Zengid dynasty
Zengi, fresh from his success at Edessa, did not however pursue an attack on the remaining territory of Edessa, or on Antioch, as was feared. Events in Mosul compelled him to return home, and he once again set his sights on Damascus. However, he was assassinated by a slave and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son Nūr-ad-Din. Joscelyn II of Edessa and Baldwin of Marash recaptured the city during the Second siege of Edessa of 1146 by stealth but could not take or even properly besiege the citadel. After a brief counter-siege, Nūr-ad-Din took the city. The population was massacred, with the women and children enslaved, and the walls razed. This victory was pivotal in the rise of Zengid dynasty.