Dateline Damascus 2026
by Mark Wilson
markwilson@sevenchurches.org
Eating a light breakfast of yogurt, cheese, and local black coffee, I opened an email announcing the summer issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. One story caught my eye: Susan Schram’s article about the lost cities of Syria. What a coincidence: this morning I was sitting in Damascus! Syria had long been on my “to visit” list of Bible lands. Before the civil war, travel for Americans was difficult. It was necessary to apply for a visa in person at the Syrian embassy in Washington, DC. However, this was never convenient for me. Another possibility was to wait for hours at the border crossing east of Antakya, Turkey, hoping for entry, something else I never chose to do. Then the civil war erupted in 2011, making any thought of travel there impossible.
With the end of the war in 2024, the political situation in Syria began to stabilize. I learned the name of a guide in Damascus who was a member of its Christian community. I communicated with Akel about my desire to visit, so he began to update me periodically about the security situation there. My plans to visit in early 2026 were dashed with the start of the Iran war. After hostilities had ceased, direct flights from Turkey resumed—a positive sign. If airlines thought it possible to fly safely and profitably somewhere—and people were actually traveling on these flights—perhaps it was time to consider a visit to Damascus. Because Syria is still classified as a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” country by the US State Department and no American embassy presently exists there, the decision to travel was not lightly made. Living and traveling in the Middle East for over twenty years, Dindy and I prayed and discussed the feasibility of the trip. We concluded that a visit to Syria was not unsafe, especially since I had a contact on the ground. After planning a three-day itinerary with Akel, I purchased my flight tickets.
Nevertheless, upon landing in Damascus, I had a few butterflies in my stomach. Visas are issued in the terminal upon arrival, and I pulled out two “Bens” and handed them to the customs official. When he saw the $20 bills in my envelope, he asked for those instead. So I exchanged them for the two $100s and made my first friend in the country. Walking through the door of my boutique hotel in the old city, I beheld a group of black-robed men. One introduced himself and asked if I was an American. Learning that our home was in Virginia, he shared that had served in the USA for eighteen years. I soon learned that he was Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. This was my welcoming party to Damascus!
On the way to dinner that night, Akel led me down Straight Street, the decumanus maximus running almost a mile through the city from east to west. Today it is an open-air museum called the Via Recta and lined with column fragments from a stoa or portico. A Roman triumphal arch stands midway at the intersection of the north-south cardo maximus. The blinded Paul was led to the house of Judas on Straight Street (Acts 9:11). Interestingly, there is no tradition marking the location of that house, so I could only imagine the place Judas had offered hospitality to Saul.
The street was busy that night with residents shopping in preparation for the Muslim sacrifice holiday of Eid al-Adha. Our walking tour began the next morning at the southeastern gate, Bab Kisan. Here Paul is believed to have been lowered over the wall to escape King Aretas (2 Cor 11:32–33). A basket, large enough to hold a man, is displayed inside it, plus a plaque shows Saul being lowered over the wall. As I looked over the gate and its artifacts, I wondered: Does tradition conflict with reality here? If someone were trying to escape covertly, why do it at a gate where guards would be watching? Somewhere along the long stretch of broken-down walls to the west would probably be a better candidate for his humiliating departure. Led blind into Damascus to start his visit, Paul’s exit was now in the hands of those holding the rope of the basket.
The eastern gate, Barb Sharqi, is the best preserved of the city’s seven ancient gates. Called the Gate of the Sun by the Romans and dating to 200 CE, its triple arches allowed access through two smaller gates: one for pedestrians and the other for wheeled carts and animals. Near the gate is the traditional house of Ananias who was instructed in a vision to find Saul at the house of Judas (Acts 9:10–18). Descending into the modern chapel, the air was cool, a relief from the heat outdoors. Although the level seemed too low for a Roman-period house, nevertheless, the site reminds visitors of this Jewish disciple who baptized Saul after restoring his eyesight.
