (Greek: Ιωάννης Δαμασκήνος/Ioannês Damaskinos; Arabic: Yaḥyā ibn Manṣūr; Latin: "Iohannes Damascenus" or "Johannes Damascenus" also known as "John Damascene, Χρυσορρόας/Chrysorrhoas," "streaming with gold"-i.e., "the golden speaker") (c. 676 - December 5, 749) was a Syrian monk and presbyter. He was born and raised in Damascus and died (in all probability) at the monastery of Mar Saba, …
- Apollodorus Of Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus was an ancient Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD. He was born in Damascus, Roman province of Syria and was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 104 campaign in Dacia. He also designed the Forum Trajanum and Trajan's Column within the city of Rome, beside several smaller projects.
- Nicolaus Of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus was a Hellenistic historical and philosophical writer who lived in the Augustan age. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was an intimate friend of Herod the Great, whom he survived by a number of years His chief work was a universal history in 144 books, of which only a few fragments remain. He also wrote an autobiography, a life of Augustus, a life of Herod, and some philosophical works.
- Ananias Of Damascus
Ananias was a disciple of Jesus, and is traditionally listed as one of the Seventy Disciples whose mission is recorded in Luke 10. He also was the man reported in the Bible to have been sent by God to heal Paul's blindness and join him with the Church. Acts 9:10-18 tells of this event: :He Ananias answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
- Victor Of Damascus
St. Victor of Damascus is a martyr saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Victor was a Roman soldier of Italian ancestry, serving in the city of Damascus in Syria during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius. He was tortured and killed by Roman soldiers in Damascus in 160 AD for his Christian beliefs. During his torture, a young woman, Stephanis (or Stephanie), revealed that she was a Christian too. She was also killed by the soldiers and later also sainted.
- Rafik Hariri
Rafik Baha ad-Din Hariri - (November 1 1944 - February 14 2005), a self-made billionaire and business tycoon, was the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation on 20 October 2004. He headed five cabinets during his tenure. Hariri played a leading role in the reconstruction of Beirut. Hariri was assassinated on 14 February 2005 when explosives equivalent to around 1000 kg of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove past the St.
- Sami Moubayed
Sami Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst, journalist, and author based in Damascus, Syria. His articles on Middle East affairs have appeared in a variety of newspapers, including al-Ahram Weekly, Gulf News, The Daily Star, and Asia Times. He is the author of several books on modern Syria.
- Abd Al-Malik
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was an Umayyad caliph. A well-educated man, he was a capable ruler, despite the many political problems that impeded his rule. Abd al-Malik became caliph after the death of his father in 685. Within a few years, he dispatched armies under Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef on a campaign to reassert Umayyad control over the Islamic empire. Hajjaj first defeated the governor of Basra, he then went on to the Hejaz where Ibn Zubayr was killed, …
- Walid Muallem
Walid al Muallem (born 1941) is the current foreign minister of Syria and a long-time diplomat for that country. He took office as foreign minister on February 11 2006 during a cabinet reshuffle in which his predecessor Farouk al-Sharaa became vice-president. Muallem is a former ambassador to the United States and was serving as deputy foreign minister of Syria when he became foreign minister.
- David Welch
C. David Welch is the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs of the United States. He served from 2001 to 2005 as the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt. Welch was born in Munich in 1953. He studied at the London School of Economics in 1973 and '74, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University (1975). He holds a graduate degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.
- Ibn Kathir
Born in 1301, Ismail ibn Kathir was an Islamic scholar. His full name is Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. He was born in Busra, Syria (hence Al-Busrawi). He was taught by the "scholar of Islam"Ibn Taymiyya in Damascus, Syria and Abu al-Hajjaj Al-Mizzi, d. 742H, main teacher of Ibn Kathir. Upon completion of his studies obtained his first official appointment in 1341, …
- Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal, also known as Khaled Mashaal or Khalid Mish'al (b. 1956) is a leader of Hamas. He has been described alternately as the "political leader" of the group and the leader of Hamas's Syrian branch. Khaled Mashaal has claimed responsibility for numerous Palestinian suicide bomb attacks since the second Intifada (in 2000), which altogether have claimed many Israelis' lives.
- Ibn Arabi
Ibn Arabi, was an Arab Muslim mystic and philosopher. He was born 1165 in Murcia and died 1240 in Damascus.
