In Arabic, the city is called Dimashq Al Sham. Although this is often shortened to either Dimashq or Al Sham by many, the citizens of Damascus, and of Syria and some other Arab neighbors, colloquially call the city Al Sham.
Al Sham is an Arabic term for north and for Syria. (Syria — particularly historical Greater Syria — is called Bilad Al Sham , 'land of the north , or land of Shem (son of Noah) , but with Shem being from the native Syriac language.) The etymology of the ancient name 'Damascus' is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, , Dammaśq in Old Aramaic and Dammeśeq in Biblical Hebrew. The Assadian spelling is the earliest attestation, found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC. Later Aramaic spellings of the name often include an intrusive resh , perhaps influenced by the root dr, meaning 'dwelling'. Thus, the Qumranic Darmeśeq, and Darmsûq in Syriac.

Back