azm palace

The Azm Palace in Damascus, set ablaze by the French air raid on October 18, 1925.
The Azm Palace, home to the 18th century governors of Damascus, was seized by Syrian rebels during the uprising of 1925. They wrongly believed that the French High Commissioner Henri Sarrail was spending the night there and tried to kidnap him and exchange him for 1,000 arrested Syrian prisoners. The French responded with heavy bombing of the Palace.

A group of women attending a conference for women's rights at the Azm Palace in the 1940s
A group of women attending a conference for women's rights at the Azm Palace in the 1940s.

Education Minister delivering a speech at the opening of the Azm Palace in 1955
Seated in the front row are President Hashem al-Atasi, along with Prime Minister Said al-Ghazzi, and ex-prime ministers Nasuh al-Boukhari and Hasan al-Hakim.

Education Minister Munir al-Ajlani at the opening of the Azm Palace in Old Damascus in 1955
Munir al-Ajlani, the Minister of Education and professor at Damascus University, delivering a speech at the opening of the Azm Palace Museum in 1955. Seated before him, second from left, is the journalist Habib Kahaleh

President Hashem al-Atasi walking through the Azm Palace Museum at its opening in 1955
Behind him walk prime ministers Said al-Ghazzi, Hasan al-Hakim, and Nasuh al-Boukhari.

President Hafez al-Assad at the Azm Palace in Damascus with a group of Syrian artists in 1973
President Hafez al-Assad at the Azm Palace in Damascus with a group of Syrian artists in 1973. Third from left is Bahjat al-Ustaz (a singer from the 1950s known by the art name Fata Dimashq), and behind him stand the singer Fahd Ballan and the actor Shaker Barikhan. Next to Ustaz is the singer Jalal Salim, then the director Samir Qasim, followed by Fawzi al-Kayyali, the Minister of Culture, President Assad, and the actress Najah Hafeez. On the ground are the dancers Ghalia Hindawi, Layla Sulayman, along with the actors Mohammad al-Tayyib (left) and Mohammad Sheikh Najib (far right).

President Shukri al-Quwatli and King Hussein of Jordan at the Azm Palace in Damascus in August 1957
From left to right: Palestinian journalist Mohammad Ali Eltaher, King Hussein, President Shukri al-Quwatli, Syrian Prime Minister Sabri al-Asali. Eltaher was a good friend of President Quwatli from their joint days in exile in Egypt in the 1920s. His newspaper Asshoura was mouthpeice of the Arab liberation movements against European mandates in North Africa and the Middle East. From the archives of Mohammad Ali Eltaher (www.eltaher.org).

King Hussein of Jordan visiting the Azm Palace in 1957 with President Shukri al-Quwatli
From left to right: Sheikh Mekki al-Kutabi, the Damascus-based Palestinian journalist Mohammad Ali Eltaher, King Hussein of Jordan, President Shukri al-Quwatli. From the archives of Mohammad Ali Eltaher (www.eltaher.org).

The Azm Palace after a French air strike on October 18, 1918
The Azm Palace, home of the 18th Century governors of Ottoman Damascus, was transformed into headquarters of the French High Commissioner during the years of the Mandate. In October 1918, Syrian rebels attacked it, thinking that they would capture the French High Commissioner Maurice Sarrail. Once traped inside, the French began to strike at the Old City and inflicted heavy damage on the Palace.