Markt in Damascus

A rare image of a market in Damascus. The city was known for its many bazaars in varying regions, from the fancy and famous bazaars near the Great Umayyad Mosque to the humble shops of Meidan. Considering that the fruit merchants depicted here are dressed like peasants among a number of animals in the open air, this might be either a market on the city’s margins or the center of a caravanserai (a roadside inn), where pack animals are stabled and supplies traded.