- Al-Kamil
Al-Kamil Muhammad al-Malik ; died 1238) was an Ayyubid sultan of Kurdish descent that ruled Egypt, praised for defeating two crusades but also vilified for returning Jerusalem to the Christians. He was the son of sultan al-Adil, a brother of Saladin. In 1218 al-Kamil led the defense during the Siege of Damietta against the Fifth Crusade, and later that year became sultan when his father died. In 1219 he was almost overthrown by a conspiracy among Coptic Christians, …
- Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. He took the throne from Shalmaneser V in 722 BC. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family. In his inscriptions, he styles himself as a new man, rarely referring to his predecessors; however he took the name Sharru-kinu, "true king", after Sargon of Akkad - who had founded the first Semitic Empire in the region some 16 centuries earlier.
- Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria (859 BC-824 BC), and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations of Mesopotamia and Syria, as well as Kizzuwadna and Urartu. His armies penetrated to Lake Van and the Taurus Mountains; the Hittites of Carchemish were compelled to pay tribute, and the kingdoms of Hamath and Aram Damascus were subdued.
- Sophronius
Sophronius (born 560 in Damascus - died March 11, 638 in Jerusalem) was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 until his death. Before rising to the primacy of that see, he was a monk and theologian who was the chief protagonist for orthodox teaching in the doctrinal controversy on the essential nature of Jesus and his volitional acts. Bishop Sophronius was of Arab descent.
- Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq was the ideological founder of Ba’athism, a form of secular Arab nationalism. Born in Damascus to a middle class Greek Orthodox Christian family, Aflaq was first educated in the westernized schools of French mandate Syria, where he was considered a "brilliant student." He then went to university at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he first developed his Arab nationalist ideals, eventually attempting to combine socialism with the vision of a Pan-Arab nation.
- Khalid Ibn Al-Walid
Khālid ibn al-Walīd also known as Sayf-Allah al-Maslul, was one of the two famous Arab generals during the Muslim conquests of the 7th Century. ("See also: Amr ibn al-A'as".) He is noted for his military prowess, commanding the forces of Muhammad and those of his immediate successors of the Rashidun Caliphate; Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab.
- Eli Cohen
Eli Cohen was a celebrated Israeli spy, and is recognized as one of the most successful spies of modern times. Born in Egypt, Cohen contributed to pro-Israeli activities in Egypt during the 1950s, but the most important part of his career began when he was recruited into Israeli military intelligence in 1960. He was given a false identity as a Syrian Arab who was returning to Syria after living in Argentina. To establish his cover, Cohen moved to Argentina in 1961.
- Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa, the kunya-style nom de guerre of Mustafa Zabri, was a Palestinian leader and the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) from July 2000 until he was killed by Israeli forces the following year. Abu Ali Mustafa was born in 1938, in the northern West Bank town of Arrabah, the son of a farmer. In 1955 he joined the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM), …
- Andrew Of Crete
Saint Andrew (Andreas) of Crete (also known as Andrew of Jerusalem was an 8th century theologian, homilist, and hymnographer. Born in Damascus of Christian parents, Andrew was a mute from birth until the age of seven, when, according to his hagiographers, he was miraculously cured after receiving Holy Communion. He began his ecclesiastical career at fourteen in the Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified, near Jerusalem, …
- Ignatius Zakka I Iwas
Zakka Iwas (') is the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The patriarchate is based in Damascus. As is traditional for the head of the church, he has adopted the name Ignatius. Being the first patriarch to be named Zakka, his name is often written as Ignatius Zakka I Iwas. His full titulary is: : :transliteration: :English: His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, …
- Sari Nusseibeh
Sari Nusseibeh (born in 1949 in Damascus, Syria), is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem (Al Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem). He was also, until December 2002, the representative of the Palestinian National Authority in Jerusalem. He was born in Damascus to the politician Anwar Nusseibeh and Nuzha Al Ghussein, …
- Ptolemy
Ptolemy or Ptolomaeus, son of Mennaeus (Mennæus) was tetrarch of Iturea and Chalcis from about 85 BCE to 40 BCE, in which year he died. He tried to extend his kingdom by warlike expeditions (Strabo, xvi. 2, § 10); and ruled the Lebanon, threatened Damascus, subjugated several districts on the Phoenician coast, and once had Paneas in his hands (Josephus, "Ant." xv. 10, §§ 1-3).
- Faisal Husseini
Faisal Abdel Qader Al-Husseini (July 17, 1940 - May 31, 2001) was a Palestinian politician who was considered a possible future leader of the Palestinian people. Husseini was born in Baghdad son of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, commander of local Arab forces during the siege of 1948 and grand-nephew of the Haj Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He studied in Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus.
- Ahab
Ahab or Ach'av was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri ("1 Kings" 16:29-34). William F. Albright dated his reign to 869 BC-850 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 874 BC-853 BC. He married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ithobaal I of Tyre, and the alliance was doubtless the means of procuring him great riches, which brought pomp and luxury in their train.
