Historical figures in Damascus
The atlas holds 25 people and 35 moments here, from 1272 BC to 2012. The most recorded lives are Ibn Battuta, Yasser Arafat and Paul the Apostle. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Philosophers, across the Space Age and the Middle Ages.
Notable people
Akhmad Kadyrov
in 2001
1 moment here
Chechen Islamic religious leader and politician. Born in Karaganda during his family’s deportation from Chechnya, he studied in Uzbekistan, returned…
Al-Farabi
from 943 to 950
2 moments here
Abu Nasr al-Farabi was an early Islamic philosopher, logician, and music theorist. The surviving reliable evidence for his movements is sparse: it…
Al-Ghazali
from 1095 to 1096
2 moments here
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali was a Persian Sunni jurist, theologian, philosopher, logician, and mystic.…
Ali Khamenei
in 1984
1 moment here
Iranian Shia cleric and politician who was president of Iran from 1981 to 1989 and supreme leader from 1989 until his death in 2026.…
Anwar Sadat
from 1973 to 1977
2 moments here
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat was an Egyptian army officer, Free Officer, politician, and president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination in 1981.…
Cleopatra
in 36 BC
1 moment here
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (born early 69 BC, possibly late 70 BC; died 10 or 12 August 30 BC) was the last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt.…
Gamal Abdel Nasser
in 1958
2 moments here
Egyptian army officer, leader of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution, and president of Egypt from 1954 until his death.…
Hosni Mubarak
in 1975
1 moment here
Egyptian military officer and politician who served as president of Egypt from 1981 until his resignation in 2011.…
Ibn Battuta
from 1326 to 1348
3 moments here
Maghrebi Muslim jurist, traveller, explorer, and author from Tangier. Between 1325 and 1354 he journeyed through North and East Africa, the Middle…
Ibn Khaldun
in 1401
1 moment here
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) was a Tunis-born historian, jurist, political official, teacher, and author of the Muqaddimah.…
Kofi Annan
in 2012
1 moment here
Ghanaian diplomat and statesman who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.…
Muammar Gaddafi
in 1970
1 moment here
Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who ruled Libya from the 1969 coup until his overthrow and killing during…
Muhammad al-Bukhari
in 833
1 moment here
Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari (810–870) was a hadith scholar from Bukhara whose travels for study, teaching, and transmission ranged across Central…
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
in 1905
1 moment here
Ottoman officer, Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, founder of the Republic of Turkey, and its first president.…
Paul the Apostle
in 31
2 moments here
Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was a first-century Jewish Christian apostle and missionary. The chronology below follows the traditional reconstruction used…
Pompey
in 63 BC
1 moment here
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic.…
Pope John Paul II
in 2001
1 moment here
Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920–2005), Pope John Paul II from 1978, was a Polish Catholic priest, bishop, cardinal, and pope.…
Ramesses II
in 1272 BC
1 moment here
Ramesses II, commonly called Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty.…
Rumi
from 1233 to 1248
2 moments here
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi was a Persian-language poet, jurist, teacher, and Sufi mystic. Born at Wakhsh in the Khwarazmian Empire, he moved with his…
Saddam Hussein
in 1971
1 moment here
Iraqi Ba'athist politician who served as Iraq's president from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003.…
Saladin
in 1193
1 moment here
Kurdish military commander, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and sultan of Egypt and Syria. Born at Tikrit, Saladin rose through the Zengid…
Timur
in 1400
1 moment here
Timur, also known as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror and founder of the Timurid Empire.…
Umm Kulthum
in 1932
1 moment here
Egyptian singer and actress, born Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi. Raised in rural Dakahlia, she moved permanently to Cairo in 1923 and became…
Uthman ibn Affan
in 611
1 moment here
Uthman ibn Affan was the third Rashidun caliph, ruling from 644 until his assassination in Medina in 656.…
Moments
- 1272 BC Advances to Damascus and Upi Ramesses II
- 63 BC Arrival in Damascus Pompey
- 36 BC Passed through Damascus Cleopatra
- 31 Conversion on the road to Damascus Paul the Apostle
- 31 Recovery and baptism at Damascus Paul the Apostle
- 611 Return from Syrian business journey Uthman ibn Affan
- 833 Travel to Damascus Muhammad al-Bukhari
- 943 Completion of the Virtuous City in Damascus Al-Farabi
- 950 Death in Damascus Al-Farabi
- 1095 Journey to Damascus Al-Ghazali
- 1096 Return through Damascus Al-Ghazali
- 1193 Dies at Damascus Saladin
- 1233 Studies in Damascus Rumi
- 1248 Search for Shams in Damascus Rumi
- 1326 Spends Ramadan in Damascus Ibn Battuta
- 1348 Arrives in plague-stricken Damascus Ibn Battuta
- 1348 Returns to Damascus during the plague Ibn Battuta
- 1400 Siege of Damascus Timur
- 1401 Meeting Timur outside Damascus Ibn Khaldun
- 1905 Posted to the Fifth Army in Damascus Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
- 1932 Concert tour in Damascus Umm Kulthum
- 1958 Surprise visit after UAR formation Gamal Abdel Nasser
- 1958 Union declaration in Damascus Gamal Abdel Nasser
- 1962 Migration to Syria Yasser Arafat
- 1970 Visit to Damascus Muammar Gaddafi
- 1971 Meeting with Hafez al-Assad Saddam Hussein
- 1973 Arab summit travel in Damascus Anwar Sadat
- 1975 Vice-presidential mission to Damascus Hosni Mubarak
- 1977 Consultation with Hafez al-Assad Anwar Sadat
- 1980 Meeting in Syria with Mahmoud Darwish and George Habash Yasser Arafat
- 1984 Presidential visit to Damascus Ali Khamenei
- 1988 Funeral procession for Abu Jihad Yasser Arafat
- 2001 Prayer in Umayyad Mosque Pope John Paul II
- 2001 Talks in Damascus Akhmad Kadyrov
- 2012 Syria mission in Damascus Kofi Annan