 Following this distraction , in January 942 Kourkouas launched a new campaign in the East , which lasted for three years . The first assault fell on the territory of Aleppo , which was thoroughly plundered : at the fall of the town of Hamus , near Aleppo , even Arab sources record the capture of 10 – 15 @,@ 000 prisoners by the Byzantines . Despite a minor counter @-@ raid by Thamal or one of his retainers ( ghilman ) from Tarsus in the summer , in autumn Kourkouas launched another major invasion . At the head of an exceptionally large army , some 80 @,@ 000 men according to Arab sources , he crossed from allied Taron into northern Mesopotamia . Mayyafiriqin , Amida , Nisibis , Dara — places where no Byzantine army had trod since the days of Heraclius 300 years earlier — were stormed and ravaged . The real aim of these campaigns , however , was Edessa , the repository of the " Holy Mandylion " . This was a cloth believed to have been used by Christ to wipe his face , leaving an imprint of his features , and subsequently given to King Abgar V of Edessa . To the Byzantines , especially after the end of the Iconoclasm period and the restoration of image veneration , it was a relic of profound religious significance . As a result , its capture would provide the Lekapenos regime with an enormous boost in popularity and legitimacy . 
