Al-Furat Secondary School, Deir ez-Zor

Al-Furat Secondary School is the oldest school in eastern Syria and one of the oldest buildings in Deir ez-Zor. It opened in 1910, at the end of the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II, as the Maktab Sultani, and took the name Al-Furat — Arabic for the Euphrates — under the French Mandate. The building is on the list of historic structures kept by the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, but it is not a museum: it is a working school. A visit happens from outside, at the gate and in the street.

Where it is

At the western end of the city, south-west of the Rushdiyya quarter. The site was chosen by Muharram Efendi, the education officer of the Ottoman district; at the time this was the edge of town. Today it sits inside the neighbourhood.

Can you go inside

No. This is a state secondary school with pupils in it and no visitor tour. Beyond looking at the front from the street and at the courtyard from the gate, there is no form of visit to plan. On school holidays the gate is closed as well.

How the school began

The school was founded at the request of Mehmed Rashid Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Zor, and building took about two and a half years. Turkish was the official language, with Arabic taught alongside it; the second languages were French and English. The staff included Turkish teachers and men from the city itself, among them the poet Muhammad al-Furati and Sheikh Muhammad Said al-Arfi. The Maktab Sultani had two levels. The first pupils finished the lower level in 1913 and the upper level in 1917.

Why it is called Al-Furat

Under the French Mandate the curriculum was switched to the French system and the school was renamed Al-Furat Secondary School, continuing with two levels, middle and secondary. The building grew twice: first between 1920 and 1924, then in 1940. The building standing today was laid out in the shape of the Arabic numeral “40”, a reference to the 1940 extension.

What not to miss

The shape of the plan. From the street only one front shows, but the building bends like a “40” written in Arabic numerals, and according to a 2009 account its eight classrooms are set over two floors around a wide courtyard. Looking in from the gate, you can make out how the wings turn.

Where it stands now

The building was restored in 2007 and added to the list of historic structures the same year. Its condition after the fighting in Deir ez-Zor between 2012 and 2017 cannot be independently confirmed. Ask in the city before going.