Assassin Fact 11/12

Damascus, or Dimashq, is the capital of modern day Syria. It is also another one of the oldest continuosly inhabited cities. Along with Acre, Damascus was conquered by Pharaoh Thutmosis III in the 15th Century B.C.E. It became the Aramean Kingdom some time in the 11th Century B.C.E., and was sieged many times through the years. Fianlly, in 742 B.C.E., Tiglath Pilesser II conquered Damascus. Years later, the Babylonians destroyed the Kingfom of Damascus. Alexander the Great's lieutenant, Parmenion, conquered the city in 333 B.C.E., and it later became disputed between the Macedonians and the Lagides of Egypt. Roman conquerer Pompey the Great, rival to Julius Cæsar occupied Damascus in 33 B.C.E. Damascus eventually became part of the Byzantine Empire, but fell to Khaled Ibn al Waleed in 636 C.E. and became a Muslim city. Damascus became most powerful under Islamic rule, as it became the capital of the Umayyad Empire. The capital was later changed to Baghdad, and Damascus was ruled by many different sovereigns of the course of years, such as the Egyptian Fatimids. Saladin took Damascus from the Fatimids and began the Ayyubid Dynasty while he fought against the Crusaders. Of the three cities, Acre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, it was Damascus that never fell into Crusader hands.