Azaz (mod. A‘zāz, Syria) was a fortress on a key route between Antioch (mod. Antakya, Turkey) and Turbessel (mod. Tellbaflar Kalesi, Turkey) in the period of the crusades, meeting roads to Aleppo and Marash (mod. Kahra- manmarafl, Turkey).
Despite its being a poorly watered site, frequent struggles over the possession of Azaz are testimony to its strategic importance: for the Muslims, as a means of disrupting communications between Antioch and Edessa (mod. Şanlıurfa, Turkey); for the Franks, as a means of putting pressure on Aleppo, some 45 kilometers (28 mi.) to the south. Azaz was eventually taken from īlghāzī of Aleppo by Prince Roger of Antioch in late 1118, in alliance with an Armenian prince, Leon, and was given as dowry to Count Joscelin I of Edessa on his marriage to Roger’s sister Maria in 1122. The region and castle were attacked repeatedly, and Timurtash of Aleppo claimed it as Baldwin II’s ransom in 1124. A major siege was beaten off and the Muslim army defeated in battle in June 1125. It was finally taken by Nûr al-Dīn in 1150. The mud and brick castle high on a mound was rebuilt in stone by the Ayyûbids, but it was destroyed by the Mongols in 1260.