Now, as Khalid stood outside Damascus, he was setting his arm against his most dangerous foe so far. Damascus was one of the leading cities in Byzantine Syria, a prestigious imperial redoubt on the desert’s edge, a city as ancient as some of the oldest biblical tales, crisscrossed by streets and fine canals, run through by a broad thoroughfare known as the Street Called Straight, dotted everywhere with churches and home to the magnificent Christian relic of John the Baptist’s head.
