. (
Mari, 25th century BC)
Ancient history to the southeast of Deir ez-Zor
Archaeological findings in Deir ez-Zor indicate that the area has been inhabited since the ninth millennium BC. While the region was not densely populated, it was an urban area subordinate kingdoms like the Kingdom of
Mari, which rose in the third millennium BC.
Muslim conquest 's army from
Iraq to
the Levant region (Upper Mesopotamia) in the 8th century.
Iyad played a leading role in the Muslim conquest of the region. After the end of the
Ridda wars in the
Arabian Peninsula,
Abu Bakr sent four armies to
the Levant, led by
Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan,
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah,
Amr ibn al-Aas, and
Shurahbil ibn Hasana. Because of the strength and size of the armies of the
Byzantine Empire, Abu Bakr ordered
Khalid ibn al-Walid to march with half of the Muslim Arab army to the Levant and command the armies there. Khalid set off with his army towards Sham and opened
Bosra and then defeated the Byzantines at the
Battle of Ajnadayn. After
Umar ibn Al-Khattab became
caliph in 13 AH (634 AD), Khalid was replaced by
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. Abu Ubaidah was ordered to complete the
conquest. He took
Damascus,
Baalbek,
Homs,
Hama and
Latakia. After the successive defeats of the
Byzantine army, the
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius requested the help of the
Assyrian Christians in
Mesopotamia. They mobilized a large army and headed towards Homs, now the base of Abu Ubaidah in northern
Syria, which they besieged. Heraclius also sent soldiers from
Alexandria.
Omar ibn al-Khattab wrote to
Saad ibn Abi Waqqas to request support Abu Ubaidah with forces from Iraq, who were then organized under
Iyad ibn Ghanm. When the Byzantines who were besieging Homs heard about the army coming from Iraq, they withdrew from Homs. Saad ordered Iyad to invade
Upper Mesopotamia, which he conquered in 17 AH, including Deir Ez-Zor. At the time, Deir Ez-Zor were adherents of Syriac Christianity and Judaism. There was a
Christian monastery in Monastery of the Hermits, which became Omari Mosque. Many of the town's indigenous Christians left. During the
Abbasid era, Deir Ez-Zor grew. The agriculture in the region prospered because of advances in irrigation. The small town, now called 'Deir Al-Rumman,' did not record any significant events during the decline of the Abbasid state and the ensuing
Mamluk period until its destruction by the
Mongols in the thirteenth century. Some Arab and European travellers visited it and described its construction, economy, and the nature of its inhabitants. According to the description, "Its houses are adjacent over an artificial hill, and its inhabitants are strong, polite, and welcome guests. Their crops were wheat, barley, cotton, and corn, along with orchards full of fruit species, including
palm trees, lemons, and oranges, the chess game is common among elders".
Second Ottoman Era (1864–1918) Zor Sanjak On 2 January 1858, the
Ottoman government launched a military campaign under the command of
Omar Pasha (Croatian) consisting of 500 soldiers to subdue the tribes in the Euphrates region. The campaign reached Deir Ez-Zor city and fought against the city's residents, where 16 Ottoman soldiers were killed. After the
Ottoman army subdued the city, Omar Pasha recruited 16 young men from the city to replace the Ottoman soldiers killed. In 1864 the city revolted against Ottoman rule, and Soraya Pasha, the governor of Aleppo, sent a military force to suppress it. After the campaign, Soraya Pasha came to Deir ez-Zor He made it the center of the district's headquarters (
Qaimakamiyya), and he returned to Aleppo after appointing Omar Pasha governor, whose rule did not last more than 6 months. Khalil Bey Saqib was appointed as
Kaymakam of Deir ez-Zor after it was annexed to Aleppo. During his reign, it established the government house (Dar Al Saraya), a military barracks, a hospital and some trade markets. Some of the arrivals from
Urfa settled in the city to help Khalil Bey Saqib with the administration, as well as starting campaigns to settle the Bedouin in urban centers on the Euphrates. In 1868, the
Qaimakamiyya was transformed to the
Zor Sanjak, which did not report to the
wali but reported directly to the
Grand Vizier in
Istanbul. Its ruler (
