The Land of Abraham and Sons: Damascus Did Not Cease Being After All

This post was revised by both Chat-GPT and Deepseek for correction, as language models, both AI models checked the theories in their own language, which is English.

This post is actually a pilot of a series of posts dedicated to the prophecies of the Middle East in the Bible, which Christian Zionists use to mess up the Middle East every couple of years.

“Damascus will cease from being a city.”
— Book of Isaiah, Chapter 17

This verse from the Book of Isaiah went viral online on Wednesday, shortly after the Israeli airstrike on Damascus, the Syrian capital.

It was shared by a wide range of people—from devout American evangelicals to some inexplicably cheerful Assad supporters.

This well-known prophecy from Isaiah 17:1 (KJV) reads:

"The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap."

The verse is part of a prophetic oracle, a biblical term referring to a divine message delivered by a prophet—typically announcing judgment, destruction, or doom upon a particular nation or city.

Damascus is one of several ancient cities mentioned in Isaiah’s oracles of judgment. At the time, it was the capital of the Aramean Kingdom, a political rival to both Judah and Israel (Samaria).

The prophecy foretells that Damascus will cease to exist as a city and will become a “ruinous heap.”

But here’s the problem: Damascus has been destroyed more times than San Francisco in a Hollywood disaster film—and it never actually ceased to be.

In 732 BCE, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III invaded and sacked Damascus, a historical event widely believed to be the context behind Isaiah 17.

The Aramean kingdom was dismantled, and much of its population was deported. Still, Damascus survived and was rebuilt—again and again.

Most biblical scholars and historians agree that Isaiah 17 references this Assyrian attack. The first section of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 1–39), often referred to as “Proto-Isaiah,” is traditionally attributed to Isaiah son of Amoz, a prophet who likely lived in 8th-century BCE Jerusalem.

The remaining parts of the book—chapters 40–55 (Deutero-Isaiah) and 56–66 (Trito-Isaiah)—are believed to have been written by different authors in later periods. While religious tradition views Isaiah as a single prophet, scholars argue that the book spans too much time to have been written by just one person.

The Assyrian attack was only the first in a long list of devastating episodes for Damascus.

In the 1st century CE, following several Jewish revolts in the city, Roman forces carried out brutal purges in Damascus’s Jewish quarter, yet the city remained a vital Roman provincial capital.

In 1148 CE, during the Second Crusade, European Crusaders laid siege to Damascus, causing severe damage but ultimately failing to capture it.

Siege of Damascus by Sébastien Mamerot 

The Mongol invasion in 1260 CE, led by Hulagu Khan, marked one of the most devastating chapters in the city's history, bringing widespread destruction and massacres.

However, the Mamluks soon repelled the Mongols, and Damascus was once again restored.

In 1401, Damascus suffered one of its most brutal sacks when Timur (Tamerlane) invaded the city, leading to mass killings, widespread destruction, and the forced deportation of its artisans to Samarkand.

Medieval Damascus by Georg Braun

However, the Mamluks re-entered the city after Timur’s retreat and reestablished control.

In the 20th century, the French bombing of Damascus during the Great Syrian Revolt in 1925 caused intense destruction and civilian casualties, yet the city rose from the rubble once more.

The destruction of a Damascus building due to French shelling in 1925 

More recently, the Syrian Revolution—turned-war under Bashar al-Assad since 2011—has inflicted severe damage, particularly in outer suburbs such as Ghouta, but the urban core has remained largely intact, and life continues today.

Despite its repeated suffering, Damascus has never “ceased from being a city.”

If anything, it has become a symbol of resilience. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus, remains alive, breathing, and populated with the same name.

The earliest known mention of Damascus in recorded history appears in the annals of Ancient Egypt, listed among the cities conquered or brought under Egyptian control by Pharaoh Thutmose III during his military campaigns in the Levant.

This reference is found after the famous Battle of Megiddo (circa 1457 BCE), inscribed on the walls of the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt.

Specifically, Damascus is named in the "List of Asiatic Cities"—a monumental inventory of 119 towns and city-states that were either subdued or made tributary.

The city appears as ṯmśq () within the Akh-menu, or Festival Hall, of Thutmose III, located in the sacred precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak. It is inscribed on the southwest wall of the hall, alongside other prominent Levantine cities such as Q-d-s (Kadesh) and M-g-d (Megiddo).

In Akkadian and Assyrian texts it appeared as “Dimashqa” or “Dimašqu.” The name persisted through successive empires—from Aramean to Greek, Roman, Islamic, and Ottoman—gradually becoming “Damascus” in Western usage. So while no single conqueror named the city, its identity has endured for millennia, with only slight variations across languages and time.

Now back to the prophecies, we must ask: Is Isaiah 17 still a prophecy—or just a poetic reflection of an ancient war?

Most mainstream biblical scholars and Christian denominations—including Catholic, Orthodox, and many Protestant theologians—interpret Isaiah’s prophecies within their historical context.

They see them as allegorical, poetic, or typological, rather than literal predictions of modern events.

Even in Jewish tradition, Isaiah 17 is generally considered a fulfilled prophecy, referring to ancient events that have already passed.

But One Group Sees It Differently…

Enter: Evangelical Christian Zionists in the U.S.

As always, they interpret this verse literally and as a prophecy yet to be fulfilled—part of the end times narrative.

In their view, Isaiah 17 is connected to the Second Coming of Christ, which will occur after the Battle of Armageddon—a conflict they believe is imminent, thanks to modern Middle Eastern politics.

Christian Zionists are mostly Evangelical Protestants, especially from the United States, who believe that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land is a fulfilment of biblical prophecy, and the modern state of Israel plays a central role in the End Times.

Events like wars in the Middle East — especially anything involving Damascus, Iran, or Jerusalem — are signs of the Second Coming of Christ.

They support Israel unconditionally — not necessarily out of love for Jews, but because they see Israel as a necessary step for Jesus to return. They oppose any peace deals or compromises that would reduce Israel’s control over what they call the “biblical lands.”

Often push U.S. foreign policy — especially under politicians like Trump, Bush Jr., or Pence — in ways that align with these apocalyptic views.

The clearest example of a Christian Zionist is the current U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who refers to the West Bank as 'Judea and Samaria' and openly rejects the two-state solution—an explicit violation of international law.

I do not have a problem with others’ beliefs, but when others are dying in wars and destruction of our cities, then I have a huge problem.

May Allah bless and protect Damascus and its people. 

Till the next time, inshallah.