[4] It was the birthplace of the famous Turkish novelist of Kurdish origin Yaşar Kemal.

[5] Its most conspicuous feature is a plug of rock in the centre of the village with a ruined castle perched on its summit.

The Ceyhan river passes the outskirts of the village and there is a waterside park with a small museum to Yaşar Kemal (not always open).

Originally a Roman castle, the settlement was listed as Al-ˁAmûdayn, meaning "two pillars" in Arabic, by Ibn Khordadbeh in 870.

According to Sevan Nişanyan, the original Turkish name of the village was borrowed from its Armenian form of Amuta.