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Azaz
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Azaz
Azaz (Arabic: أَعْزَاز, romanized: ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly 20 miles (32 kilometres) north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 at the 2004 census. As of 2015[update], its inhabitants were almost entirely Sunni Muslims, mostly Arabs but also some Turkmen.
It is historically significant as the site of the Battle of Azaz between the Crusader States and the Seljuk Turks on June 11, 1125. It is close to a Syria–Turkey border crossing, which enters Turkey at Öncüpınar, south of the city of Kilis. It was the capital of the Syrian Interim Government.
The city was known in ancient times with different names: in Hurrian as Azazuwa, in Medieval Greek as Αζάζιον (Azázion), in Old Aramaic as Ḥzz (later evolved in Neo-Assyrian as Ḫazazu).
In excavations of the site of Tell Azaz, considerable quantities of ceramics from the early and middle Islamic periods were found. Despite the importance of Azaz as indicated by archaeological finds, the settlement was rarely mentioned in Islamic texts prior to the 12th century. However, a visit to the town by the Muslim musician Ishaq al-Mawsili (767–850) gives some indication of Azaz's importance during Abbasid rule. The Hamdanids of Aleppo (945–1002) built a brick citadel at Azaz. It was a square fortress with two enclosures, situated atop a tell.
On 10 August 1030, Tubbal near Azaz became the scene of a humiliating defeat of the Byzantine emperor Romanos III at the hands of the Mirdasids. In December of the same year, the Byzantine generals Niketas of Mistheia and Symeon besieged and captured Azaz, and burned Tubbal to the ground in retaliation.
During the Crusader era, Azaz, which was referred to in Crusader sources as "Hazart", became of particular strategic significance due to its topography and location, overlooking the surrounding region. In the hands of the Muslims, Azaz stymied communications between the Crusader states of Edessa and Antioch, while in Crusader hands it threatened the major Muslim city of Aleppo. Around December 1118, the Crusader prince Roger of Antioch and the Armenian prince Leo I besieged and captured Azaz from the Turcoman prince Ilghazi of Mardin.
In January 1124, Balak and Toghtekin, the Burid atabeg of Damascus, breached Azaz's defenses, but were repulsed by Crusader reinforcements. In April 1125, the Seljuk atabeg Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi of Mosul and Toghtekin invaded the Principality of Antioch and surrounded Azaz. In response, in May or June 1125, a 3,000-strong Crusader coalition commanded by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem confronted and defeated the 15,000-strong Muslim coalition at the Battle of Azaz, raising the siege of the town.
However, the Crusaders' strength in the region was dealt a blow following the Zengid capture of Edessa in 1144. Afterward, the other fortresses in the County of Edessa, including Azaz, gradually became neglected. In 1146, Humphrey II of Toron sent sixty knights to reinforce the garrison at Azaz. Despite its strong fortifications, the fortress of Azaz finally fell to the Muslims under the Zengid emir of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din in June 1150.
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Azaz
Azaz (Arabic: أَعْزَاز, romanized: ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly 20 miles (32 kilometres) north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 at the 2004 census. As of 2015[update], its inhabitants were almost entirely Sunni Muslims, mostly Arabs but also some Turkmen.
It is historically significant as the site of the Battle of Azaz between the Crusader States and the Seljuk Turks on June 11, 1125. It is close to a Syria–Turkey border crossing, which enters Turkey at Öncüpınar, south of the city of Kilis. It was the capital of the Syrian Interim Government.
The city was known in ancient times with different names: in Hurrian as Azazuwa, in Medieval Greek as Αζάζιον (Azázion), in Old Aramaic as Ḥzz (later evolved in Neo-Assyrian as Ḫazazu).
In excavations of the site of Tell Azaz, considerable quantities of ceramics from the early and middle Islamic periods were found. Despite the importance of Azaz as indicated by archaeological finds, the settlement was rarely mentioned in Islamic texts prior to the 12th century. However, a visit to the town by the Muslim musician Ishaq al-Mawsili (767–850) gives some indication of Azaz's importance during Abbasid rule. The Hamdanids of Aleppo (945–1002) built a brick citadel at Azaz. It was a square fortress with two enclosures, situated atop a tell.
On 10 August 1030, Tubbal near Azaz became the scene of a humiliating defeat of the Byzantine emperor Romanos III at the hands of the Mirdasids. In December of the same year, the Byzantine generals Niketas of Mistheia and Symeon besieged and captured Azaz, and burned Tubbal to the ground in retaliation.
During the Crusader era, Azaz, which was referred to in Crusader sources as "Hazart", became of particular strategic significance due to its topography and location, overlooking the surrounding region. In the hands of the Muslims, Azaz stymied communications between the Crusader states of Edessa and Antioch, while in Crusader hands it threatened the major Muslim city of Aleppo. Around December 1118, the Crusader prince Roger of Antioch and the Armenian prince Leo I besieged and captured Azaz from the Turcoman prince Ilghazi of Mardin.
In January 1124, Balak and Toghtekin, the Burid atabeg of Damascus, breached Azaz's defenses, but were repulsed by Crusader reinforcements. In April 1125, the Seljuk atabeg Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi of Mosul and Toghtekin invaded the Principality of Antioch and surrounded Azaz. In response, in May or June 1125, a 3,000-strong Crusader coalition commanded by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem confronted and defeated the 15,000-strong Muslim coalition at the Battle of Azaz, raising the siege of the town.
However, the Crusaders' strength in the region was dealt a blow following the Zengid capture of Edessa in 1144. Afterward, the other fortresses in the County of Edessa, including Azaz, gradually became neglected. In 1146, Humphrey II of Toron sent sixty knights to reinforce the garrison at Azaz. Despite its strong fortifications, the fortress of Azaz finally fell to the Muslims under the Zengid emir of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din in June 1150.
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