[8] After taking Aleppo, Timur continued his advance where he took Hama, along with nearby Homs and Baalbek,[9] and besieged Damascus.

He then raided the surroundings of the city including Qatana, Al-Kiswah, Darayya, Lake Hula, and Hauran.

[10] He later fought an army led by the Mamluk Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj which was defeated outside Damascus leaving the city at the mercy of the Mongol besiegers.

[11] With his army defeated by January 1401, the Mamluk sultan dispatched a deputation from Cairo, including Ibn Khaldun, who negotiated with him, but after their withdrawal he put the city to sack.

[16] Timur interpreted this action as an insult to himself, and in 1402 he moved his army towards the Ottoman city of Sebaste (modern Sivas).