Damascus, Paradise on Earth (5/39)

Damascus, Paradise on Earth (5/39)

Once the legendary dynasty of the Omayyads had chosen Damascus as its capital in the 7th century, the Syrian city acquired a fabulous reputation. For almost 100 years Damascus was the cultural linchpin of the world, a city where the most learned men of the Mediterranean region lived and the most skillful craftsmen far and wide worked. The Omayyad caliphs contributed to this golden age; they summoned, for example, the most skilled craftsmen in Byzantium to work on the mosaics in the newly constructed Omayyad Mosque.

The name Damascus, however, is closely connected not only with Islamic history but also with Christianity. The nearby Mount Kassyoum is regarded as the place where Cain is said to have murdered Abel. The apostle Paul met his destiny at Damascus: here he underwent his conversion. Even today there are still numerous Christian communities in this town.

Nachdem das legendäre Geschlecht der Omayaden in der Mitte des 7. Jahrhunderts Damaskus als Sitz gewählt hatte, erlangte die syrische Stadt einen legendären Ruf. Knapp 100 Jahre lang war Damaskus kultureller Brennpunkt der Welt, eine Stadt, in der die gelehrtesten Männer des Mittelmeerraumes lebten und die geschicktesten Handwerker weit und breit arbeiteten. Die Omayadenkalifen trugen zu dieser Blüte entscheidend bei und ließen beispielsweise für die Mosaikarbeiten der neu erbauten Omayadenmoschee eigens die besten Fachleute aus Byzanz ins Land kommen.

This series portrays landscapes, metropoles, sacred sites and monuments, all of which have made a unique contribution to the cultural heritage of mankind. Each episode breathes life into civilizations which thrived in the past ten thousand years, some of them then vanishing without a trace into the shadows of history. The films describe epochs whose legacy lingers in the perceptions and ideas of our own age, and cult sites which have managed to preserve their religious and cultural power up to the present day.