Deir Ali دير علي
Village
Deir Ali
Coordinates: 33°17′1″N 36°18′9″E / 33.28361°N 36.30250°E / 33.28361; 36.30250
Country	Syria
Governorate	Rif Dimashq
District	Markaz Rif Dimashq
Subdistrict	al-Kiswah
Population  (2004 census)[1]
• Total	4,368
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

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.^[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly members of the Druze community.^[2]

History

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 Marcionites, 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^[3] This gained the attention of the First Bible Network (FBN.)^[4]

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Deir Ali's population as being Druze.^[5]

The Arab Gas Pipeline passes through the area and supplies gas to a modern power station (estimated cost 250 million euros) in the town; the pipeline junction at the power station links the power grids of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.^[6]