Hasankeyf is a town located along the Tigris , in the Hasankeyf District , Batman Province , Turkey . It was declared a natural conservation area by Turkey in 1981.
128-457: Despite local and international objections, the city and its archaeological sites have been flooded as part of the Ilısu Dam project. By 1 April 2020, water levels reached an elevation of 498.2m, covering the whole town. The town had a population of 4,329 in 2021. Hasankeyf was an ancient settlement that has borne many names from a variety of cultures during its history. The variety of these names
256-427: A panegyric that it was delivered, as Julian had done on January 3, when Libanius was speaking, and ignore the chariot races. He then tried to address public criticism and mocking of him by issuing a satire ostensibly on himself, called Misopogon or "Beard Hater". There he blames the people of Antioch for preferring that their ruler have his virtues in the face rather than in the soul. Julian's fellow pagans were of
384-609: A Mongol vassal up to that time. Soon after, Al-Adil installed Zeyd, a Kurdish chief of the Zraki (or Zirki) tribe previously based at the castle of Boşat (the present-day village of Boyunlu, in Silvan district), as his client ruler at Mayafaraqin. It seems that this was in payback for Zeyd's assistance in helping Hisn Kayfa repulse an attack by the Artuqid sultan of Mardin. The Hisn Kayfa emirs also attacked and captured Siirt soon after
512-779: A band of Franks who had taken control of some abandoned forts along the river Meuse . In 358, Julian gained victories over the Salian Franks on the Lower Rhine , settling them in Toxandria in the Roman Empire, north of today's city of Tongeren , and over the Chamavi, who were expelled back to Hamaland . At the end of 357 Julian, with the prestige of his victory over the Alamanni to give him confidence, prevented
640-521: A big show of games. In the spring of 361, Julian led his army into the territory of the Alamanni, where he captured their king, Vadomarius . Julian claimed that Vadomarius had been in league with Constantius, encouraging him to raid the borders of Raetia . Julian then divided his forces, sending one column to Raetia, one to northern Italy and the third he led down the Danube on boats. His forces claimed control of Illyricum and his general, Nevitta, secured
768-458: A burdensome and corrupt bureaucracy within the Imperial administration whether it involved civic officials, secret agents or the imperial postal service. Another effect of Julian's political philosophy was that the authority of the cities was expanded at the expense of the imperial bureaucracy as Julian sought to reduce direct imperial involvement in urban affairs. For example, city land owned by
896-559: A clear idea of what he wanted Roman society to be, both in political as well as religious terms. The terrible and violent dislocation of the 3rd century meant that the Eastern Mediterranean had become the economic locus of the Empire. If the cities were treated as relatively autonomous local administrative areas, it would simplify the problems of imperial administration, which as far as Julian was concerned, should be focused on
1024-736: A disastrous campaign against the Ottoman Empire . Hassan's army of light cavalry was routed by Mehmed II 's Ottoman forces, armed with rifles and cannon, at the Battle of Otlukbeli near Erzincan in August 1473. While Uzun Hassan survived, his son Zeynel Bey was killed in battle. In commemoration, the Mausoleum of Zeynel Bey was erected in Hasankeyf in about 1474 on the orders of either Uzun Hassan, or Zeynel's elder brother, Khalil. The shrine
1152-470: A divided mind about this habit of talking to his subjects on an equal footing: Ammianus Marcellinus saw in that only the foolish vanity of someone "excessively anxious for empty distinction", whose "desire for popularity often led him to converse with unworthy persons". On leaving Antioch he appointed Alexander of Heliopolis as governor, a violent and cruel man whom the Antiochene Libanius ,
1280-578: A fortress in the Mesopotamia section of his Descriptio Orbis Romani . By the 630s, Muslim Arab forces had conquered large parts of Mesopotamia, Syria and Iran. Kiphas appears most likely to have been captured during the Muslim conquest of Armenia in 640, shortly after the conquest of Nisibis . An account from this period provides the earliest mention of any bridge across the Tigris at this site. Over
1408-496: A friend of the emperor, admits on first thought was a "dishonourable" appointment. Julian himself described the man as "undeserving" of the position, but appropriate "for the avaricious and rebellious people of Antioch". Julian's rise to Augustus was the result of military insurrection eased by Constantius's sudden death. This meant that, while he could count on the wholehearted support of the Western army which had aided his rise,
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#17327721707231536-570: A march further eastward, Julian's army turned south to Circesium at the confluence of the Abora (Khabur) and the Euphrates arriving at the beginning of April. Passing Dura on 6 April, the army made good progress, bypassing towns after negotiations or besieging those which chose to oppose him. At the end of April the Romans captured the fortress of Pirisabora , which guarded the canal approach from
1664-473: A massacre of most of Julian's close relatives. Constantius II allegedly ordered the murders of many descendants from the second marriage of Constantius Chlorus and Theodora, leaving only Constantius and his brothers Constantine II and Constans I , and their cousins, Julian and Constantius Gallus (Julian's half-brother), as the surviving males related to Emperor Constantine. Constantius II, Constans I, and Constantine II were proclaimed joint emperors, each ruling
1792-482: A new route from Iran to Aleppo through Siirt , Hisn Kayfa and Mardin took their place. The economy of the region gradually shrank during the 14th and early 15th centuries, according to historian Thomas Alexander Sinclair , but this probably did not cause any population decline in the cities of Mardin or Hisn Kayfa, where building continued uninterrupted. Several other cities in the region, such as Mayafaraqin , Arzan , Nusaybin and Dara shrank or disappeared. After
1920-693: A pawn in the dynasty's power struggles. By AH 634 (1236/1237) al-Ashraf had become resentful of his brother al-Kamil 's ill-concealed ambition. al-Ashraf recruited the rulers of Aleppo and Homs to his faction and sent ambassadors to the court of Rum Seljuk sultan 'Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād to propose an alliance. When they arrived at the Seljuk court they discovered that Kayqubād had died on 4 Shawwal 634/31 May 1237, and they now had to deal with his son, Ghiyath ad-Din Kaykhusrau II . The Middle East historian R. Stephen Humphreys speculates that Kaykhusrau
2048-465: A portion of Roman territory. Julian and Gallus were excluded from public life, were strictly guarded in their youth, and given a Christian education. They were likely saved by their youth. If Julian's later writings are to be believed, Constantius would later be tormented with guilt at the massacre of 337. Initially growing up in Bithynia , raised by his maternal grandmother, at the age of seven Julian
