Rumkale ( ''Roman Castle''), also known as Urumgala, is a

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

on the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

, located in the province of

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approxi ...

and 50 km west of Şanlıurfa. Its strategic location was already known to the Assyrians, although the present structure is largely

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

in origin. It is said that John, an apostle of Jesus, lived in Rumkale during Roman times. The site was occupied by various Byzantine and Armenian warlords during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. During the 12th century, it also became the seat of an Armenian bishop. In 1179, a synod took place in Rumkale, attempting a compromise between the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

and the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

. From 1203 to 1293, it served as the residence of the Catholicos of the Armenian Church."Eastern Churches" by James Darling, London 1850, page 35, paragraph 2 In 1293, it was captured by 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'') ...

s of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

following a protracted siege who then named it ''Qal'at al-Muslimin''.

Access

The fortress, now situated across a peninsula created by the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

of Birecik Dam and within the administrative boundaries of

's Nizip district, is currently accessible by boat either from the neighboring site of Zeugma or from the town of Halfeti. As of March 2017, it was not possible to land at the site; extensive (re)building is underway inside the fortress and on the external walls.

Flooding

Much of the surrounding work of the fortress, along with local villages and farmland, has been flooded; it is not clear how much of the entrance up from the western side remains undamaged by the rising waters.

Access

Flooding

References

Further reading