National Museum of Damascus

Coordinates: 33°30′45″N 36°17′24″E / 33.512572°N 36.290044°E / 33.512572; 36.290044

National Museum of Damascus المتحف الوطني بدمشق
The façade, which was the gateway to Qasr al-Heer al-Gharbi
Location in Damascus
Established	1979
Location	Damascus, Syria

The National Museum of Damascus (Arabic: المتحف الوطني بدمشق‎) is a large museum in the heart of Damascus, Syria. The most popular part of the museum is the reconstruction of the 2nd century CE Dura-Europos synagogue.^[1]

Location

The National Museum of Damascus lies in the West of the City, between the Damascus University and the Tekkiye Mosque Complex.

History

Collection of exhibits began in 1919, and the current building was constructed in 1936, with wings being added in 1956 and 1975.^[2]

Wings

The exhibits are organised into 5 wings;

Prehistoric Age

Remains and skeletons from different Stone-Age periods.

Ancient Syria

Many Exhibits from ancient sites such as Ebla. The most important of these is the world's first Alphabet.

Classical Age

This wing contains Roman, Greek and Byzantine exhibits. It includes many rare statues, as well as stone and marble sarcophagi. It also includes a jewellery section, and many other exhibits which may not be found in any other part of the world.

Islamic Age

The facade of an Islamic palace has been moved and reconstructed as the museum's main entrance. Some of the contents of the palace are also located in the museum, including carvings.

It also contains many exhibits made of glass and metal, as well as coins, from different periods of Islamic History. There are also scriptures from the Ummayad era to the Ottomans.

There is also a hall containing an example of a traditional Syrian home, which was obtained from an old house which goes back to the 18th century.

There is a library adjacent to this section.

Gallery

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See also

• Deir ez-Zor Museum
• National Museum of Aleppo

References

1. ^ Syria Gate article on the museum
2. ^ Arabic Wikipedia article on the museum