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Damascus World Heritage listing covers the urban setting of Saladin’s tomb

In 1979 UNESCO listed the Ancient City of Damascus, the urban setting of the tomb later associated with Saladin beside the Umayyad Mosque. In the causal graph this event strengthens Humanitarian Access, a driver that strengthens People Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC) — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

In 1979 UNESCO listed the Ancient City of Damascus, the urban setting of the tomb later associated with Saladin beside the Umayyad Mosque. The listing is a conservation-access instrument. He died in 1193 in the received chronology; he did not file 1979.

Context

War damage in the twenty-first century is a later harm to the same city, not this listing.

Saladin is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

A World Heritage polygon is not a saint’s relic authentication.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Saladin

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.16 · verified

    Sultan and court, later chroniclers, restorers, or nationalist users. Complex, not a sole autograph of 1187.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.UNESCO — Ancient City of DamascusUNESCO World Heritage Centre · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — SaladinEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Confidence is stated on the impact path.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorSaladin
  2. contributed toFactDamascus World Heritage listing covers the urban setting of Saladin’s tomb
  3. strengthensDriverHumanitarian Access
  4. strengthensIndicatorPeople Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Damascus World Heritage listing covers the urban setting of Saladin’s tomb. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/sa-damascus-tomb-as-heritage

https://factrail.ai/facts/sa-damascus-tomb-as-heritage

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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