A historical overview of Damascene crafts

The city of Damascus has been known since ancient times for its craftsmen, industry, merchants, and trade. The Damascene craftsman was distinguished by skill, mastery, patience, and innovation. Crafts have a greatest chief, who is the sheikh of the sheikhs, and secondary chiefs, who are the sheikhs of the crafts, teachers, craftsmen, beginners, or servants in each craft separately. They have words and symbols that are made with hands and feet, and they have drawings for every matter from which they do not deviate. They have a ceremony called "shadd" or "salting," which they conduct for the novice when he moves from his rank to that of a craftsman, and another when he moves from the rank of a craftsman to that of a teacher. They have meetings, secrets, conferences, elections, and banquets. This book, despite its small size, is rich in information and details about the Damascene craft. The book was published in its first edition in 1883 by the Syrian writer and historian Elias Abdo Qudsi, who wrote several books in different fields. He died in Damascus in 1926 AD.