Country Syria Nahiyah Al-Kiswah Local time Sunday 10:57 PM | District Markaz Rif Dimashq Time zone EET (UTC+2) | |
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Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate Weather 8°C, Wind NE at 11 km/h, 72% Humidity | ||
Deir Ali (Arabic: دير علي) is a small town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Deir Ali had a population of 4,368 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly members of the Druze community.
Map of Deir Ali, Syria
The Arab Gas Pipeline passes through the area, and it supplies gas to an ultramodern power station (estimated cost 250 million Euros), located in the town; the pipeline junction at the power station links the power grids of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The town was historically a village known as Lebaba, and contains the archaeological remains of a Marcionite church. These include an inscription dated to 318 CE, which is the oldest known surviving inscribed reference, anywhere, to Jesus:
The meeting-house of the Marcionists, in the village of Lebaba, of the Lord and Saviour Jesus the Good -Erected by the forethought of Paul a presbyter, in the year 630 Seleucid era