Mutasarrıf) was granted wide powers and its area was extended to include the city of
Raqqa and
Hasakah. Deir ez-Zor was the last destination of the forced displacement of Armenian convoys and the scene of killings and slaughter by the Turkish
gendarmerie, where the
Ottoman authorities planned to exterminate Armenians. These plans failed because the people of Deir ez-Zor regretted what happened to the Armenian men, women, and children, prompting the mayor Haj
Fadel Al-Aboud to help protect them and provide them with food, housing, safety and livelihoods. Despite Armenians coming to the region as part of death marches, the liberation that they achieved ultimately benefited the city, increasing population and growth rates. Historically, the city of Deir ez-Zor has been a special place for Armenians in
Syria and the
Armenian Diaspora. The
Armenian genocide Memorial Church, which was officially built in 1991, includes a museum containing some remains, collectibles and maps for memory of the martyrs who died in that area by the
Ottoman Turks. The city later became a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of thousands of Armenians on 24 April each year, after being declared in 2002 by
Catholicos Aram I of the
Armenian Orthodox of
Cilicia as a pilgrimage to the Armenians.
Post World War I First government of Haj Fadel , Head of Deir ez-Zor Government in 1918 in 1920 Trouble broke out in the city of Deir al-Zour after the
Ottomans left on 6 November 1918, where people began looting and stealing from each other across the area, so it was necessary to have a strong authority for protecting the city and its people and that led Al-Hassan who was the mayor to form his first government in the city and asking all tribal leaders in the villages and surrounding districts to support him and pledge allegiance to him. One of the priorities of this government was maintain the security and running the affairs of the city. This government later known as the "
Haj Fadel Government". The government continued until the arrival of Sharif Nasser, the cousin of prince
Faisal Bin Al-Hussein, on 1 December 1918, and
Mar'i Pasha al-Mallah on 7 December 1918.
British period On 11 January 1919, the
British army occupied the city via the Iraqi border and annexed it to Iraqi territory. The British government took care of the security and cleanliness of the city and set up a primary school that started teaching English.
Fadel Al-Aboud remained mayor, During this period, Fadel Al-Aboud and a number of leaders of the
Baggara tribe,
Agedat and other tribes represented the
Euphrates region at the
Syrian National Congress held in late June 1919 Which declared on 8 March 1920 the independence of Syria and establishment of
Arab Kingdom of Syria and the appointment of
Faisal Ibn Al-Sharif Hussein as King. The people of Deir ez-Zor sought to get rid of British rule and wrote their wish to the
Arab government in
Damascus, The Iraqi officers of the Iraqi "
Al-'Ahd Party" in Damascus wanted to occupy Deir ez-Zor to make it a base to liberate Iraq from the
British occupation. So they appointed
Ramadan al-Shallash as governor of
Raqqa to be a step to liberate Deir ez-Zor, Officer Ramadan al-Shallash came and occupied Deir ez-Zor with the help of her people and "Albu Saraya" clan, and British troops withdrew on 27 December 1919 to the Iraqi border.
Second government of Haj Fadel On 27 December 1919, Ramadan al-Shallash took over the administration of Deir Ez-Zor as a military ruler, and his authority was nominal and the real ruling was to the city's notables, and they were not satisfied with his actions. Hence, they took him out of the city after two months. After the
Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920 and occupation of Damascus by the French forces, the city of Deir ez-Zor was in a state of chaos and insecurity, which prompted Al-Hassan to form his second government, Which has done great services in protecting the city and maintaining the security of its people despite its limited capabilities. This government continued its work until 23 November 1920, when it was dissolved by a decision of the French occupation authorities. King
Faisal left Syria for Hauran then
Haifa and from there to
Como in Italy then to London in October 1920 at the invitation of the
British royal family, Upon his departure, the monarchy in Syria ended and began the
French Mandate era.
