Masisa (Mopsuestia)

المصيصة

Masisa (Mopsuestia), the Syrian march-fortress on the Jayhan; unpeopled by Muslims until Abdullah ibn Abd al-Malik built its fortress in year 84 on the ancient foundation, settling three hundred picked men and a mosque on its hill, while its church Herya had been the Byzantines' wintering goal; Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz meant to raze it and held back when shown it shielded Antioch, building the Kafarbayya mosque with its cistern; Hisham added the rabad, Marwan the eastern suburb with wall, gate and moat, Abu al-Abbas four hundred more garrison-men with estates, and the Mansur–Mahdi–Harun succession kept building the marches.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Umayyad Period
Region: Levant & Iraq
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Overview

Al-Masisa is the Syrian frontier fortress on the Jayhan river. Al-Baladhuri mentions that the Muslims did not settle there until Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Malik built its fortress in the year 84 AH on its old foundations. He settled three hundred selected men there and built a mosque on its hill. ¹ See The building of al-Masisa.

It had a church which Byzantine vanguards would visit. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wished to demolish it, but held back when it became known that it defended Antioch. Then Hisham, Marwan and Abu al-Abbas succeeded one another in building it, followed by al-Mansur, al-Mahdi and Harun. ¹

Connections

Explore the connections

Site of: Baybars raids Cilicia, 673· The Building of the Fortress of Masisa

People and things also explored

The Thughur (Frontier Marches)· Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan· Abdullah ibn Abd al-Malik· al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars· Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz· Baybars raids Cilicia, 673· The Building of the Fortress of Masisa

Sources

Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Masisa (Mopsuestia)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/masisa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Wing

Place

Cities, sites and routes on a map that moves through time. Related

The Thughur (Frontier Marches)

The Thughur — in al-Baladhuri: the Muslims' Syrian marches in Umar's and Uthman's days were Antioch and the cities al-Rashid later called the 'Awasim, the Muslims raiding beyond them as they now raid beyond Tarsus; between Alexandretta and Tarsus lay Byzantine forts and watchposts that their people sometimes abandoned in flight or filled with fighters, Heraclius reportedly removing their people with him on leaving Antioch so the Muslims could not settle the land between; the Umayyads raided the Byzantines with the people of Syria and the Jazira summer and winter, posting coastal watchmen and keeping raiding ships, then Abu Ja'far al-Mansur went through the coastal fortresses and cities, restoring, fortifying and building what needed building and doing likewise for the march cities, al-Mahdi completed what remained and reinforced them, Harun carried fortification and raiding to a pitch unmatched before him and disbursed funds through the marches, and al-Mutawakkil in year 247 ordered ships stationed on every coast manned with fighters; among its famous strongholds are Masisa, Tarsus, Mar'ash, al-Hadath, Sis and Qanqara.