of Anzitene, such as at al-Minşār, al-Tell, and Aşvan. They didn't bother to make any bases on the open plains, except for the major city of Arsamosata at the eastern end of the plain. The Arabs don't seem to have used the Ergani pass much during this period. However, an account of Basil I's campaign in the region in 873 refers to fortified settlements at include Chachon (Aşağı Huh) and Mourinix (the fort at Daldık, near the village of Murenik), among others. Both sites are on the descent from the Ergani pass, indicating that it was still seen as a strategic military objective, even if less than other periods. In general, the Arabs used Anzitene for a different strategic purpose than supplying Malatya - they used it to maintain communications with regions further east. When the Byzantines reconquered the region, they made little changes except for upgrading the fortifications at Harput, which now became the main stronghold in Anzitene. They simply reused the existing Arab system, adapting it to serve as a base for the guerilla strategies they typically favored. The resulting system was very defensive in nature, with the castles all at "strong vantage points on the far side of the plain, as if their main function was to shield a highland refuge zone in the west and to control the strategic routes, the main river fords, and the western approach to Arsamosata." They were not designed to protect the plain. They also didn't fortify the Hazar Gölü valley or the mountains separating it from the main Anzitene plain. The Byzantines seem to have treated Anzitene as "a deep outer defensive zone" protecting Melitene on the west and the canton of Sophene, "the economic and social heart of the province of Mesopotamia", to the north. Later, Anzitene formed the core of the Artukid principality of Harput, which also extended further east. This principality was initially established shortly after 1090 by a separate Turkish emir named Çubuk, under the authority of the Seljuk statesman Ibn Jahir. In 1113, Çubuk's son Mehmet lost the principality to an Artukid named Balak, who then in turn was conquered by a different Artukid, Shams ad-Dawla of Mayyafariqin. The next year, Harput was seized by a third Artukid, Dawud of Hisn Kayfa. In 1176, a younger son of this branch seized Harput and it became an independent principality again until its final conquest by the