The religion of Sham was considered "pagan" by the early Christians and Muslims.......was the cult of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), the worship of the divine spirit by whom the whole universe is ruled, the spirit whose symbol is the sun.....also the Solar Cosmology of Mithra

Assyrian sun god.....Sham -ash, Ash-Sham.......rises from the mountains with rays out of his shoulders. He enters and exits the underworld through a set of gates in Mt. Mashu guarded by scorpion-people.

Ash-Sham in Syriac means "goodness"

KABALAH...(48E 42N)...On the Caspian Sea where the Caucasus Mountains meet the sea, in the Shirvan province is the capital Ash-Shamakha, near the famous port of Darband. In the mountains near Darband was the ancient fortress of Kabalah, on a hill, near the current Soviet border. north of the port of Baku. Location of a great castle called Kal'ah Taj. The remains of a mighty castle (kal'ah), a 'mother of castles' situated on the great Tarum River that flowed from the mountains of Tarum in northern Persia. Like Samiran, its site remains unidentified. On its walls were lions of gold. The ancient fortress of Kabalah near Darband is more than once mentioned in the campaigns of Timur. Le Strange, G...."The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate"...1966

ASH SHAMAKHA....(49E..41N)...(Shemakha)..."Beyond the Kur River (Araxes), along the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus Range is the Shirvan Province with its capital of Ash-Shamakha, site of the fountain of life.. Foot of the mountains. Beautiful gardens. In the mountains of Darband was the fortress of Kabalah, on a hill." (Le Strange; 1966..pg 179)...

The Kingdom of Sham, or al-Sham as known to the Arab historians, spread from Damascus to Susa in Elam and North to the Caucasus Mountains......It's capital in 700 BC was Calah (near the present site of Nimrud)......Sham in Arabic evidently means Sun

In Hebrew, the word for sun is:shemesh, sheh'-mesh; from an unused root mean. to be brilliant; the sun; by impl. the east; fig. a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement:-- + east side (-ward), sun ([rising]), + west (-ward), window.

The following account comes from the Royal Archives of Assyria and dates from the seventh century BCE. The speaker is the Emperor Ashurnasirpal (883-859 BCE) displaying his royal power. The feast was held to commemorate the inauguration of his new palace ( "The Palace Of Juniper") in the capital city of Calah. The New Assyrian Empire, though short, was one that combined various cultures into a unique culture.

624 AD....."In 624 AD, a Moslem invasion weakened the Kingdom of Shambhala."(Roerich: 1974..pg 753) (Geoffrey Hopkins: 1985..pg 60)...

624 AD..(Arabic Historians)......"The Great Battle of Badr took place two years after the Hijra in 624 AD. This was the first battle that the believers ever engaged in with the disbelievers, and it is, by far, the most famous and most renown, becuase of the several extraordinary events that occured during it. Rasoolullah (saws) had encouraged the Muslims to oppose the Quraish caravan which was returning to Mecca from Sham." ......At this battle the pagan army from Sham consisted of 950 warriors.........

They went to Wad! al Qura where they tarried a while and then proceeded northward until they reached Adhri'at near the frontier of al Sham,

in 624 C.E., a non-Indic religion will arise in Mecca. Because of a lack of unity among the brahmans?people and laxity in following correctly the injunctions of their Vedic scriptures, many will accept this religion when its leaders threaten an invasion. To prevent this danger, Manjushri Yashas united the people of Shambhala into a single "vajra-caste" by conferring upon them the Kalachakra empowerment. By his act, the king became the First Kalki ?the First Holder of the Caste. ........... As the founding of Islam dates from 622 C.E., two years before Kalachakra? predicted date, most scholars identify the non-Indic religion with that faith. Descriptions of the religion elsewhere in the Kalachakra texts as having the slaughter of cattle while reciting the name of its god, circumcision, veiled women, and prayer facing its holy land five times a day reinforce their conclusion.

In 624 AD the Sassian Shah Yazdigird is defeated by the Arabs at the battle of Nahavand...In Iran, the great Sassanian dynasty collapsed in the 7th century under the Arab onslaught...."in the era of the Mlecchas, the starting year of the Kalacakra chronology is the first year of the Hijra, calculated from the year 624 AD."..(Roerich:1949...pg 753)....

624 AD...'the Emperor Heraclkes captures the Persian residence of Ganzaca (Ganjak) with its cosmic throne room." (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 484)...

Click Here for Map of Damascus and Calah in 600 BC...

Damascus, Syria.....has the reputation of being the oldest city in the world though there are no actual records of when Damascus was founded - as records were not kept by its early inhabitants. More recent discoveries suggest that Damascus was first settled ca. 6,000 B.C. but some discoveries suggest that it is older than 8,000 B.C. but we don't know exactly who ruled Damascus at that time. An old story says that its name "Sham" was derived from "Shem" the eldest son of Noah because he chose to live there after the flood.

Damascus (Arab. Dimisk es-Sham, or simply es-Sham), the EYE OF THE EAST or the pearl of the East for the Arabs, is now the capital of Syria. The city stands 2267 feet above sea level and enjoys a very mild climate, owing to the Barada, which runs through it and to its numerous fountains or springs. It is surrounded by the groves and gardens of the Ghouta which stretch about ten miles south and east and include twenty-nine villages, the inhabitants of which are devoted to fruit culture (oranges, lemons, etc. especially plums and apricots).

Sh�m (Shem) is the Syriac name of the elder son of Noah. His name is in Arabic is Sam. After The Flood, Sham decided to live in the land which is today called Damascus. Sham became the name of a land that includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. Some geographers refer to this land (Bilad al-Sham) as the Great Syria.

n Hebrew, the word for sun is:.......shemesh, sheh'-mesh; from an unused root mean. to be brilliant; the sun; by impl. the east; fig. a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement:-- + east side (-ward), sun ([rising]), + west (-ward), window.

Historically, pagan Babylon worshipped the sun as a deity, and pagan Rome also worshipped the invincible sun. The Roman Catholic Church, with the assistance of Caesar (Constantine), changed the day of worship from Sabbath to the Sun Day and commonly uses images and symbols of the sun.

a tablet from the early 9th century B.C. which depicts the� Babylonian sun-god Shamash seated on the right, holding emblems of his authority, a staff and ring, and the king with two attendants on the left. In the center, on an altar, is a large 4-point sun image, with additional small wavy rays between the points.

The Assyrian Calendar begins with the first recorded year of the "beginning of civilization" (shooraya d'mdeetanayoota) as seen through the eyes of the ancient Bet-Nahranaye (Mesopotamians). These ancient inhabitants of Assyria, Babylon, and Sumer believed that civilization was a "gift from the gods" and it was marked from the time "kingship was lowered from heaven."

based on the research findings of their contemporary archaeologists the first construction of the city of Ashur's temple during the Uruk Period took place around 4750 B.C. This date was then recorded as the beginning of "civilization" in Mesopotamia.