2176-476: A role in his decision to go to war. On 5 March 363, despite a series of omens against the campaign, Julian departed from Antioch with about 65,000–83,000, or 80,000–90,000 men (the traditional number accepted by Gibbon is 95,000 effectives total), and headed north toward the Euphrates . En route he was met by embassies from various small powers offering assistance, none of which he accepted. He did order
2304-581: A row of shops from the late Roman period, and Roman floor and wall mosaics. By the sixth century, the Persians were mounting frequent attacks on the eastern border of the Byzantine empire. As a consequence, the Byzantines built a great number of military installations in the region during the early and mid-sixth century. Despite this the Persians seized the opportunity of a Byzantine civil war to attack
2432-528: A rule of terror over the territories under his command, was executed. Julian was summoned to Constantius' court in Mediolanum ( Milan ) in 354, and held for a year, under suspicion of treasonable intrigue, first with his brother and then with Claudius Silvanus ; he was cleared, in part because Empress Eusebia intervened on his behalf, and he was permitted to study in Athens (Julian expresses his gratitude to
2560-401: A senior officer in the imperial guard, who was obliged to cede territory, including Nisibis , in order to save the trapped Roman forces. Julian and Jovian were the last sole emperors to rule the whole Empire for their entire reign, after which it was permanently divided between a Western and Eastern court. Julian was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and he believed that it
2688-634: A tax increase by the Gallic praetorian prefect Florentius and personally took charge of the province of Belgica Secunda . This was Julian's first experience with civil administration, where his views were influenced by his liberal education in Greece. Properly it was a role that belonged to the praetorian prefect. However, Florentius and Julian often clashed over the administration of Gaul. Julian's first priority, as Caesar and nominal ranking commander in Gaul,
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#17327721707232816-488: A year and was killed during the Mamluk takeover, al-Muwaḥḥid ʿAbd Allāh ruled Hisn Kayfa for more than three decades, from AH 647 (1249/1250) to AH 693 (1293/1294), and was essentially the founder of the local Ayyubid dynasty. Although little remains standing from this prosperous period of the town's history, there is a detailed contemporary first-hand account by the topographer ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn Shaddād, whose last visit
2944-524: Is compounded by the many ways that non-Latin alphabets such as Syriac and Arabic can be transliterated. Underlying these many names is much continuity between cultures in the basic identification of the site. The city of Ilānṣurā mentioned in the Akkadian and Northwest Semitic texts of the Mari Tablets (1800–1750 BC) may possibly be Hasankeyf, although other sites have also been proposed. By
3072-531: Is considerable. Many of the city's historical treasures were inundated as construction of the Ilısu Dam is completed. These include the ornate mosques , Islamic tombs and cave churches . Up to 80,000 people in Hasankeyf were displaced. Some of these people were moved to a new city above the waterline. There was considerable local opposition to the scheme, and calls for Hasankeyf to be recognised and protected as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Il%C4%B1su Dam Too Many Requests If you report this error to
3200-554: Is currently moved to a new location to avoid inundation by the rising waters of the nearby dam. In 1504, during the reign of king ( shah ) Ismail I ( r. 1501–1525) the Safavids founded the short-lived Diyarbakr Province , which consisted of six districts, including Hasankeyf. In 1514/1517, the Ottoman Empire took Hasankeyf and the rest of the Safavid Diyarbakr Province. In his 1614 History of
3328-497: Is evidence to suggest that Julian may have at least partially stimulated the insurrection. If so, he went back to business as usual in Gaul, for, from June to August of that year, Julian led a successful campaign against the Attuarian Franks. In November, Julian began openly using the title Augustus, even issuing coins with the title, sometimes with Constantius, sometimes without. He celebrated his fifth year in Gaul with
3456-693: Is recorded as attending the Council of Chalcedon in October 451, which implies the settlement must have become a sizeable town by that time. As the use of Latin began to wane in the Eastern Roman Empire , Κιφας ( Kiphas ) became formalized as the Greek name for the Byzantine bishopric . Rescue excavations from 2005 to 2008 uncovered evidence of the base of a Roman gateway to the upper city,
3584-424: Is rich in history throughout the ages and aside from the sites below, thousands of caves exist in the cliffs that surround the city. Many of the caves are multi-storied and have their own water supply. Churches and mosques were also carved into the cliffs and numerous ancient cemeteries exist throughout the area. With its history that spans nine civilizations, the archaeological and religious significance of Hasankeyf
3712-677: The Arabic name حصن كيفا ( Ḥiṣn Kayfa ). "Hisn" means "fortress" in Arabic, so the name overall means "rock fortress". Western reports about the town before the 20th century refer to it by various names that are transliterated from Arabic or Ottoman Turkish. The most popular of these were Hisn Kaifa and Hisn Kayfa , although a wide variety of others are used including Ḥiṣn Kaifā , Ḥiṣn Kayfā , Ḥiṣn Kayfâ , Ḥiṣn Kīfā , Ḥiṣn Kîfâ , Hisn Kayf , Husn Kayfa , Hassan-Keyf , Hosnkeif and Husunkeïf . Two early Armenian historians list additional names for
3840-529: The Chalcedon tribunal to deal with the corruption of the previous administration under the supervision of magister militum Arbitio . Several high-ranking officials under Constantius, including the chamberlain Eusebius, were found guilty and executed. (Julian was conspicuously absent from the proceedings, perhaps signalling his displeasure at their necessity.) He continually sought to reduce what he saw as
3968-755: The Diyar Bakr and Jazira during the 1450s, the Ayyubid emir of Hasankeyf rebelled in 1460, attempting to take control of Siirt . Uzun Hassan responded by attacking Hasankeyf in 1461; he finally captured the town in 1462 after a six-month siege. It seems that Uzun Hassan then appointed his son Zeynel as governor of Hasankeyf. Aq Qoyunlu territory expanded further following their defeat of the Kara Koyunlu in Iran (1467–69), and Uzun Hassan moved his capital to Tabriz . However, Hassan followed up these successes with
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4096-540: The Diyarbakır – Mosul road paralleling the Tigris, and north–south between Lake Van and the Euphrates generated prosperity for the Artuqids and ensured their power in the region. Consequently, the existence of a reliable river crossing for goods and people was a priority, and the Artuqids built a bridge across the Tigris at some time between 1147 and 1172. This period was something of a golden age for Hisn Kayfa, with
