Edessa

Edessa (/ɪˈdɛsə/; from Ancient Greek: Ἔδεσσα; Syriac: ܐܘܪܗܝ‎ Urhāy, Armenian: Եդեսիա Yedesia or Armenian: Ուռհա Uṙha) was an ancient city in upper Mesopotamia, refounded on an earlier site by Seleucus I Nicator, and is now Şanlıurfa, Turkey.

Names

The earliest name of the city was Adma (Aramaic: אדמא‎ also written Adme, Admi, Admum) which first appeared in Assyrian cuneiform sources in the 7th century BC. A Hellenistic settlement was founded on the location of the Syrian town by Seleucus I Nicator in 304 B.C. The new settlement was named "Edessa" after the ancient capital of Macedonia, perhaps due to its abundant water, just like its Macedonian eponym. The native Syriac name of the city, "Orhay" (Syriac: ܐܘܪܗܝ‎), appears to correspond with the toponym Antiochia Kallirhoe "Antioch by the Kallirhoe" (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης), which is found on Edessan coins struck by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC). The same name appears also in Armenian as Ուռհա, transliterated Urha or Ourha, in Arabic it is الرُّهَا transliterated as Er Ruha or Ar-Ruha, commonly Urfa, and Riha in Kurdish, to the Frankish Crusaders Rohais, and in Turkish Urfa, Ourfa, Sanli Urfa, or Şanlıurfa ("Glorious Urfa"), its present name. During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis.

Şanlıurfa

Şanlıurfa , pronounced [ʃanˈlɯuɾfa], often simply known as Urfa in daily language (Arabic الرها ar-Ruhā, Syriac ܐܘܪܗ Urhoy), in ancient times Edessa (Έδεσσα in Greek), is a city with 561,465 inhabitants in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. It is a city with a primarily Arabic population. Urfa is situated on a plain about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. Urfa's climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.

Name

The city has been known by many names in history: Ուռհա Uṙha in Armenian, ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhai in Syriac, ره, الرها, Ar-Ruhā in Arabic and Ορρα, Orrha in Greek (also Ορροα, Orrhoa). For a while during the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 - 164 BCE) it was named Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης). During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis. Prior to Turkish rule, it was often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Ἔδεσσα, Edessa.

Şanlı means "great, glorious, dignified" in Turkish, and Urfa was officially renamed Şanlıurfa (Urfa the Glorious) by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1984, in recognition of the local resistance in the Turkish War of Independence. The title was achieved following repeated requests by the city's members of parliament, desirous to earn a title similar to those of neighbouring cities 'Gazi' (veteran) Antep and 'Kahraman' (Heroic) Maraş.