- Hanun
# Hanun was a king of Ammon described in 2 Samuel. Upon the death of his father Nahash, Hanun ascended to the throne of the Ammonites. When King David sent ambassadors to convey his condolences, Hanun reversed his father's pro-David policy and humiliated the emissaries, stripping them of their clothes and shaving half of their beards. He joined with Hadadezer of Damascus against Israel but was defeated and deposed.
- Ibn Khallikan
Abu-l ‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Khallikan was a Kurdish Muslim scholar of the 13th century. He was born in Arbil, in 1211. His most famous work is "Wafayat al-Ayan" (The Obituaries of Eminent Men) known as "The Biographical Dictionary".
- Shirkuh
Asad ad-Din Shirkuh bin Shadhi (also "Shirguh" or "Sherko") (died 1169) was an important Muslim military commander, and uncle of Saladin. He was originally from a Kurdish village in Armenia near the town of Dvin. He was the son of Shahdi, a Kurdish ruler, and was the brother of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, the ancestor of the Ayyubid dynasty. The family was closely connected to the Shaddadid dynasty, and when the last Shaddadid was deposed in Dvin in 1130, …
- Marwan II
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan or Marwan II (Arabic: مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم) was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 744 until 750 when he was killed. He was the last Umayyad ruler to rule from Damascus. In A.H. 114 (732-733) Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In A.H. 117 (735-736) Marwan took three fortresses of the Alans and made peace with Tumanshah.
- Ibn Al-Nafis
Ala-al-din abu Al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi known as Ibn al-Nafis (Arabic: ابن النفيس), was an Arab physician who is mostly famous for being the first to describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood. He was born in 1213 in Damascus. He attended the Medical College Hospital (Bimaristan Al-Noori) in Damascus. Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis learned jurisprudence, literature and theology.
- John McCarthy
John McCarthy (b. 1942) has served as Australia's Ambassador to Vietnam (1981-83), Ambassador to Mexico (1985-87), Ambassador to Thailand (1992-94), Ambassador to The United States from (1995-97), Ambassador to Indonesia (1997-2001) and Ambassador to Japan (27 July 2001-2004). He has also served in Damascus, Baghdad and Vientiane. Mr McCarthy took up the appointment of Ambassador to India in 2004.
- Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (March 19, 1821 - October 20, 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine European, Asian, and African languages.
- Hazael
Hazael (Hebrew "Hazael," meaning "God has seen") was a court official and later an Aramean king who appeared in the Bible. He was first referred to by name in 1 Kings 19 when God told the prophet Elijah to anoint him king over Syria. Years after this, the Syrian king Hadadezer was ill and sent his court official Hazael with gifts to Elijah's successor Elisha. Elisha asked Hazael to tell Hadadezer that he would recover, …
- Tariq Ibn-Ziyad
Tariq ibn Ziyad or "Taric bin Zeyad" (d. 720), known in Spanish history and legend as "Taric el Tuerto" (Taric the one-eyed), was a Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711. He is considered to be one of the most important military commanders in Spanish history. He was initially the deputy of Musa ibn Nusair in North Africa, …
- Marwan I
Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the fourth Ummayad Caliph, who took over the dynasty after Muawiya II gave up the title in 684. Marwan's ascension pointed to a shift in the lineage of the Umayyad dynasty from descendants of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam, both of whom were grandsons of Umayya (for whom the Umayyad dynasty is named). Hakam was a first cousin of Uthman ibn Affan. Muhammad sent both him and his father, Hakam ibn al-Aas to exile, saying they should never return.
- Timur
Tīmūr bin Tara<u>gh</u>ay Barlas, known in the West as Tamburlaine, was a 14th century warlord of Turco-Mongol descent, conqueror of much of Western and central Asia, and founder of the Timurid Empire and Timurid dynasty (1370–1405) in Central Asia, which survived in some form until 1857. Perhaps, he is more commonly known by his pejorative Persian name Timur-e Lang which translates to Timur the Lame, …
- Bassam Tibi
Bassam Tibi, born 1944 in Damascus, is a German political scientist of Syrian origin. He is a Muslim, and is known for his analysis of international relations concerning Islamic countries and civilization. He studied in Frankfurt am Main and habilitated in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1973, he teaches international politics at Göttingen University. In 1982, he was Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, and is currently an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.
- Qalawun
Saif ad-Din Qalawun al-Alfi al-Mansur (also Qala'un or Kalavun was a Mameluk sultan of Egypt. Qalawun was a Burj Oghlu Kipchak Turk, and became a Mameluk in the 1240s after having been purchased for 1000 dinars by a member of the household of sultan al-Kamil. He never learned to speak Arabic fluently. He rose in power and influence and was an emir under sultan Baibars, whose son Baraka Khan was married to Qalawun's daughter.