Exciso itaque oppido, rex Nisibin prudenti consilio vitans, memor nimirum quae saepius ibi pertulerat, dextrum latus itineribus petit obliquis, Bezabden, quam Phaenicham quoque institutores veteres appellarunt, vi vel promissorum dulcedine illectis defensoribus retenturus, munimentum impendio validum in colle mediocriter edito positum, vergensque in margines Tigridis, atque ubi loca suspecta sunt et humilia, duplici muro vallatum.
After the destruction of the city the king prudently turned aside from Nisibis, doubtless remembering what he had often suffered there, and marched to the right by side roads to Bezabde, which its early founders also called Phaenicha, hoping to gain entrance into the place by force or by winning the defenders with flattering promises. Bezabde was a very strong fortress, placed upon a hill of moderate height which eloped towards the banks of the Tigris, and where it was low and therefore exposed to danger it was fortified with a double wall.
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