After the murder of Zanki, Nur al-Din was detained at Mosul over questions of his father's inheritance, and only small forces were left at Edessa. Joscelin II therefore received news from the huge Christian majority in Edessa that there were no Turkish troops there apart from a few guarding the citadel. He was asked to gather his men and go there, so that the citizens could surrender the city to him. So he gathered all his men, and was joined by Baldwin of Mar'ash. They arrived at Edessa, and were able to enter the city by ropes and ladders provided by the citizens. Those who had entered opened the gates for the rest, and a massacre followed of all the enemy they could find. But they could not take the citadel, having no engines, nor wood with which to build them