Abu Kemal (Baghuz):

130 km south east of Deir Ezzor on the left bank of the Euphrates; those with a passion for Roman tower tombs in the style of Palmyra can satisfy their spirit of adventure by visiting the small group at Baghuz. The tombs lie on the edge of the bluff where the steppe country meets the river flats.

Five extant tower tombs date from before or during the high Palmyrian period when this was probably the necropolis area for a Parthian frontier settlement (1st to 3rd centuries AD). Two towers are in reasonable condition with recognizable architectural detail on their facades. The Baghuz towers continued to use vaulted underground chambers for burial. The main purpose of the tower above seems to have been to provide a roof terrace for funerary rituals.

Baghuz was the site of the even more ancient Nagiateh with pottery remains going back to the 5th millennium BC and an extensive necropolis of the early 2nd millennium BC. The ruins of Crosoteh, mentioned by Xenophon (c400 BC) were located here.