▁ ▁Up ▁until ▁the ▁later ▁Ott oman ▁era , ▁De ir ▁al - Bal ah ▁was ▁referred ▁to ▁in ▁Arab ic ▁as ▁" D ar um " ▁or ▁" D ar un " ▁which ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁settlement ' s ▁Cr us ader - era ▁Latin ▁name ▁" D ar om " ▁or ▁" D or on ." ▁That ▁name ▁was ▁explained ▁by ▁the ▁Cr us ader ▁chron ic ler ▁William ▁of ▁Ty re ▁as ▁a ▁cor ruption ▁of ▁dom us ▁Gra ec orum , ▁" house ▁of ▁the ▁Gree ks " ▁( dar ▁ar - rum ). ▁More ▁recently , ▁the ▁eigh teenth ▁century ▁scholar ▁Albert ▁Sch ult ens ▁supposed ▁its ▁roots ▁are ▁the ▁An cient ▁Heb rew ▁name ▁" D ar om " ▁or ▁" D rom a ", ▁from ▁the ▁Heb rew ▁root ▁for ▁" s outh ", ▁which ▁referred ▁to ▁the ▁area ▁south ▁of ▁Ly dd a , ▁i . e . ▁the ▁southern ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁coast al ▁plain ▁and ▁J ude an ▁fo oth ills ▁together ▁with ▁the ▁northern ▁Neg ev ▁Des ert . ▁During ▁early ▁Arab ▁rule , ▁" ad - D ar um " ▁or ▁" ad - D air an " ▁was ▁the ▁name ▁of ▁the ▁southern ▁sub d istrict ▁of ▁Bay t ▁J ibr in . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁An cient ▁period ▁ ▁De ir ▁al - Bal ah ' s ▁history ▁dates ▁back ▁to ▁the ▁mid - 1 4 th ▁century ▁BC , ▁during ▁the ▁Late ▁Bron ze ▁Age . ▁At ▁that