Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (105 page)

Figure 4.43
before (left) and after the flooding of the valley (right)

ride through magnificent and dramatic landscape with steep rocky cliffs towering on both sides. Anyone visiting the site today may be somewhat misled by the scene and setting. Because of the reservoir the Euphrates practically reaches the foot of the fortress. The water level during the thirteenth century was much lower and a small valley stretched below the spur all the way down to the river bank (
Figure 4.43
).

The site’s history is rather brief. A survey conducted as part of the Zeugma Project did not find archaeological remains dated earlier than ad 1000.
²⁴⁸
The fortress was captured in 1116 by Baldwin of
and incorporated in the county of Edessa. In 1148 Joscelyn de Courtenay gave
to the Armenians, as he found it difficult to hold this region against Türkmen raids. During that year the Catholicos (the Armenian patriarch) was moved to the site. It appears that the initiator of this move was Beatrice, the niece of Joscelyn de Courtenay, who invited Patriarch Grigor II to the fortified town.
was officially bought from Joscelyn by the Catholicos in 1150.
²⁴⁹
The town was largely populated by Armenians who immigrated to the area during the eleventh century. Sinclair suggests the town was located north and west of the fortress and sections of it were partly enclosed by walls. Although much of the region later became part of the Ayyubid sultanate,
remained in the hands of the Armenians.
²⁵⁰
Shortly after the Mongol invasion, Hülegü granted King
I (r. 1226–69) a large area to the north and the west of
, and for a short period the fortress was geographically connected to the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia.
²⁵¹
Following the first treaty signed between Baybars and King
(1268) most of the main towns and fortresses in the regions bordering
to the north and west were handed over to the Mamluks. Although the territory went back and forth between Armenians and Mamluks during the next two decades,
remained in Armenian hands until 1292.

The Mamluks’ first attempt to take the fortress was in the spring of 678/1279. Barka Khan sent Qalāwūn (the future sultan) together with Badr al-Dīn Baysarī to Cilicia, his main purpose being to get rid of both these powerful amirs, who he thought threatened his rule. While Qalāwūn headed towards Sīs, Baysarī besieged
with the help of a Syrian army commanded by
al-Dīn from
.
²⁵²
Bar Hebraeus gives a detailed account of the negotiations with the Armenian Catholicos, who decided not to capitulate, though the terms offered were most generous.