Research on the building history and city structure in the 18th century considering the effects of the 1759 earthquake.

Lokalisierung

Damascus is located at the south western foot of the Palmyrene Mountain chain, in the centre of the Ghuta oasis.

Geschichte

Damascus is one of oldest and largest cities in the Middle East, known to have been inhabited continuously from the 3rd millennium B.C. onwards. As early as the first Millennium B.C., it represented a mighty Aramaean city-state and remained an important trade centre between Anatolia, Egypt, the Hijaz, Persia and Mesopotamia throughout time and despite political turmoil. In the Islamic period, from 661 until 750, it became the capital of the extensive Umayyad Empire. Since then it has maintained its political significance as a centre of the Bilad ash-Sham, the cultural area that comprises the modern states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Historical records report that the city was subjected to a series of earthquakes throughout its history. The most recent event of significance was the major earthquake of 1759, with a magnitude corresponding to more than 7. By that time Damascus was the most densely populated centre in the Bilad ash-Sham.
The old city of Damascus was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.

Ziele

Contemporary sources and the archaeological remains are to be thoroughly documented and analysed. Among the sources are the accounts of Damascene historians, bio-biographical lexica and travellers' accounts. The remaining historical buildings will be registered and correlated to the historical information. The 18th century was chosen because at that time - immediately before the Ottoman reform period - the city of Damascus was formatively influenced by the rule of the Azm governors (r. 1725 and 1808 with interruptions), deriving from a Syrian elite family originally from Hama. Particularly during the period of political stability under the rule of Asad Pasha (r. 1743-1757), high building activity was recorded. He directed the building of several structures, which still form the characteristic outline of the old city, examples include the residence of the governor's family Qasr al-Azm and the Khan Asad Pasha, the domes of which were destroyed during the earthquake. His rule was followed by a period of political instability, with almost yearly changing governors, marked by the disaster of 1759 two years later.
The main focus of this research project lies on the effect on the architecture and urban structure of Damascus and its reciprocal effect on the political situation, following the decline of Asad Pasha.

Ergebnisse

Among the several sources on the earthquake, there is one remarkable report by an anonymous eyewitness. The report was composed in the very year of the disaster, systematically listing the damaged public buildings such as mosques, madrases, baths, caravanserails in Damascus and Salihiyya. In particular, the Umayyad Mosque, as the central religious building of Damascus, is described extensively including a careful catalogue of its damage. This report is a rarely preserved inventory of damages at an exact point in time, containing some unknown buildings and giving a terminus ante quem for destructions or terminus post quem for erection, renovation, annexing buildings or parts of buildings. Thus this text represents a kind of catalogue of damages to official buildings in Damascus during the mid 18th century. For the purpose of this study the text has been completely edited, translated and evaluated in combination with other chronicles referring to the earthquake. This evaluation in particular provided a for the mapping of destructions in the Ghuta oasis surrounding Damascus, as well as in the city itself. This study therefore provides a rare glimpse of this historical event from the viewpoint of Damascus, the most densely populated centre in the affected area.

Kooperation

General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Syria.
EU project APAME