DAMASCUS, THE CAPITAL OF SYRIA, IS ABSURDLY OLD

Sarah,
  
In my last post, I gave a short summary of the war in Syria.  Right now, battles are raging on the streets of Damascus, Syria's capital.  I have to tell you some very quick details about this city.

Damascus is 8,000 years old.  It is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.  This means that the very first group of humans that gave up on following big herds of animals for a living picked Damascus as the spot to settle down and try to grow plants to eat.  When the “ancient” Romans conquered the city it was already 6000 years old.

Further, this is about the 900th time the city has been destroyed by fighting.   The city has been conquered by Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Mongols, the Ottomans, and the British.  Also, you could argue that conflict with Israel is nothing new.  In 900 B.C. the city of Damascus won a major battle that stopped the original Israelites from expanding.

Bottom Line: America is really young.  Damascus is about 50 times older than San Francsico.