Gündoğan, Oğuzeli

Gündoğan, historically Turbessel (Tel Bshir; Tell Bāshir or Tel-Basheir; Թլպաշար; Tilbeşar or Tilbaşar), is a village in the Oğuzeli District, Gaziantep Province, Turkey. It was originally a fortress that played an important role in the Crusades, remnant of which is a tumulus. The site was occupied at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC through the end of the 17th century BC, after which it was abandoned. It was located 50 km west of Carchemish. By 2600 BC (EBIIIA) the site was about 56 hectares. It had burials showing the emergence of an elite class. By 2450 BC (EBIIIB) it was a planned city. In the EBIV, the city saw heavy destruction, but it was never abandoned. In the MBI, the city was rebuilt in a smaller scale. In the MBII, the city saw major construction work. While the site had been occupied since the Bronze Age, the fort gained importance during the Byzantine Empire and came under control of local Armenian lords in the late 11th century. In 1097, during the First Crusade, Baldwin I took the fortresses of Ravendel and Turbessel, which he left as fiefs to the Armenian companions who had guided him. He then was called to Edessa by the Armenian Thoros who was threatened by the Seljuks. Baldwin responded to that call and had himself adopted as successor to Thoros, in which he became Count of Edessa in 1098. In 1100, when Godfrey of Bouillon died, Baldwin entrusted the county of Edessa to his cousin Baldwin II, then Joscelin I joined him there in 1101, and was entrusted with the county of Edessa. In late September 1108, near Turbessel, Tancred, with 1,500 Frankish knights and infantry, and 600 Turkish horsemen sent by Fakhr al-Mulk Ridwan confronted Baldwin II and the 2,000 men of Jawali Saqawa, atabeg of Mosul. Tancred and Ridwan routed Jawali's men who took refuge in Turbessel. Later on, Tancred who had initially refused to abandon Turbessel to Baldwin II, decided at the assembly in Château Pèlerin in April 1109, to give up Turbessel in return for his restoration to his old domains in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.