to Damascus

1 Kings 19:15 And the LORD said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:

1 Kings 20:34 And Ben-hadad said to him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will restore...

Genesis 14:15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them to Hobah...

Acts 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women...

in Damascus Damascus, called also Damesk, but generally El Sham, by the Arabs, is situated in a delightful plain, well watered by the Barrada, at the eastern foot of Antilibanus, being surrounded by the hills in the form of a triumphal arc,

136 miles N. of Jerusalem,

195 S. of Antioch, and

276 S.S.W. of Deabekir, It is a city of the highest antiquity, being at least as ancient as the time of Abraham: it has been often captured, and several times demolished, but has always risen to splendour and dignity. The modern town is described by Maundrell as of a long, straight figure, it ends pointing nearly N.E. and S.W. It is very slender in the middle, but swells bigger at each end, especially at that to the N.E. According to Niebuhr, the walls are something less than a league and half in circumference; and the population is estimated at from

100,000 to

150,000