French Mandate In July 1920, French General
Henri Gouraud issued an ultimatum to the government of
King Faisal, known as the "Gouraud ultimatum", he set four days to accept it. Although the Syrian government accepted the ultimatum and accepted the demands of General Gouraud to demobilize the Syrian army and withdraw the soldiers from the mounds of the village of
Majdal Anjar in violation of the decision of the
Syrian National Congress, on 24 July 1920, French troops began to march on the orders of General Goubeier (By order of General Gouraud) towards Damascus, While the Syrian army stationed on the border was retreating, and when General Gouraud asked about this matter, replied that Faisal's message by accepting the ultimatum had reached him after the deadline. On 24 July 1920, the
Battle of Maysalun ended with the loss of the Syrian army and the death of the
Minister of War Yusuf al-'Azma, After its control over the entire Syrian territory, France resorted to the fragmentation of Syria into several independent states or entities: •
State of Damascus (1920). •
State of Aleppo (1920). •
Alawite State (1920). •
The State of Greater Lebanon (1920). •
Jabal Druze State (1921). •
Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921). The city of Deir ez-Zor,
Raqqa and
Al-Hasakah were followed to
Aleppo. When the
French colonial forces entered Deir Ez-Zor on 9 November 1921, the region was locally ruled by Fadel Al-Aboud, a member of an aristocratic family; after a while, protests and demonstrations against occupation broke out, A group of French armored vehicles and dozens of soldiers encircled the house of Fadel Al-Aboud, where he was arrested and transferred to the military airport of Deir al-Zour and then transported by military aircraft to
Aleppo, where he was imprisoned in the
castle and during his imprisonment he met with the leader
Ibrahim Hanano, In June 1922 he was released and returned to Deir Ez-Zor. Al-Ayyash managed to form a revolutionary group of thirteen armed men who were ready to take any military action against the French forces. They are: The French were incensed for losing contact with their officers and began an extensive campaign including planes to search for them and when they found their bodies and inquired from the informants about the names of the
revolutionaries, they sent a large military force equipped with heavy guns and planes to attack the Albu Saraya clan and blockade it.
French planes began bombing the clan villages with a devastating bombardment where the houses were destroyed, as were children and women and killed. Livestock was destroyed, as well as farms and crops. Civilians were killed, among them "Hanash Al-Mousa Al-Ani," "Ali Al-Najras," and a pregnant woman, and many were wounded by bullets and shrapnel from Airplane bombs. All of this was to pressure the people to surrender the revolutionaries. When the
French realised that the bombing did not convince the local people to give up the revolutionaries, they threatened to arrest the women of the revolutionaries, their mothers and sisters until the revolutionaries surrender themselves to the French, when the news arrived to the revolutionaries, they emerged from their hideouts and surrendered themselves to avoid arresting their women. The revolutionaries were tried in
Aleppo, where the family of
Ayyash Al-Haj appointed lawyer Fathallah Al-Saqqal to defend her; the court heard (officer Bono) head of the
French intelligence in Deir Ez-Zor, who said: if each of the criminals, who committed this terrible offense deserve dying once, the gang leader Mohammed Al-Ayyash is deserving hanging twice. Shortly after
Ayyash Al-Haj family's living in
Jableh, the French authorities assassinated Ayyash Al-Haj in a café outside the city by poisoning his coffee, and prevented the transfer of his body to Deir Ez-Zor city for reasons of public security, He was buried in Jableh in the cemetery of Sultan
Ibrahim ibn Adham Mosque where the absent prayers held for the spirit of this martyr
mujahid in all the Syrian cities. In 1941, the twenty-fifth government was formed in the modern history of Syria and the tenth in the era of the
first Syrian Republic. The first after
Taj al-Din al-Hassani became president, which gathered the various pillars of politics in Syria, during which the independence of Syria was proclaimed. The federal rule recognized the financial and administrative independence of
Lattakia and
Sweida. In this government, Mohammad Bey al-Ayesh took over
the Ministry of National Economy to be the first minister from Deir ez-Zor and the Eastern Province. After his tenure, it dedicated the tradition of allocating a ministerial seat to a
bourgeoisie in Deir Ez-Zor in successive
Syrian Governments. And in the same year (1941), British-led forces defeated the
Vichy French during the
Syria–Lebanon campaign, which included a battle over Deir ez-Zor. They handed administration of the region to the
Free French. The city has maintained its struggle and political role in addition to its civil activity even during the independence phase; in 1946, the wheat uprising against Governor Makram al-Atassi began due to the monopoly of the authority with the good wheat in the city, and the people succeeded in obtaining their rights. In 1952 cotton cultivation was widespread, and automated pumping engines were introduced, which increased the area of arable land and cotton became the first crop of the city instead of wheat. The discovery of oil and salt during the reign of the second Syrian republic near the city helped to develop and expand urbanization and the increase the number of public and private companies that working in it, as well as increasing migration from the
countryside towards it.
