Al - Abbas ibn al - Walid Al - ‘ Abbas ibn al - Walīd was an Umayyad Arab prince and general , the son of Caliph al - Walid I . A distinguished military leader in the Byzantine – Arab Wars of the early 8th century , especially in partnership with his uncle Maslama ibn Abd al - Malik , he became involved in the civil wars of the mid - 740s and was imprisoned . He died in prison of an epidemic in 750 . Biography . Abbas was the son of Caliph al - Walid I ( r . 705 – 715 ) . Little is known about his early life , and Arab and Byzantine sources are often at odds concerning details of his career . He first appears in the 707 campaign against the important Byzantine fortress of Tyana in Cappadocia , where he led the Arab army alongside his uncle Maslama ibn Abd al - Malik . The town withstood a long siege over the winter of 707 – 708 , and surrendered only after a Byzantine relief army was defeated in spring . During the latter battle , Abbas is said by Arab chroniclers to have distinguished himself for the crucial role he played in stopping the wavering Arabs from fleeing and driving them on to victory . Abbas participated regularly in the almost annual expeditions launched into Byzantine Asia Minor during these years . His most notable campaigns were the capture of Sebaste in Cilicia in 712 and of Antioch in Pisidia in 713 , the raid into Paphlagonia in 721 where he is reported to have captured 20 , 000 prisoners , and a raid , placed in 722 / 723 but possibly reflecting an earlier campaign , that captured a fortress called Siza . In 720 , along with his uncle Maslama , he led the suppression of the revolt of the governor of Iraq , Yazid ibn al - Muhallab . During the reign of the unpopular Al - Walid II ( r . 743 – 744 ) , Abbas was initially reluctant to oppose the caliph and counselled against provoking a civil war . In the end , however , he participated in the conspiracy and coup that deposed Walid and brought his brother Yazid III on the throne . Neither Yazid nor his brother Ibrahim I lasted long on the throne , which fell to the general Marwan ibn Muhammad ( r . 744 – 750 ) . Marwan had Abbas thrown into prison in Harran , where he died of a disease in 750 . Founding of Anjar . While the establishment of the " madina " ( " city " ) of Anjar ( " Ayn al - Jarr " ) in the al - Biqa ' valley is normally attributed to al - Walid I , other sources , including the Byzantine Greek chronicler Theophanes the Confessor and contemporary historian Jere L . Bacharach , credit Abbas for the city ' s founding in the fall of 714 . Greek laborers from Asia Minor , who were likely captured by Abbas during his previous campaigns against the Byzantines , were utilized , in addition to Nestorian quarry workers and Coptic artisans . Bacharach states that construction halted during the winter and resumed in the spring of 715 . A Friday mosque and an official residence ( " dar al - ' imara " ) were built in Anjar . Its proximity to the ancient city of Baalbek made Anjar suitable to become an alternative administrative center for the strategic al - Biqa ' area , but following the death of al - Walid I in late 715 and Abbas ' consequent falling out of favor with the new caliphs , Abbas ' patronage of the city ended and further construction came to a permanent halt thereafter .