Damascus

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Damascus in "Departures"
It was while on a trading run to Damascus that Mouamet thought he heard the Angel Gabriel tell him to follow Christian monk preaching in the marketplace. This led Mouamet into a monastic life at Ir-Ruhaiyeh, where he composed sublime hymns.

Decades later, the invading Persians forced the monks to flee. The Abbot (Isaac (Abbot)|Isaac]], briefly considered moving the monestary to Damascus, but feared it might fall to the Persians.

Damascus in Crosstime Traffic
In the home timeline, Damascus was destroyed in 2033 by an atomic bomb in a terrorist attack. Even as late as 2096, no one had claimed responsiblity, and the culprit was unknown, although there was no shortage of suspects.