That afternoon our driver took Akel and me ten miles southwest of Damascus to the Monastery of the Vision of Paul. Villagers along the road were bustling in preparation for Eid. Bundles of branches with greenery were stacked along the streets for purchase by families to lay at the graves of their loved ones. Looking ahead, I saw a high mountain covered with snow. Could this be Mount Hermon, a landscape I had seen many times from its southern side? Akel confirmed that indeed it was Hermon. His family came from a Christian village on its northern slopes that was inhabited mainly in the summer by people seeking its cooler temperatures. The monastery was deserted, attended only an elderly caretaker who unlocked the gate for us. The memorial marks the spot where Jesus had appeared to Saul and asked why he was persecuting him. This encounter, resulting in Saul’s “conversion,” is told three times in the book of Acts (9:3–19; 22:6–16; 26:12–18). A large statue of Paul stands near the round church constructed in 1965. I was struck by the many Roman ashlar blocks and Corinthian capitals scattered around. Were these from a large structure that once stood along the ancient road from Jerusalem to Damascus? A church had also been erected here in the Byzantine period.
Typical of Middle Eastern culture, the caretaker invited us for a drink as we exited. We sat on small chairs in a garden near the shack in which he lived. Along with Syrian coffee, he served us loquats from his fruit trees. Now aged eighty-nine, he had worked at this lonely place for over twenty years. Since there is no entry fee, I gave him a small donation in thanks for his work as caretaker. Of all the sites related to Paul that I visited, this place moved me the most. Here history was changed when Paul was redirected on a new spiritual path that soon turned the world upside down. The second day began with a walk through the abandoned Jewish quarter. The only evidence of its past history was an inscription in modern Hebrew above a doorway. Would this community that once curated two famous Hebrew manuscripts—the Damascus Pentateuch and the Damascus Crown—ever return one day?
Going west on the Via Recta, we encountered a herd of sheep penned for Eid. Blood was flowing as one by one they were slaughtered as sacrificial lambs, literally. Further on, we entered the Al-Hamidiyah Souq, the city’s main covered market, now deserted because of the holiday. The bazaar contains an 18th-century caravansary called Khan Sulayman Pasha andmeticulously restored as a five-star heritage hotel. Looking into one of its beautifully decorated rooms, I thought how wonderful it would be to stay here on my next visit. The 90-degree heat required a break so we ate some ice cream in the city’s oldest ice cream parlor. Named Bakdash, it has been serving its traditional mastic booza since 1885.
Soon the Temple of Jupiter, the most significant Roman ruin, appeared. Completed before the death of Augustus in AD 14, it was expanded and redecorated under Septimius Severus today (r. AD 193–211). Passing through the propylon, the western wall of the temenos lay before us. Today it is the western wall of the Umayyad Mosque. The mosque’s design is unlike the historic domed mosques usually seen in Istanbul, for it is built in basilica style. In the 4th century AD a basilica was built over the site of Jupiter’s temple. Then in the 8th century the church was transformed into one of the world’s largest and oldest mosques. With its amazing architecture and colorful mosaics, it is little wonder that this is one of the structures that earned Damascus its World Heritage status. Wandering about the mosque, I soon came to an elaborate shrine dedicated to John the Baptist, the prophet Yahya in Islam. A Christian tradition dating to the 6th century holds that the head of John was buried here. Outside again, we saw embedded in the mosque’s southern wall part of the original Roman doorway. Its lintel was later inscribed with the Greek text of Psalm 144:13 (LXX; MT 145:13): “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion is throughout all generations.” This is a fitting reminder found in the world’s oldest continuously occupied capital city.
For two days Akel guided me around the old city, walking over 30,000 steps. Never once did I feel any danger or threat. It felt like walking through Kaleiçi, the old town back in Antalya. Many Syrians spoke English and welcomed me into their shops and cafes. We visited many active Christian churches and met some of their priests and caretakers. Passing by Bab Kisan once more on the way to the airport, a motor scooter with two riders passed us. Draped between them across the seat was an adult sheep, no doubt on its way to slaughter. What a fitting memory of old and new as I said goodbye to Damascus!
Should you visit Damascus or the Lost Cities featured in the BAR article? Both places are open to tourism now. But until the State Department lowers the risk to a Level 3, I don’t recommend that groups should travel to Syria. But security is relative regarding one’s sense of individual safety. Many North Americans, risk averse regarding travel to the eastern Mediterranean, nevertheless negotiate cities with significantly higher crime rates, even mass shootings.
Damascus is a biblical site I plan to return to, even hope to lead a tour there one day. Why? Because its rich biblical history and archaeology makes a visit to Syria well worth the investment of time and money.
