Mari (modern
Tell Hariri), was an ancient
Semitic city in
Syria. Its remains constitute a
tell located 11 kilometers north-west of
Abu Kamal on the
Euphrates river western bank, some 120 kilometers southeast of
Deir ez-Zor. It flourished as a trade center and hegemonic state between 2900 BC and 1759 BC. As a purposely built city, the existence of Mari was related to its position in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes; this position made it an intermediary between
Sumer in the south and the
Levant in the west.