4224-585: The Mamluk Baybars was in power in Egypt, and represented the primary force opposing the Mongols, now led by Hulagu's son Abaqa Khan . Baybars sent two eunuchs as emissaries to al-Muwaḥḥid to try to persuade him to abandon the Mongols, and apparently the emir of Hisn Kayfa agreed. However, the envoys were caught by a local Mongol commander as they attempted to carry al-Muwaḥḥid's reply to Baybars. Abaqa had
4352-534: The Middle Bronze Age the area around Hasankeyf was likely part of the Hurrian kingdoms. The Akkadian and Northwest Semitic texts of the Mari Tablets (1800–1750 BC) refer to Ilānṣurā , an important walled city on a large river. Ilānṣurā has been tentatively identified with Hasankeyf, although several locations in northeast Syria have also been proposed. By the 14th century BC, the Hasankeyf area
4480-629: The Nestorian Christian Mongol general Kitbuqa Noyan took Damascus on 1 March. It seemed inevitable that all of the region's cities, including Hisn Kayfa, would fall to the Mongols, and indeed most of them did. Hulagu's plan appears to have been to proceed to Palestine and Egypt. But while he was in Aleppo in the spring of 1260, he received word that the great khan Möngke had died the previous summer (on 11 August 1259). While Hulagu did not expect to succeed his elder brother, there
4608-517: The Rhine and encouraging the ravaged provinces' return to prosperity. In 360, he was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers at Lutetia (Paris), sparking a civil war with Constantius. However, Constantius died before the two could face each other in battle, having allegedly named Julian as his successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an ambitious campaign against the Sasanian Empire . The campaign
4736-625: The Roman period, the fortified town was known in Latin as Cephe , Cepha or Ciphas , a name that appears to derive from the Syriac word ܟܐܦܐ ( kefa or kifo ), meaning "rock". As the eastern and western portions of the Roman Empire split around AD 330, Κιφας ( Kiphas ) became formalized as the Greek name for this Byzantine bishopric. Following the Arab conquest of 640, the town became known under
4864-566: The Sassanid emperor , Shapur II , invaded Mesopotamia and took the city of Amida after a 73-day siege. In February 360, Constantius II ordered more than half of Julian's Gallic troops to join his eastern army, the order by-passing Julian and going directly to the military commanders. Although Julian at first attempted to expedite the order, it provoked an insurrection by troops of the Petulantes , who had no desire to leave Gaul. According to
4992-402: The "impostures of witchcraft and magic that cheat the senses" and "the works of conjurers who are insane men led astray into the exercise of earthly and material powers", Julian was intrigued, and sought out Maximus as his new mentor. According to the historian Eunapius , when Julian left Eusebius, he told his former teacher "farewell, and devote yourself to your books. You have shown me the man I
5120-597: The 1866 poem " Hymn to Proserpine ", which was Algernon Charles Swinburne 's elaboration of what a philosophic pagan might have felt at the triumph of Christianity. It also ends the Polish Romantic play The Undivine Comedy written in 1833 by Zygmunt Krasiński . As he had requested, Julian's body was buried in Tarsus. It lay in a tomb outside the city, across a road from that of Maximinus Daia. However, chronicler Zonaras says that at some "later" date his body
5248-509: The 1980s, Armenian , Assyrian and Arab Christian families lived in the cave houses by the river. Many of these families immigrated to France , Germany , Sweden and Switzerland as the Turkish government's conflict with the PKK escalated during the 1980s. During the same time period, Kurds from nearby villages started settling in the town. Arabic is still spoken in the city. Hasankeyf
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5376-537: The Armenian King Arsaces to muster an army and await instructions. He crossed the Euphrates near Hierapolis and moved eastward to Carrhae , giving the impression that his chosen route into Persian territory was down the Tigris . For this reason it seems he sent a force of 30,000 soldiers under Procopius and Sebastianus further eastward to devastate Media in conjunction with Armenian forces. This
5504-526: The Artuqid prince al-Masʿud . Troubled by the alliance with Khwarazm, al-Ashraf and al-Kamil resolved to attack Amida, and used as a pretext reports of al-Masʿud's misrule, including his abuse of local women. The combined Ayyubid armies, swelled by contributions from many of their vassals, besieged Amida on October 1232. By 18 October 1232, al-Masʿud surrendered Amida to al-Kamil. Al-Kamil then sent his brother, al-Ashraf, along with al-Muzaffar Ghazi of Mayafaraqin to Hisn Kayfa to obtain its surrender. Even though,
5632-718: The Artuqids and their successors, the Ayyubids , building the Small Palace and the Great Palace as well as the Tigris bridge. The infrastructure, location and significance of the city helped increase trade and made Hisn Kayfa a staging post on the Silk Road . In April 1204, the Artuqid emir al-Salih Mahmud , who controlled both Amida and Hisn Kayfa, joined with al-Ashraf , the Ayyubid ruler of Harran , and princes from Mayafaraqin , Cizre , Sinjar and Irbil to rout
5760-530: The Ayyubid force had brought with them al-Masʿud as a captive, the garrison at Hisn Kayfa resisted for some time, and the city was captured only in Safar 630/November 1232. Once the citadel fell to the Ayyubid forces, al-Kamil immediately installed his 27-year-old son, as-Salih Ayyub , as governor of both Amida and Hisn Kayfa, beginning the period of Ayyubid rule over the Diyar Bakr. Ayyubid rule of Hisn Kayfa
5888-585: The Ayyubid possessions. It appears that as-Salih's son al-Muazzam Turanshah remained prince of Hisn Kayfa from 1238 until 1249. When as-Salih Ayyub died suddenly on 12 November 1249, Turanshah had to be recalled in a hurry to take control of the Ayyubid empire. As-Salih's widow, Shajar al-Durr , dispatched a special embassy to bring her son to Egypt. Turanshah had left Hisn Kayfa with this party by 18 December 1249, heading for Anah and Damascus . Al-Muwaḥḥid ʿAbd Allāh succeeded his father, Turanshah, as ruler of Hisn Kayfa. Although his father ruled Egypt for barely
6016-583: The Eastern army was an unknown quantity originally loyal to the Emperor he had risen against, and he had tried to woo it through the Chalcedon tribunal . However, to solidify his position in the eyes of the eastern army, he needed to lead its soldiers to victory and a campaign against the Sassanid Persians offered such an opportunity. An audacious plan was formulated whose goal was to lay siege on
6144-438: The Empire. Libanius says in his epitaph of the deceased emperor (18.304) that "I have mentioned representations (of Julian); many cities have set him beside the images of the gods and honour him as they do the gods. Already a blessing has been besought of him in prayer, and it was not in vain. To such an extent has he literally ascended to the gods and received a share of their power from him themselves." However, no similar action
