Straight Street, from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Via Recta ( ''al-Shāriʿ al-Mustaqīm''), known as the Street called Straight () in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, is the old ''

decumanus maximus In Roman urban planning, a ''decumanus'' was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or '' castrum'' (military camp). The main ''decumanus'' of a particular city was the ''decumanus maximus'', or most often simply "the ''decumanus''". In t ...

'', the main east-west

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

, of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. It runs from east to west through the old city. It was originally built during the Seleucid period. According to the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

(9:11),

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

stayed in a house on Straight Street. The western half of the street, including the

Midhat Pasha Souq Midhat Pasha Souq () also called Al-Taweel Souq (, english: ''Long Market'') is a historically important souq which forms the western fraction of the Street Called Straight in Damascus, Syria. History Souq Midhat Pasha is the oldest inhabited st ...

, is today also known as "Midhat Pasha Street", while the eastern half, leading to the

Bab Sharqi Bab Sharqi (; "The Eastern Gate"), also known as the Gate of the Sun, is one of the seven ancient city gates of Damascus, Syria. Its modern name comes from its location in the eastern side of the city. The gate also gives its name to the Christ ...

gate, is known as "Bab Sharqi Street".

History

According to the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

of the English bible: :"And the Lord said unto him (i.e. Ananias), Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth". During the Greek period in Damascus, the city was re-designed by

Hippodamus Hippodamus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Μιλήσιος, ''Hippodamos ho Milesios''; c.480 BCE, 480–408 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosophe ...

, who gave the city a grid structure. The longest of these streets, 1,500 metres in length across the city, was called Straight Street.Jones, Clifford M., ''New Testament Illustrations'', p.13
Retrieved August 2015 The

Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus The Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus, also known as the Maryamiyya Church (), is one of the oldest Greek Orthodox churches in Damascus, Syria and holds the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. The church complex is located on the Stree ...

was built on Straight Street in the 2nd century, and has been rebuilt multiple times since then.Daniel Demeter:
Damaskus – al-Mariyamiyeh Church.
' Syria Photo Guide, 16 July 2014. It currently serves as the seat of the

Antiochian Orthodox Church The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Rūm Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (), is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider communion of E ...

. The western half of the street, including the

, is now named "Midhat Pasha Street", while the eastern half, leading to the

gate is named "Bab Sharqi Street".

Gallery

File:Damascus, Syria , the Straight Street from the W..jpg, The Straight Street, 1860s–1920s File:Souq Medhat Pasha 02.jpg ,

File:Damascus Old Town Midhat Pasha Street.jpg , Midhat Pasha Street File:Bab Sharqi Street, Damascus.jpg , Bab Sharqi Street File:Roman triumphal arch, Damascus.jpg , Roman triumphal arch on Damascus Straight Street File:Bab Sharqi, Damascus.jpg ,

References

External links

{{coord, 33, 30, 33, N, 36, 18, 41, E, type:landmark, display=title Ancient Damascus Streets in Damascus