according to Dorner, lie " remains in later times the highest authority hi the theological literature of the Greeks." Several treatises have been attributed to him that are probably spurious, but his undoubted works are numerous and embrace a wide range. The most important contains three parts under the general title Il^yr) yvojo-ews (the fountain of knowledge). The first part, entitled Ke^aAata (f>iXoa-o<f><.Kd, is an exposition and application to theology of Aristotle s Dialectic. The second, entitled Ilepi alpecrewi (of heresies), is a reproduction of the earlier work of Epiphanius, with a continuation giving an account of the heresies that arose after the time of that writer. The third part, entitled "E/cSocris cue/at/??)? rr/<; 6p@o86ov Trtcrrews (an accurate exposition of the orthodox faith), is much the most important of the three, containing as it does a com plete system of theology founded on the teaching of the fathers and church councils, from the 4th to the 7th century. It thus embodies the finished result of the theological thought of the early Greek Church. Through a Latin translation made by Burgundio of Pisa in the 12th century, it was well known to Peter Lombard and Aquinas, and in this way it influenced the scholastic theology of the West. Damascenus himself has sometimes been called the " Father of Scholasticism," and the " Lombard of the Greeks," but these epithets are appropriate only in a limited sense. On the disputed question of Damascenus s authorship of the interesting Christian romance, Earlaam and Josapkat, see note to the article Barlaam and Josaphat, vol. iii. p. 375. The works of Damascenus were edited by Le Quien, and published with a valuable
introduction in 2 vols. fol., Paris, 1712.DAMASCENUS, Nicolaus, a Greek historian and philosopher, born at Damascus, from which he is named. He flourished in the time of Augustus and Herod the Great, with both of whom he was on terms of friendship. He enjoyed the intimate confidence of Herod, who studied philosophy along with him, and employed him on an important political mission to Augustus. Nicolaus survived Herod, and it was through his influence that the succession was secured for Archelaus ; but the date of his death, like that of his birth, is unknown. Of his principal work, a universal history in 144 books, composed at the request of Herod, only a few fragments remain. He wrote also an autobiography, of which a good deal has been preserved, a life of Augustus, a life of Herod, and several philosophical works, which are known to us only through a few extracts in other writers. The first edition of the fragments of Nicolaus in a Latin version appeared at Geneva in 1593. The standard edition is that of Orelli (Leipsic, 1804) with a supplement (1811). The volume published in 1804 contains a notice of the life of Nicolaus by the Abbe Sevin.
DAMASCIUS, a celebrated Neo-Platonic philosopher, who was born at Damascus about the middle of the 5th century. He studied at Alexandria, and thence removed to Athens, where he taught philosophy till the close of the heathen schools during the reign of Justinian. Of his works, which consisted chiefly of commentaries on Plato and Aristotle, and of a biography of his teacher Isidorus, some fragments exist in the writings of Photius. What has been preserved of his work entitled Difficulties and Solutions of the First Principles has been published by J. Kopp (Frankfort, 1828), and is of considerable value for the account it contains of several ancient philosophers. See Kopp s preface to his edition.
DAMASCUS (Arabic, Dimeshk esh-Sham), the capital of Syria, and of a pashalik of the same name, an ancient town, 57 miles from the seaport of Beyrout, in 33 30 N. hit. and 36 18 E. long. It occupies a site of singular beauty, On the eastern side of the range of Antilibanus is a plain of vast extent, reaching far out into Arabia, and having an elevation of 2200 feet above the sea. The River Barada, the Abana of the Bible, rises in the centre of the mountain range, descends through a sublime ravine, enters the plain, flows across it eastward for 20 miles, and empties itself into a lake, which in the heat of summer becomes a morass. On the banks of the Abana, about a mile from the mouth of the ravine, stands Damascus. The river intersects the city, in a deep rapid current, averaging 50 feet wide. On its northern bank is a large and com paratively modern suburb ; but the whole of the ancient walled city, and the principal buildings, are spread over the plain on the south. The Abana is the life of Damascus, and has made it perennial. By an admirable system of channels and pipes, many of them apparently of high antiquity, its waters are not only conveyed through every quarter, but into almost every house, supplying that first requisite of Eastern life and luxury. The river is also extensively used for irrigation. Canals are led off from it at different elevations above the city, and carried far and wide over the surrounding plain, converting what would otherwise be a parched desert into a paradise. The orchards, gardens, vineyards, and fields of Damascus cover a circuit of at least GO miles, and they owe their almost unrivalled beauty and luxuriance to the Abana. The area irrigated and rendered fertile by it is upwards of 300 square miles in extent, and the River Awaj, the ancient Pharpar, irrigates nearly 100 more. There was truth, therefore, in the boastful words of Naaman (2 Kings v. 12), "Are not Abana and Fharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?"
The view of Damascus from the crest of Antilibanus is scarcely surpassed in the world. The elevation is about 500 feet above the city, which is nearly two miles distant. The distance lends enchantment to the view ; for while the peculiar forms of Eastern architecture do not bear close inspection, they look like an Arabian poet s dream when seen from afar. Tapering minarets and swelling domes, tipped with golden crescents, rise above the white-terraced roofs ; while in some places their glittering tops appear among the green foliage of the gardens. In the centre of the city stands the Great Mosque, and near it are the gray battlements of the old castle. Away on the south the eye follows a long suburb, while below the ridge on which we stand is the Merj, the Ager Damascenus of early travellers a green meadow extending along the river from the mouth of the ravine to the city. The gardens and orchards, which have been so long and so justly celebrated, encompass the whole city, sweeping the base of the bleak hills, like a sea of verdure, and covering an area more than 30 miles in circuit- not uniformly dense, but with open spots here and there. Beyond this circuit are large clumps of trees, dotting the plain almost to the horizon. The varied tints of the foliage greatly enhance the beauty of this picture.
The population of Damascus is estimated at 150,000. Of these about 19,000 are Christians, GOOO Jews, and the rest Mahometans. Of the Christians 8000 belong to the Greek or Eastern Church, and an equal number to the Catholic ; and there are besides small communities of Syrians, Maronites, Armenians, and Protestants. In the plain round Damascus, watered by the Abana and Pharpar, there are 140 villages, with an aggregate population of 50,000, of whom about 1000 are Christians, and 2000 Druzes.
in 1832, no foreign consul was permitted to enter it, and no Christian or Jew was suffered to ride through the streets. The massacre of 1860 showed that the spirit of the people
had not changed, and was only kept in check by Turkish