6272-565: The Euphrates to Ctesiphon on the Tigris. As the army marched toward the Persian capital, the Sassanids broke the dikes which crossed the land, turning it into marshland , slowing the progress of the Roman army. By mid-May, the army had reached the vicinity of the heavily fortified Persian capital, Ctesiphon , where Julian partially unloaded some of the fleet and had his troops ferried across
6400-655: The Jazira to as-Salih Ayyub , who had been emir of Hisn Kayfa, and named his younger brother al-Adil as his heir in Egypt. In his new role as sultan, as-Salih Ayyub installed his own young son, al-Muazzam Turanshah as prince of Hisn Kayfa in AH ;636 (1238/1239), with one of his closest advisers, Husam al-Din, as Turanshah's atabeg . As-Salih Ayyub, meanwhile, gathered an army to take Damascus and challenge al-Adil's rule over Egypt. By June 1240 as-Salih Ayyub's soldiers had captured al-Adil and as-Salih became paramount ruler of
6528-547: The Jazira . Mardin was captured by the end of 1260, but Hisn Kayfa appears to have escaped a concerted assault because it controlled only a minor trade route and could simply be bypassed. Nevertheless, it seems that al-Muwaḥḥid decided to submit to being a Mongol vassal at about this time. While most of the Diyar Bakr came under direct control of the Mongol governor or Mosul, both Ayyubid Hisn Kayfa and Artukid Mardin were allowed to remain as vassal states. By AH 665 (1266/1267)
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#17327721707236656-433: The Mongol withdrawal. They fought for control of Siirt with forces from Arzan, and al-Ashraf of Hisn Kayfa succeeded in capturing it in 1341/42. In 1349/50, the Kara Koyunlu rose to dominate the region of the Diyar Bakr, and local princes such as those at Hisn Kayfa, paid tribute to them. Also in 1349/50, the emir of Hisn Kayfa, al-Adil , attacked Azran, breaching its walls and destroying the town in order to get revenge on
6784-488: The Romans were overwhelmingly victorious. The enemy was routed and driven into the river. King Chnodomarius was captured and later sent to Constantius in Mediolanum . Ammianus , who was a participant in the battle, portrays Julian in charge of events on the battlefield and describes how the soldiers, because of this success, acclaimed Julian attempting to make him Augustus , an acclamation he rejected, rebuking them. He later rewarded them for their valor. Rather than chase
6912-486: The Sassanid capital city of Ctesiphon and definitively secure the eastern border. Yet the full motivation for this ambitious operation is, at best, unclear. There was no direct necessity for an invasion, as the Sassanids sent envoys in the hope of settling matters peacefully. Julian rejected this offer. Ammianus states that Julian longed for revenge on the Persians and that a certain desire for combat and glory also played
7040-419: The Seljuk defeat of Byzantine forces at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Victory at Manzikert quickly resulted in Seljuk forces controlling large parts of Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia. The Seljuk sultan Barkiyāruq granted Hisn Kayfa as a iqtâ ' to the Artuqids in 1101/1102. In 1104, Joscelin I of Edessa , at that time the count of Turbessel , was imprisoned at Hisn Kayfa by Sökmen after he
7168-659: The Tigris and the legionnaires at Kiphas were stationed right on it. Their role was chiefly to protect the Tur Abdin massif and the approach through it to the Roman province of Sophanene from attack by the Persians in Arzanene. Recording the situation at the end of the fourth century, the Notitia Dignitatum identifies Cepha as the seat of the commander of the Legio II Parthica . The bishop of Cepha
7296-405: The Tigris by night. The Romans gained a tactical victory over the Persians before the gates of the city, driving them back into the city. However, the Persian capital was not taken. Concerned with the risk of becoming encircled and trapped within the city's walls, master-general Victor ordered his soldiers not to enter the open gates of the city in pursuit of the defeated Persians. Resultantly,
7424-412: The West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek . His rejection of Christianity , and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism in its place, caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate in Christian tradition. He is sometimes referred to as Julian the Philosopher . A nephew of Constantine the Great , Julian was one of few in
7552-412: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 547106115 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:36:11 GMT Julian (emperor) Julian ( Latin : Flavius Claudius Julianus ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἰουλιανός Ioulianos ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of
7680-464: The World , Walter Raleigh places "the Citie of Hasan-Cepha , otherwise Fortis Petra ", upstream from the island of Eden, which he believed lay in the Tigris, based on his reading of Andreas Masius 's De Paradiso Commentarius . While villages surrounding the town are almost exclusively Kurdish , the native Muslim population of the town used to be composed of Arabs , speaking a dialect of Arabic that neither resembles that of Siirt nor Midyat. Until
7808-470: The administration of the law and defense of the empire's vast frontiers. In replacing Constantius's political and civil appointees, Julian drew heavily from the intellectual and professional classes, or kept reliable holdovers, such as the rhetorician Themistius . His choice of consuls for the year 362 was more controversial. One was the very acceptable Claudius Mamertinus , previously the Praetorian prefect of Illyricum . The other, more surprising choice
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#17327721707237936-452: The affairs of Gaul. In the following years he learned how to lead and then run an army, through a series of campaigns against the Germanic tribes that had settled on both sides of the Rhine . During his first campaign in 356, Julian led an army to the Rhine, where he engaged the inhabitants and recovered several towns that had fallen into Frankish hands, including Colonia Agrippina ( Cologne ). With success under his belt he withdrew for
8064-419: The age of 18, the exile was lifted and he dwelt briefly in Constantinople and Nicomedia . He became a lector , a minor office in the Christian church, and his later writings show a detailed knowledge of the Bible, likely acquired in his early life. Julian's conversion from Christianity to paganism happened at around the age of 20. Looking back on his life in 362, Julian wrote that he had spent twenty years in
8192-491: The army of Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I , the Zengid ruler of Mosul , in a battle near Nusaybin . In the second half of 1204/1205, al-Salih Mahmud also lent his forces to help al-Ashraf attack Harput , which was controlled by another branch of the Artuqids. By 1229/1230, al-Salih's successor, Rukn al-Din Madud , was allied with the Khwarazmshah Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu against the Ayyubid rulers al-Ashraf and al-Kamil . By 1232, control of Amida and Hisn Kayfa had passed to
