The Oldest Ḥammām in Damascus

Five bathhouses were identified by Michel Écochard and Claude Le Cœur as the oldest in the ancient city of Damascus, namely, al-Buzūrīyyā, al-ʿAfīf, Sāmī, Sittī ʿAḏrā (destroyed in the 1920s), and as-Surūǧī. These Ḥammāms go all the way back to the 12th or 13th centuries CE. What about that of al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir?!

From a historical standpoint, al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir's would be the oldest of them all, with the caveat that it has undergone such radical transformations throughout its long life that one can no longer identify its original plan. Such was the chronological dislocation between its different components in 1943 (when the classical French study was published) that the oldest part—the so-called "hot chamber"—was deemed ʾAyyūbīd, whereas the "warm chamber" appeared as recent as the 18th century.

Located in intra-muros Damascus, right up against the north wall of al-Madrasā aẓ-Ẓāhirīyyā, this edifice may be identified with Ḥammām alʿAqīqī, constructed according to historical texts prior to 979 CE. If we accept this identification as valid, al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir would by far be the oldest bathhouse in Damascus, bar none.

According to Stefan Weber, the murals of the undressing hall were painted at the turn of the 19th-20th century. The edifice was partly modified during a renovation in 1986-1987.

Michel Écochard et Claude Le Cœur. Les bains de Damas: monographies architecturales. Institut Français de Damas 1942-1943. Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouth.
Jacques de Maussion de Favières. Note sur les Bains de Damas. Bulletin d'Études orientales T. XVII 1961-1963 (pp 121-131).
Stefan Weber. Damascus, Ottoman Modernity and Urban Transformation. Proceedings of the Danish Institute in Damascus V 2009.