Preserving the Old City of Damascus

Frontispiece, Title Page, Copyright Page, In Memoriam

Preserving the Old City of Damascus Contemporary Issues in the Middle East Mehran Kamrava and Carol Fadda-Conrey, Series Editors Map of Damascus depicting modern neighborhoods and the Old City. The Old City is the oval-shaped neighborhood. Preserving the Old City of Damascus F A E D A H M . T O T A H Syr a cu se Uni v er sit y Pr e ss Copyright © 2014 by Syracuse University Press Syracuse, New York 13244-5290 All Rights Reserved First Edition 2014 14 15 16 17 18 19 6 5 4 3 2 1 All photographs taken by the author. ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. ISBN: 978-0-8156-3349-5 (cloth) 978-0-8156-5262-5 (e-book) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Totah, Faedah M. Preserving the old city of Damascus / Faedah M. Totah. — First Edition. pages cm. — (Contemporary issues in the Middle East) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8156-3349-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8156-5262-5 (ebook) 1. Gentrification—Syria—Damascus. 2. Urban renewal—Social aspects— Syria—Damascus. 3. Neighborhoods—Syria—Damascus—Sociological aspects. 4. Sociology, Urban—Syria—Damascus. I. Title. HT178.S982D367 2014 307.3'41609569144—dc 3 2014006519 Manufactured in the United States of America In memory of my father Musa I. Totah and mother Su‘ad S. Totah. And in remembrance of my niece Sandra Ghassan Totah. ...