8320-408: The arrival of the column under Procopius and Sebastianus, set off east into the Persian interior, ordering the destruction of the fleet. This proved to be a hasty decision, for they were on the wrong side of the Tigris with no clear means of retreat and the Persians had begun to harass them from a distance, burning any food in the Romans' path. Julian had not brought adequate siege equipment, so there
8448-404: The arrival of the order from Constantius. Ammianus Marcellinus even suggested that the fear of Julian gaining more popularity than himself caused Constantius to send the order on the urging of Florentius. The troops proclaimed Julian Augustus in Paris , and this in turn led to a very swift military effort to secure or win the allegiance of others. Although the full details are unclear, there
8576-464: The body to the Church of the Apostles , where it was placed alongside that of Constantine. This act was a demonstration of his lawful right to the throne. He is also now thought to have been responsible for the building of Santa Costanza on a Christian site just outside Rome as a mausoleum for his wife Helena and sister-in-law Constantina . The new Emperor rejected the style of administration of his immediate predecessors. He blamed Constantine for
8704-465: The breakup of the Ilkhanate, an Artukid force waged war against the Ayyubids of Hisn Kayfa in 1334, but were decisively defeated, with the Ayyubids gaining their possessions on the left bank of the Tigris River . During the 14th century, the emirs of Hisn Kayfa also controlled the interior of the Tur Abdin and the castle of Haytham (in the Tur Abdin). In 1334/5 al-Adil Hisn Kayfa seized control over Mayafaraqin , which probably had been governed by
8832-488: The buildings that Ibn Shaddād describes can be identified in present-day Hasankeyf, and attributes that to neglect following the subsequent Mongol invasions and political instability. In 1255, the great khan Möngke charged his brother Hulagu with leading a massive Mongol army to conquer or destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwestern Asia. Hulagu first besieged Baghdad , which was captured on 13 February 1258 and destroyed. He conquered Aleppo on 24 January 1260, and
8960-473: The castle of Hisn Kayfa which served as their stronghold as vassals of consecutively Mamluks and Dulkadirids until they were supplanted by the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. During the second half of the 15th century, Hisn Kayfa was still governed by the last remaining Ayyubid dynasty , who owed allegiance to the Turkmen Aq Qoyunlu confederation. The Aq Qoyunlu dynasty was headed by Uzun Hassan from 1452 to 1478. Uzun Hassan's initial capital
9088-444: The ceremonial of bloody sacrifices. David Stone Potter said after nearly two millennia: They expected a man who was both removed from them by the awesome spectacle of imperial power, and would validate their interests and desires by sharing them from his Olympian height (...) He was supposed to be interested in what interested his people, and he was supposed to be dignified. He was not supposed to leap up and show his appreciation for
9216-529: The cities of Singara and Nisibis, but not their inhabitants, and the fortress of Castra Maurorum . While Kiphas had been administered as part of Arzanene up to 363, it lay on the south bank of the Tigris and was not surrendered to the Sasanians. Before the treaty, the fort at Kiphas had been on the border between Roman territory and the Armenian vassal kingdom of Arzanene. Now the border with Persia ran along
9344-457: The coordinated operation against the Germanic peoples. With Barbatio safely out of the picture, King Chnodomarius led a confederation of Alamanni forces against Julian and Severus at the Battle of Argentoratum . The Romans were heavily outnumbered and during the heat of battle a group of 600 horsemen on the right wing deserted, yet, taking full advantage of the limitations of the terrain,
9472-469: The death of Adonis , so there was wailing and moaning in the streets—not a good omen for an arrival. Julian soon discovered that wealthy merchants were causing food problems, apparently by hoarding food and selling it at high prices. He hoped that the curia would deal with the issue for the situation was headed for a famine. When the curia did nothing, he spoke to the city's leading citizens, trying to persuade them to take action. Thinking that they would do
9600-571: The eastern provinces, in what became the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . Early in the conflict they occupied Kiphas along with Mardin , Dara and probably the rest of the Tur Abdin, and these were held for most of the rest of the war. The treaty that concluded the war restored Kiphas to Byzantine control, but the gain was to prove short-lived. Writing between about 600 and 610, the Byzantine geographer George of Cyprus mentions Cepha as
9728-607: The empress in his third oration). While there, Julian became acquainted with two men who later became both bishops and saints: Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great . In the same period, Julian was also initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries , which he would later try to restore. After dealing with the rebellions of Magnentius and Silvanus, Constantius felt he needed a permanent representative in Gaul . In 355, Julian
9856-479: The envoys executed, and al-Muwaḥḥid was banished to the Ilkhanate court for seven years. By AH 672 (1273/1274) al-Muwaḥḥid had returned as the nominal ruler of Hisn Kayfa, where he remained until his death, variously reported as having occurred in AH 682 (1283/1284) or AH 693 (1293/1294). Mongol rule of the region continued until 1335, and this badly damaged both trade and agriculture, which had been
9984-523: The harvest was so bad that they had to be compensated with fair prices. Julian accused them of price gouging and forced them to sell. Various parts of Libanius' orations may suggest that both sides were justified to some extent; while Ammianus blames Julian for "a mere thirst for popularity". Julian's ascetic lifestyle was not popular either, since his subjects were accustomed to the idea of an all-powerful Emperor who placed himself well above them. Nor did he improve his dignity with his own participation in
10112-482: The historian Zosimus , the army officers were those responsible for distributing an anonymous tract expressing complaints against Constantius as well as fearing for Julian's ultimate fate. Notably absent at the time was the prefect Florentius, who was seldom far from Julian's side, though now he was kept busy organizing supplies in Vienne and away from any strife that the order could cause. Julian would later blame him for
10240-702: The imperial family to survive the purges and civil wars during the reign of Constantius II , his cousin. Julian became an orphan as a child after his father was executed in 337, and spent much of his life under Constantius's close supervision. However, the emperor allowed Julian to pursue freely an education in the Greek-speaking east, with the result that Julian became unusually cultured for an emperor of his time. In 355, Constantius II summoned Julian to court and appointed him to rule Gaul . Despite his inexperience, Julian showed unexpected success in his new capacity, defeating and counterattacking Germanic raids across
