• parsed from wikipedia

Azaz had several names over its history - e.g. Azazuwa in Hurrian, Ḫazazu in Neo-Assyrian, Hzz in Old Aramaic, and Azázion in Medieval Greek. Although rarely mentioned in Islamic texts prior to the 12th century, excavations have revealed considerable quantities of ceramics from the early and middle Islamic periods (Eger, p. 88) and the Hamdanids of Aleppo built a brick citadel on top of a tell in Azaz sometime in the last half of the 10th century CE (Bylinski, 2004:161). Due to its topography and location close to Aleppo and between Antioch and Edessa, Azaz was of strategic importance during Crusader times and was fought over and/or exchanged hands on several occasions until it finally fell to Zengid leader Nur ad-Din in June 1150 ( Deschamps, 1973:344).

During Ayyubid rule in the late 12th century CE, the citadel at Azaz was rebuilt (Bylinski, 2004:161). The Mamluk Sultanate ruled the area starting in the 13th century. This apparently lasted until the Ottoman Turks took over in 1516.