Deir ez-Zor (; Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܙܥܘܪܬܐ, Dayrāʾ Zəʿōrtāʾ) is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located to the northeast of the capital Damascus on the banks of the Euphrates River, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 census, it had a population of 271,800. Etymology Ad-Deir is a common shorthand for Deir Ez-Zor. In Syriac, Zeʿūrta (ܙܥܘܪܬܐ) means "little"; hence, Dīrā Zeʿūrta means "small habitation". The current name, which has been extended to the surrounding region, indicates an ancient site for one of the Early Christian secluded monasteries spread since the persecution times and Apostolic Age throughout Mesopotamia. Although Deir (ܕܝܪܐ), which is Arabic (borrowed from Syriac) for "monastery", is believed to have been kept throughout the various Medieval and modern age renamings, Zor, which indicates the riverbank bush, appeared only in some late Ottoman records of the Deir ez-Zor Vilayet. Many different romanizations are used, including Deir Ezzor, Deir Al-Zor, Deir-al-Zour, Dayr Al-Zawr, Der Ezzor, Deir Azzor, Der Zor, and Deirazzor. History Ancient history Archaeological findings in Deir Ezzor indicate that the area has been inhabited since the ninth millennium BC. While the current location of the city has not always had a significant population, it was always an urban area, usually subordinate to more powerful cities, such as kingdoms like the Kingdom of Mari, which rose in the third millennium BC. During the third millennium BC, the Amorites settled the area and established the kingdom of Yamhad, one of whose urban centers was the city of Deir Ez-Zor (alongside Mayadeen, Qars, and Tarka and its capital of Aleppo). The city didn't suffer during the succession of major empires (such as the Akkadian and Assyrian Empire) when some military campaigns by the emperors were destroying entire urban centers for fear of future rebellion, as Deir al-Zour was too small to be considered a threat. In the third century BC, Alexander the Great crossed the region and built the city of Dura-Europos. Although influenced by Greek culture, the Aramaic language remained prevalent in the city. When Syria came under the Roman Empire in 64 BC, Deir Ez-Zor was a small, marginal village known as Azdra, which the Romans made the center of the region and founded a strong military garrison. Deir Ez-Zor came under the reign of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra in the third century, within an