Tell al-Kasra

Tell al-Kasra is a Byzantine town on the left bank of the Euphrates, laid out as a pentagon inside a mudbrick wall. It was founded in the 5th century, grew in the 6th century under the emperor Justinian and was lived in without a break into the early Islamic period. Between 2006 and 2009 the Syrian national excavation team uncovered parts of an iron gate in the wall, two-storey tombs and a bathhouse from the 5th century. The bathhouse mosaic is the first figural mosaic found on the Middle Euphrates and in the Jazira, the plain between the Euphrates and the Tigris. The ancient name is unknown; access today could not be confirmed.

Where it is and can you go?

The site lies north-west of Deir ez-Zor, near the modern town of al-Kasra. The distance differs by source: Arabic Wikipedia says 40 km, the Ifpo atlas 45 km. According to Ifpo the town lies 15 km downstream of Zalabiya, on the old riverside track. Only a single source gives a point for the site, so this page has no map.

The administration of the region changed in January-February 2026. No dated source specific to the site from the last 12 months was found. A North Press Agency (NPA) report of 26 March 2026 says that 5 people were killed by mine explosions in rural Deir ez-Zor, two of them in the western desert of the province. According to the same report, mines had killed 19 people in the province since the start of March. Looting of the site is on record. This page is not a suggestion to visit; the authorities in Deir ez-Zor should be asked first.

What was the town like?

The mudbrick wall encloses a pentagon, with a rock-cut ditch in front of it. The north wall runs about 500 metres and the east wall 250 metres; the west wall has gone entirely. The sources disagree on the size of the site: Arabic Wikipedia gives 27 hectares, Ifpo 46 hectares (670 by 692 metres). The Semiramis canal bounds it to the north.

The town was part of the Euphrates frontier line that Justinian strengthened after 540. Halabiye, Zalabiya and Tabus stood on the same line.

What was it called?

Nobody knows. Travellers and scholars recorded the site under different names: Chesney wrote Sur al-Humr in 1849, Gertrude Bell Umm al-Rukuba in 1909, and Antoine Poidebard Allan. Poidebard later surveyed the site from the air as well.

What the excavation found

The excavation was carried out by the Syrian national team (Directorate-General of Antiquities, Deir ez-Zor) under Yarob al-Abdullah. In 2006 stone and iron parts of a double-leaf iron gate were found in the north wall. In 2007 the two-storey tomb E1 was opened. In 2008 tomb E2, with walls of basalt and gypsum, produced two moulded plaster busts; this tomb is compared with a similar one at Tell es-Sinn. In 2009 a 5th-century bathhouse came to light: its hot room had a hypocaust, a floor heated from below, and remains of marble paving survive.

What not to miss

The bathhouse mosaic. The floor of the cold room covers close to 45 square metres. Inside a braided border that stands for the current of the Euphrates are a foal, a hyena, a stork, an elephant’s head and a winged, fantastic beast of prey. It is the first figural mosaic found on the Middle Euphrates and in the Jazira. Whether the mosaic is still in place or in a museum today could not be confirmed, so we do not say it can be seen on site.

The site today

A cemetery still in use covers the western part. Compared with an aerial photograph from 1934, a newer gully can be seen cutting through the north wall. A tarmac road has damaged the north-west corner, and looting was recorded while graves were being dug.