10368-454: The imperial government was returned to the cities, city council members were compelled to resume civic authority, often against their will, and the tribute in gold by the cities called the aurum coronarium was made voluntary rather than a compulsory tax. Additionally, arrears of land taxes were cancelled. This was a key reform reducing the power of corrupt imperial officials, as the unpaid taxes on land were often hard to calculate or higher than
10496-472: The indecisive Battle of Samarra near Maranga in Mesopotamia, Julian was wounded when the Sassanid army raided his column. In the haste of pursuing the retreating enemy, Julian chose speed rather than caution, taking only his sword and leaving his coat of mail. He received a wound from a spear that reportedly pierced the lower lobe of his liver and intestines . The wound was not immediately deadly. Julian
10624-426: The job, he turned his attention to religious matters. He tried to resurrect the ancient oracular spring of Castalia at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. After being advised that the bones of 3rd-century bishop Babylas were suppressing the god, he made a public-relations mistake in ordering the removal of the bones from the vicinity of the temple. The result was a massive Christian procession. Shortly after that, when
10752-672: The late emperor Licinius . Julian's mother died shortly after he was born, and he spent his childhood in Constantinople, forming a lasting attachment to the city. Julian was probably raised with Greek as his first language, and, being the nephew of Rome's first Christian emperor, he was brought up under the Christian faith. In the turmoil after the death of Constantine in 337, in order to establish himself and his brothers, Julian's cousin Constantius II appears to have led
10880-494: The latter's support of tax increases, as mentioned above, and Florentius's own corruption in the bureaucracy. Constantius attempted to maintain some modicum of control over his Caesar , which explains his removal of Julian's close adviser Saturninius Secundus Salutius from Gaul. His departure stimulated the writing of Julian's oration, "Consolation Upon the Departure of Salutius". In the fourth year of Julian's stay in Gaul,
11008-486: The letter to the Athenians has survived in its entirety). Civil war was avoided only by the death on 3 November of Constantius, who, in his last will, is alleged by some sources to have recognized Julian as his rightful successor. On 11 December 361, Julian entered Constantinople as sole emperor and, despite his rejection of Christianity, his first political act was to preside over Constantius' Christian burial, escorting
11136-399: The local ruler. After this victory the town was abandoned and al-Adil bestowed control of the surrounding region on a Kurdish family. In the early and middle 15th century, Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen forces attacked Hisn Kayfa several times, but Ayyubid rulers managed to retain control of the city and the city prospered until very end of the 15th century. In the 14th century, the Ayyubids rebuilt
11264-407: The main Persian army was still at large and approaching, while the Romans lacked a clear strategic objective. In the council of war which followed, Julian's generals persuaded him not to mount a siege against the city, given the impregnability of its defences and the fact that Shapur would soon arrive with a large force. Julian, not wanting to give up what he had gained and probably still hoping for
11392-464: The north Adriatic coast, an event that threatened to cut Julian off from the rest of his forces, while Constantius's troops marched towards him from the east. Aquileia was subsequently besieged by 23,000 men loyal to Julian. All Julian could do was sit it out in Naissus, the city of Constantine's birth, waiting for news and writing letters to various cities in Greece justifying his actions (of which only
11520-475: The pass of Succi into Thrace. He was now well out of his comfort zone and on the road to civil war. (Julian would state in late November that he set off down this road "because, having been declared a public enemy, I meant to frighten him [Constantius] merely, and that our quarrel should result in intercourse on more friendly terms..." ) However, in June, forces loyal to Constantius captured the city of Aquileia on
11648-489: The remaining structure of the bridge appears to date from Roman times. The balance of power in the region shifted significantly in 363. Following the death of the emperor Julian at the Battle of Samarra , his successor Jovian was forced to surrender to the Persian King Shapur II the eastern provinces of Arzanene , Moxoene , Zabdicene , Corduene and Rehimena . This included 15 castles, along with
11776-565: The routed enemy across the Rhine, Julian now proceeded to follow the Rhine north, the route he followed the previous year on his way back to Gaul. At Moguntiacum ( Mainz ), however, he crossed the Rhine in an expedition that penetrated deep into what is today Germany, and forced three local kingdoms to submit. This action showed the Alamanni that Rome was once again present and active in the area. On his way back to winter quarters in Paris he dealt with
11904-487: The same laws as his subjects. While in Constantinople, therefore, it was not strange to see Julian frequently active in the Senate, participating in debates and making speeches, placing himself at the level of the other members of the Senate. He viewed the royal court of his predecessors as inefficient, corrupt and expensive. Thousands of servants, eunuchs and superfluous officials were therefore summarily dismissed. He set up
12032-412: The siege. Relations between Julian and Marcellus seem to have been poor. Constantius accepted Julian's report of events and Marcellus was replaced as magister equitum by Severus. The following year saw a combined operation planned by Constantius to regain control of the Rhine from the Germanic peoples who had spilt across the river onto the west bank. From the south his magister peditum Barbatio
12160-593: The sources of the region's prosperity. The impact was felt hardest between 1260 and 1315, and traders essentially avoided the region because of ongoing war between Mamluk and Mongol forces. In 1315, the Il-Khanate and the Mamluks signed a treaty and trade restarted. This proved to be a boon for Hisn Kayfa. The previous primary routes across the region—through Cizre and Nusaybin , and through Mayafaraqin and Amida (Diyarbakır)—both failed to attract many traders, and
12288-466: The state of the administration and for having abandoned the traditions of the past. He made no attempt to restore the tetrarchal system begun under Diocletian , nor did he seek to rule as an absolute autocrat. His own philosophic notions led him to idealize the reigns of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius . In his first panegyric to Constantius, Julian described the ideal ruler as being essentially primus inter pares ("first among equals"), operating under
