III. The Beginnings of Transformation

BEGINNINGS OF TRANSFORMATION
The regions of the upper Pyramus, or Gaihan, River likewise suffered.
Al-Harawi, the Arab traveler of the late twelfth century, found the town
of Arabissus in ruins 110
whereas Albistan and the regions of the upper
Pyramus were very seriously depopulated by the expedition of Yakub
Arslan in 1155-56. 111
Marash was able to resist the Turks in the early
period but changed hands between Christians 112
1 1 3
severely by an earthquake either in 1114 or 1115.
and was damaged
Muhammad the
Danishmendid burned the environs of Marashand its villagesin 1136-37 114
and Kïlïdj Arslan took it in 1148. 115
The regions of the Euphrates in
southeastern Anatolia were similarly exposed to the vicissitudes entailed
in the competition ofvarious Turkish dynasties and in the raid ofTurkish
tribes, the upheaval extending as far south as Antioch. 116
Here the
situation is somewhat clearer as the texts of Matthew of Edessa and
Michael the Syrian take as their focal points Edessa and Melitene
respectively. In 1120-21 the Artukid Ilghazi burned the villages, en­
slaving and massacring the populations, from Tell Bashir northward to
Kaisum. 117
Shortly after 1134 Afshin pillaged the regions of Kaisum only
to be followed by Mas'ud who in his first raid pillaged and took captives
in the neighborhood. He returned a second time and reduced to ashes the
nearby villages. 118
In 1136-37 Muhammad the Danishmendid burned
the villages and monasteries of the land about the town, including the
monastery of Garmir Vank. 119
In 1140-41 the inhabitants temporarily
abandoned the town and so the Turks sacked and burned it. 120
Finally
in 1179 Kïlïdj Arslan destroyed its walls and carried the inhabitants off
into captivity. 121
Edessa resisted the Turks for a comparatively long time, though it had
been besieged and its environs ravaged on numerous occasions by the
end ofthe eleventh century. 122
But the Turkish pressure on the regions of
1 1 0
Al-Harawi, trans. J. Sourdel-Thomine, Guide des lieux de pèlerinage (Damascus, 1957),
p.135-
1 1 1
Matthew of Edessa, p. 344.
1 1 2
Michael the Syrian, III, 173. Anna Comnena, III, 40-41.
113 William of Tyre, XI, xxiii. Bar Hebraeus, I, 247.
1 1 4
Matthew of Edessa, pp. 320-321.
1 1 5
Michael the Syrian, III, 290, at which time the church treasures were taken.
1 1 6
Sawirus ibn al-Mukaffa', II, iii, 320, speaks ofdisorders, captivity, and assassinations in
1077 following the occupation ofthe land by the Turks.
1 1 7
Matthew of Edessa, p. 302. "From Tell Bashir to Kaisum he enslaved men and
women, massacred without pity, and burned and roasted infants in great number with
unparalleled barbarity. After crossing the Euphrates with considerable forces, he exterminated
the population of a great number ofvillages; priests and monks perished by iron
and fire."
1 1 8
Michael the Syrian, III, 245-246.
1 1 9
Matthew of Edessa, pp. 320-321.
1 2 0
Gregory the Priest, pp. 324-325.
1 2 1
Michael the Syrian, III, 388.
1 2 2
It was attacked by Gumushtekin in 1066. Bar Hebraeus, I, 217. The emir Khusraw
raided the area between 1081 and 1083, Matthew of Edessa, p. 185. Buzan took the city
after a long siege attended by famine in 1087—88. Matthew of Edessa, p. 198. Shortly
thereafter it was taken by Tutuch who restored it to Thoros. Matthew of Edessa, p. 208.
156