Jamāl Paša in Damascus

 

 Throughout his stay in Syria, Jamāl Paša spared no effort to revive the ancient arts and crafts of the Arab Near East. He was confronted with numerous obstacles: quite few of the ancient methods had been lost, not to mention the severe shortage of creative artisans.

A large workshop was inaugurated in the Salīmīya (*) where plaster windows were carved using traditional patterns and fitted with colored glass. The new creations fell short of the old exquisite ones, destroyed almost in their entirety due to  the fragility of the materials from which they'd been made. 

Professor Stöckle, a German expert appointed by Jamāl Paša, headed a school in Damascus dedicated to studying and reviving the old techniques. Its activities encompass a wide range of Oriental handicrafts: painted faïence, plaster windows, metalwork, woven fabric. Some students would hopefully rise-up to the heights of their ancestors during the classical period and pass the skills thus acquired to the future generations. Therein lay the greatness of Jamāl Paša's ambitious activity, and therein resides hope for the times to come.  

(*) Madrasa Sulaymanīya, erroneously named Salīmīya in numerous works. 

Hans von Kiesling. Damaskus, altes und neues aus Syrien