- Title: SYRIA: Romantic Damascene Rose makes a comeback
- Date: 21st May 2010
- Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
- Embargoed: 5th June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA1SP184SS46RS1602FD5Z9CSH0
- Story Text: A Syrian campaign aims to revive the famed Damascene Rose, associated with a bygone era of romance and Arab grandeur, from decades of neglect.
The intense smell of the famed Damascene Rose, associated with the city's romantic past and Arab poetry, fills the foothills of the Qalmoun mountain range north of the Syrian capital.
The pink double flower is being revived in its birthplace after decades of neglect that almost sent its cultivation into extinction through a project under the Patronage of Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad and the Syria Trust Development.
Firas Shuman, the National Programme Coordinator Of Small Grants Programme who is overseeing the project said, "The dual benefit of saving the Damascene Rose is that it is an essential part of our heritage. Its Latin name 'Rosa Damassina' comes from Damascus city, so it is our duty as Syrian citizens to save this plant from extinction, aswell as helping civil societies that consider the Damascene Rose as a basic source of income. It is the most important source of income."
Although the Damascene Rose does not need much irrigation if there is enough rainfall, output has declined as residents of the Turkmen village left agriculture for jobs in the bureaucracy and countries such as Turkey and Bulgaria became main producers of the rose.
The rose used to fill Damascus, one of the oldest cities of the world. It was cultivated in the surrounding Gotah gardens, which were heavily bombed by French occupation forces during the Great Syrian Revolt in the 1920s.
Al-Razi, an eminent Arab scientist who is buried in Damascus, wrote about distillation of the petals and its extracts are still thought to heal wounds and treat cancer. One kilogram of Damascene Rose oil, which requires tonnes of petals, can still fetch thousands of dollars.
As Syria's commercial and cultural life declined, so did the Damascene rose as concrete blocks took over the capital's green spaces.
Cheap imitations of the rose extracts now fill the market. A shop called the Damascus Rose sells tulips and imported roses but not the product it was named after.
Bitar has set up a small workshop in his village to extract rosewater, dry the rosebuds and make jam from the petals, but he has yet to find a efficient way to extract the expensive oil.
Bitar's sons help him during the picking season because it is the only season where they are able to take annual leave from their jobs.
Although the flower oil produced in the factory is pure, Bitar hopes for more modern machinery to produce greater quantities in a shorter time period.
"We cultivated it in a large amount so that it can be a main strategic product in Syria, especially as it's a product from our homeland. We have to revive its cultivation in these mountainous areas so that we can establish new factories to produce this expensive oil," said Bitar.
The crusaders, who occupied parts of the Levant, brought the Damascene Rose to Europe, although ancient Egyptians learnt its cultivation from Syria and exported it to Rome.
Legend has it that the warrior Saladin carried loads of the rosewater and sprinkled it over Jerusalem when he liberated the city from the crusaders in 1187.
Nizar Kabbani, an Arab literary giant, said the rose "condenses the history of perfume" and reminded his compatriots of the folly of letting their symbols fall into decay.
"I am your destitute moon, donate me a bed, I haven't slept for centuries," wrote the Syrian poet, who lived for years in exile before his death in 1998. "I am your Damascene rose; put me in the first vase you find." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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