Sis ( hy, Սիս) was the capital of the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
The massive fortified complex is just to the southwest of the modern Turkish town of
Kozan in
Adana Province
Adana Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey located in central Cilicia. With a population of 2.26 million, it is the sixth most populous province in Turkey. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 79% of the r ...
.
History
In the 3rd millennium B.C. Sis was one of the
Hittite settlements on the
Cilician plain
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
between the mountains and the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
coast.
During the 1st century B.C. Sis appears to have been an unfortified village in the Roman province of
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
Secunda. The names Sisan or Sisia are first mentioned in the 5th and 6th centuries in Greek and Latin sources. In 703-04 A.D. the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
settlers repulsed an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
attack, but were soon forced to abandon the town, which became a frontier post for the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
. The
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Al-Mutawakkil reconstructed the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
defenses in the mid-9th century. The Byzantine Emperor
Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits whi ...
recaptured Sis in 962 from the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
s, only to have it become an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
possession in 1113, when it was occupied by Rubenid Baron
T‛oros I and repaired.
From the late 12th through the 13th centuries the castle was significantly enlarged during the reigns of King
Levon I and King
Het‛um I with a "palace," residential buildings, churches, and gardens. Wilbrand von Oldenburg, a Teutonic monk who visited Sis in 1212, found a complete and well-established capital. Het‛um's wife, Zapēl, is credited with building a hospital there in 1241. A fragment of a dedicatory inscription still in situ within the castle mentions "Het‛um."
After Hromkla was conquered by the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian
Mamluks, Sis became the Catholicos' residence. In 1266 the Mamluks looted and burnt the city. In 1275 the Mamluks again surrounded the city, but were defeated by Armenian forces. A century later, in 1369 the
Mamluks again conquered the city, but were forced to leave. Finally, in 1375 the
Mamluks took the city, looted and burnt it, and captured the king and many lords.
With Sis fallen, the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia also fell and its territory was annexed into the
Mamluk Sultanate
The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...
.
According to
Gregory of Akner,
Into the early
20th century Armenians continued to inhabit the town where several late medieval residential structures were preserved.
The castle at Sis is one of the largest fortified sites in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
. If laid from end to end, the circuit walls would measure almost 3 kilometers in length.
The walls, towers, vaulted
undercroft
An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...
s, cisterns, and residential buildings are carefully adapted into the folds of the lofty outcrop of limestone. The vast majority of these constructions are built with well-cut rusticated ashlar, a masonry typical of Armenian fortifications. There are fragments of
Byzantine walls as well as an entrance corridor at the southeast which was built during the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
occupation and has an inscription in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
. Because of its strategic location, Sis has indivisibility with the castles at Andıl,
Anazarbus, and
Tumlu.
Directly below the castle outcrop at the southeast is a large terrace which has the remains of several important churches and chapels in the Compound of the Patriarchs, including the basilica of St. Sophia, built by
King Het‛um I, and the 18th-century church of St. Gregory the Illuminator. One of the chapels, Kara Kilise, still preserves the apse and the pointed vault over the nave.
[Robert W. Edwards, "Ecclesiastical Architecture in the Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia: Second Report," ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' 37, 1983, pp.134-141, pls.47-67.]
References
See also
*
Kozan, Adana
Kozan (Turkish name), formerly Sis ( hy, Սիս), is a city in Adana Province, Turkey, northeast of Adana, in the northern section of the Çukurova plain. The city is the capital of the ilçe (district) of Kozan. The Kilgen River, a tributary of ...
*
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Carefully documented photographic survey and plan of Sis Castle / Kozan
{{Historic capitals of Armenia
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
6th century BC in Greece