12416-598: The subsequent five centuries, the town was ruled Arab dynasties under the name Hisn Kayfa, first by the Ummayad and Abbasid caliphates and later by semi-autonomous Hamdanid and Marwanid rulers. Fatima, the Kurdish mother of the Hamdanid ruler Abu Taghlib , took control of the town in c. 900 A.D. In the 11th century, Seljuk Turks and their Turkmen and Oghuz allies moved into Western Armenia , culminating in
12544-526: The temple was destroyed by fire, Julian suspected the Christians and ordered stricter investigations than usual. He also shut up the chief Christian church of the city , before the investigations proved that the fire was the result of an accident. When the curia still took no substantial action in regards to the food shortage, Julian intervened, fixing the prices for grain and importing more from Egypt. Then landholders refused to sell theirs, claiming that
12672-420: The theurgist invited him into the temple of Hecate and, chanting a hymn, caused a statue of the goddess to smile and laugh, and her torches to ignite. Eusebius reportedly told Julian that he "must not marvel at any of these things, even as I marvel not, but rather believe that the thing of the highest importance is that purification of the soul which is attained by reason." In spite of Eusebius' warnings regarding
12800-448: The town: Harsenkev ( Armenian : Հարսնքվ ) is recorded by Matthew of Edessa (Mesrob Eretz) and Kentzy is recorded by P. Lucas Ingigian. As part of Atatürk's Reforms in the 1920s and '30s, many place names were modified to more Turkish-sounding forms and the town's official name was changed to Hasankeyf . This version appears occasionally in foreign reports in the mid 20th-century but only becomes prevalent after about 1980. During
12928-423: The value of the land itself. Forgiving back taxes both made Julian more popular and allowed him to increase collections of current taxes. While he ceded much of the authority of the imperial government to the cities, Julian also took more direct control himself. For example, new taxes and corvées had to be approved by him directly rather than left to the judgement of the bureaucratic apparatus. Julian certainly had
13056-507: The way of Christianity and twelve in the true way, i.e., the way of Helios . Julian began his study of Neoplatonism in Asia Minor in 351, at first under Aedesius , the philosopher, and then Aedesius' student Eusebius of Myndus . It was from Eusebius that Julian learned of the teachings of Maximus of Ephesus , whom Eusebius criticized for his more mystical form of Neoplatonic theurgy . Eusebius related his meeting with Maximus, in which
13184-405: The winter to Gaul, distributing his forces to protect various towns, and choosing the small town of Senon near Verdun to await the spring. This turned out to be a tactical error, for he was left with insufficient forces to defend himself when a large contingent of Franks besieged the town and Julian was virtually held captive there for several months, until his general Marcellus deigned to lift
13312-621: Was Nevitta , Julian's trusted Frankish general. This latter appointment made overt the fact that an emperor's authority depended on the power of the army. Julian's choice of Nevitta appears to have been aimed at maintaining the support of the Western army which had acclaimed him. After five months of dealings at the capital, Julian left Constantinople in May and moved to Antioch , arriving in mid-July and staying there for nine months before launching his fateful campaign against Persia in March 363. Antioch
13440-475: Was Flavius Claudius Julianus, was born at Constantinople , probably in 331, into the family of the reigning emperor, Constantine I , and was the first attested individual to be born in that city after its refounding. His father was Julius Constantius , Constantine's younger half-brother, and his mother was a Bithynian noble named Basilina , daughter of a high-ranking bureaucrat, Julianus , who had served as praetorian prefect and head of government under
13568-533: Was a city favored by splendid temples along with a famous oracle of Apollo in nearby Daphne, which may have been one reason for his choosing to reside there. It had also been used in the past as a staging place for amassing troops, a purpose which Julian intended to follow. His arrival on 18 July was well received by the Antiochenes, though it coincided with the celebration of the Adonia , a festival which marked
13696-413: Was a struggle between two of his other brothers, Kubilai and Ariq Böke , for control of the Mongol empire, and Hulagu decided it was wise to withdraw to Tabriz to await the resolution of this conflict. On 23 Rabiʿ II 658/7 April 1260, Mayafaraqin fell to Hulagu's forces, presumably during their retreat towards Ahlat and Tabriz, leaving Mardin and Hisn Kayfa as the only cities outside his control in
13824-415: Was at Amida (modern Diyarbakır), which he gained from his brother Jihangir in 1452. From there, Uzun Hassan embarked on a campaign of expanding his territory at the expense of the rival Kara Koyunlu dynasty. Hasankeyf was one of the first towns to acknowledge Uzun Hassan's suzerainty , in an agreement signed by the Ayyubid emir in 1455. While Uzun Hassan managed to extend his influence throughout much of
13952-412: Was buried outside Tarsus , though it was later moved to Constantinople. In 364, Libanius stated that Julian was assassinated by a Christian who was one of his own soldiers; this charge is not corroborated by Ammianus Marcellinus or other contemporary historians. John Malalas reports that the supposed assassination was commanded by Basil of Caesarea . Fourteen years later, Libanius said that Julian
14080-449: Was captured at the Battle of Harran along with his kinsman Baldwin II of Jerusalem , then count of Edessa . Baldwin was imprisoned at Mosul by the Seljuk atabeg Jikirmish . After the death of Jikirmish in 1107 and the payment of a significant ransom, Baldwin II and Joscelin I were released. Coincidentally, both men later became prisoners of Belek Ghazi in 1122/1123. Control of trade along
14208-573: Was exhumed and reburied in or near the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, where Constantine and the rest of his family lay. His sarcophagus is listed as standing in a "stoa" there by Constantine Porphyrogenitus . The church was demolished by the Ottomans after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Today a sarcophagus of porphyry , believed by Jean Ebersolt to be Julian's, stands in
14336-429: Was in AH 657 (1258/1259). He lists many buildings in the lower town, including a Dār as-Salṭana (near the bridge), a mosque, three medreses , four hammams , tombs, caravanserais and bazaars . At the citadel, Ibn Shaddād mentions another mosque, an open square, and fields to grow enough grain "to feed the inhabitants from year to year". The German historian of Islamic art Michael Meinecke notes that almost none of
