Standing overlooking the Euphrates to the south of Deir ez Zor stands Dura Europos, the ancient city of Tarqa, capital of the Khana kingdom in the 2nd millennium B.C. and magnificent Roman outpost!

Encircled by a huge wall and set 90 metres above the Euphrates, the city’s name means “fortress of Europe” and was also the name of the village in distant Macedonia where Alexander the Great was born. The Sassanids, a Persian people, finally destroyed Dura Europos in 256AD. After this it was covered by mud and desert sands for 1,600 years only to be rediscovered by a British soldier digging trenches during the First World War.

In 1928 excavations began and a city of many civilizations was slowly uncovered - temples to Greek, Roman and Palmyrene gods, as well as the world's earliest identified site of Christian worship were found.

Today it is a seemingly unremarkable and yet very important site.

Mari lies 120 km south of Deir ez Zor as is a stone’s throw from the Iraq border. The Mari Kingdom dates back to the 3rd millennium B.C. and was ruled by kings of the 10th dynasty after the Great Flood. 20,000 tablets with cuneiform inscriptions recounting the political and diplomatic life all those years ago were found together with many other remains which can be seen in the country’s main museums.

As with Dura Europos the site is unprepossessing and underwhelming, however is important for the insight into the past it has given.