Civil war Protests (2011–2012) Deir ez-Zor was one of the first cities that saw large demonstrations at the start of the
Syrian civil war. The demonstrations began in the city on 15 March 2011, which was the first day in the movement of protests demanding the overthrow of the Syrian government. On 15 April 2011, a large demonstration was launched from the city's stadium despite the using of live bullets by the
security forces and the militias supporting it. In the demonstrations on Friday, 22 April 2011 (the sixth Friday in the history of the
Syrian revolution), the statue of
Basil al-Assad was shot down, until then, the Syrian government had been cautious about the protests in Deir ez-Zor, because of their clan nature and the size of their area and the presence of quantities of weapons in it stored from the days of the Iraq war. When the demonstrators headed towards the statue of Basil al-Assad, the
riot police fired only in the air. It is said that the demonstrators were not shot and prevented from dropping the statue because the security commanders did not know or appreciate the reaction that the people of the city could issue if one of the demonstrators were killed. Syrian security forces took complete control of the city in August 2011, but the
Free Syrian Army (associated with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces) returned to take control in June 2012. In recent years, Deir ez-Zor has remained a focal point in counterterrorism operations, with remnants of the Islamic State (IS) conducting insurgent attacks in the region. Its strategic location near the Iraq-Syria border has made it a critical area for both Syrian government forces and international coalitions monitoring extremist movements.
Partial ISIS takeover (2014–2017) By the beginning of 2014,
ISIS announced the annexation of the city after ousting the
FSA and a detachment of
Syrian Armed Forces remained besieged in a small section of Deir Ez-Zor. The Deir Ez Zor district remained one of the few Syrian Government strongholds in eastern Syria for more than two years. ISIS militants launched an
offensive in May 2015, capturing
Palmyra and cutting off the remaining supply line to Deir ez-Zor. The city was then effectively under siege by ISIS, leaving supplies to be solely delivered by transport helicopters. By 3 November 2017, the SAA had
fully recaptured the city. Concurrently with its operations to capture Deir ez-Zor, the Syrian Army launched a
campaign to secure the whole western bank of the Euphrates, which ended on 17 December 2017. From 8 September 2017 to 23 March 2019,
a military operation east of the Euphrates River led by the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the
CJTF–OIR took place against the last bastion of the Islamic State in Syria. The campaign ended with a decisive victory for the SDF and its allies, and resulted in the capture of all of ISIL territory in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate after the
Battle of Baghuz Fawqani. In December 2022,
oil workers were killed by ISIS. In late August 2023, multiple
skirmishes took place between SDF fighters and local Arab tribes which left dozens killed. On 6 December 2024, pro-government forces withdrew from the city during the
Deir ez-Zor offensive. Subsequently, the Syrian Democratic Forces captured the city. Following clashes between rebel forces under the
Military Operations Command and the SDF, the city ended up in the hands of rebel forces after the SDF withdrew on 11 December 2024. ==Economy==