14464-502: Was in search of." Constantine II died in 340 when he attacked his brother Constans. Constans in turn fell in 350 in the war against the usurper Magnentius . This left Constantius II as the sole remaining emperor. In need of support, in 351 he made Julian's half-brother, Gallus , caesar of the East, while Constantius II himself turned his attention westward to Magnentius, whom he defeated decisively that year. In 354 Gallus, who had imposed
14592-402: Was initially successful, securing a victory outside Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia . However, he did not attempt to besiege the capital. Julian instead moved into Persia's heartland, but he soon faced supply problems and was forced to retreat northwards while being ceaselessly harassed by Persian skirmishers. During the Battle of Samarra , Julian was mortally wounded. He was succeeded by Jovian ,
14720-535: Was insecure almost from the start. During 1235, the Rum Seljuk forces of 'Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād had advanced into Southeast Anatolia, capturing Harput , Urfa and Harran . In Dhu-l-Hijja 632/August 1235, they laid siege to Amida, but were unsuccessful in capturing the city and consequently did not advance as far as Hisn Kayfa. Only five years after Hisn Kayfa was captured by the Ayyubids, it had already become
14848-442: Was killed by a Saracen ( Lakhmid ) and this may have been confirmed by Julian's doctor Oribasius who, having examined the wound, said that it was from a spear used by a group of Lakhmid auxiliaries in Persian service. Later Christian historians propagated the tradition that Julian was killed by Saint Mercurius . Julian was succeeded by the short-lived Emperor Jovian who reestablished Christianity's privileged position throughout
14976-535: Was necessary to restore the Empire's ancient Roman values and traditions in order to save it from dissolution. He purged the top-heavy state bureaucracy , and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the expense of Christianity . His efforts to build a Third Temple in Jerusalem were probably intended to harm Christianity rather than please Jews . Julian also forbade Christians from teaching and learning classical texts. Julian, whose full name
15104-436: Was nothing he could do when he found that the Persians had flooded the area behind him, forcing him to withdraw. A second council of war on 16 June 363 decided that the best course of action was to lead the army back to the safety of Roman borders, not through Mesopotamia , but northward to Corduene . During the withdrawal, Julian's forces suffered several attacks from Sassanid forces. In one such engagement on 26 June 363,
15232-516: Was offered control of Amida and Hisn Kayfa in return for joining the alliance. Although al-Ashraf had assembled a formidable alliance against his brother, he was unable to use this to engage al-Kamil's forces as he was already ill by the time of the negotiations with the Seljuks, and he died on 4 Muharram 635/28 August 1237. His rival, al-Kamil, died on 6 March 1238, and the Ayyubid domain was thrown into fresh turmoil. Al-Kamil had bequeathed control of
15360-637: Was summoned to appear before the emperor in Mediolanum and on 6 November was made Caesar of the West, marrying Constantius' sister, Helena . Constantius, after his experience with Gallus, intended his representative to be more a figurehead than an active participant in events, so he packed Julian off to Gaul with a small retinue, assuming his prefects in Gaul would keep Julian in check. At first reluctant to trade his scholarly life for war and politics, Julian eventually took every opportunity to involve himself in
15488-406: Was taken by the Roman central government, which would be more and more dominated by Christians in the ensuing decades. Considered apocryphal is the report that his dying words were νενίκηκάς με, Γαλιλαῖε , or Vicisti, Galilaee ("You have won, Galilean "), supposedly expressing his recognition that, with his death, Christianity would become the Empire's state religion. The phrase introduces
15616-491: Was the headquarters of the Dux Mesopotamiae . Constantius II (324–361) built a fort at Kepha, but it is unclear whether this was on the current citadel site. The existence of a Roman bridge across the Tigris at Hasankeyf has been viewed as "highly probable" by one scholar who speculates that (like the later bridge) it may have had "a wooden superstructure based on piers of masonry and natural stone". However, none of
15744-509: Was to come from Milan and amass forces at Augst (near the Rhine bend), then set off north with 25,000 soldiers; Julian with 13,000 troops would move east from Durocortorum ( Rheims ). However, while Julian was in transit, a group of Laeti attacked Lugdunum ( Lyon ) and Julian was delayed in order to deal with them. This left Barbatio unsupported and deep in Alamanni territory, so he felt obliged to withdraw, retracing his steps. Thus ended
15872-427: Was to drive out the barbarians who had breached the Rhine frontier. He sought to win over the support of the civil population, which was necessary for his operations in Gaul, and also to show his largely Germanic army the benefits of Imperial rule. Julian therefore felt it was necessary to rebuild stable and peaceful conditions in the devastated cities and countryside. For this reason, Julian clashed with Florentius over
16000-477: Was treated by his personal physician, Oribasius of Pergamum, who seems to have made every attempt to treat the wound. This probably included the irrigation of the wound with a dark wine , and a procedure known as gastrorrhaphy , the suturing of the damaged intestine. On the third day a major hemorrhage occurred and the emperor died during the night. Some Christian writers reported that his final words were "Thou hast conquered, Galilean.” As Julian wished, his body
16128-462: Was under the guardianship of Eusebius , the semi-Arian Christian Bishop of Nicomedia, and taught by Mardonius , a Gothic eunuch , about whom he later wrote warmly. After Eusebius died in 342, both Julian and Gallus were transferred to the imperial estate of Macellum in Cappadocia . Here Julian met the Christian bishop George of Cappadocia , who lent him books from the classical tradition. At
16256-605: Was where two earlier Roman campaigns had concentrated and where the main Persian forces were soon directed. Julian's strategy lay elsewhere, however. He had had a fleet built of over 1,000 ships at Samosata in order to supply his army for a march down the Euphrates and of 50 pontoon ships to facilitate river crossings. Procopius and the Armenians would march down the Tigris to meet Julian near Ctesiphon. Julian's ultimate aim seems to have been "regime change" by replacing king Shapur II with his brother Hormisdas . After feigning
16384-621: Was within the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni . Between the 9th and 7th centuries BC it was part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire , and by the mid-6th century it was part of the Median empire . In Roman times, Hasankeyf (known as Kepha , Cephe , Cepha or Ciphas ) was a base for legionaries on the frontier with the Sasanian Empire of Persia. For a time the town became the capital of the Roman province of Arzanene , although Nisibis
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