Editing Urfa (section)

===City of Edessa===
{{main|Edessa}}
Urfa was founded as a city under the name Edessa by the Seleucid king [[Seleucus I Nicator]] in 302 or 303 BC.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Schnusenberg |first=Christine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhE2GC-rI04 |title=The Mythological Traditions of Liturgical Drama: The Eucharist as Theater |publisher=Paulist Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8091-0544-1 |location=New York |pages=116}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Alan V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-opAQAAMAAJ |title=The Crusades: An Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-862-4 |pages=378 |language=en}}</ref> Seleucus named the city Edessa after the [[Edessa, Greece|ancient capital of Macedonia]].<ref name="Patten 2022 p. 79">{{cite book |last=Patten |first=N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RhtEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |title=The Rose of Balarm: A Tale of 12th-Century Sicily |publisher=Strategic Book Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-68235-601-2 |page=79 |access-date=2023-09-22}}</ref>

Ancient sources describe Seleucid Edessa as following the typical plan for Hellenistic military colonies: its streets were laid out in a grid pattern, with four main streets that intersected each other. There were four city gates, and the main citadel was outside the walls. Macedonian soldiers were settled in the new city,<ref name="Ball 2000">{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Warwick |title=Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |isbn=0-415-11376-8 |pages=87–96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73-JAgAAQBAJ |access-date=4 November 2022 |chapter=Edessa and the Coming of Christendom}}</ref>{{rp|89}} but they never formed a majority of its population.<ref name="Lieu 1997">{{Cite book|last=Lieu|first=Samuel|chapter=Edessa|title=Encyclopaedia Iranica|year=1997|volume=8|issue=2|pages=174–175|chapter-url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/edessa}}</ref> The city's culture remained predominantly Semitic (specifically Aramaic), and any [[Hellenization]] was minimal.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|89, 91–2}}

Edessa was an important commercial center in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|198}} Previously, the main east-west trade route across Upper Mesopotamia had gone through [[Harran]], but the founding of Edessa caused that route to shift northwards.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|195}}

In 132 BC, following the decline of the Seleucids, Edessa became the capital of the kingdom of [[Osrhoene]], which was ruled by the [[Abgarid dynasty|Abgarids]], an Arabized tribal dynasty with origins in [[Nisibis]].<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|89–90}} The Abgarids were generally allied with the [[Parthian Empire]] and were under Parthian cultural influence as well.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

[[File:Roman Orpheus Taming Wild Animals.jpg|thumb|left|Mosaic of [[Orpheus]] from Roman Edessa, {{circa}} 200 AD]]
In the early second century AD, [[Abgar VII]] supported the Roman emperor [[Trajan]]'s campaign in Mesopotamia and received him "sumptously" at his court, but later rebelled. In retaliation, the Romans captured and destroyed Edessa, and Abgar VII was killed. The Romans installed a Parthian prince, [[Parthamaspates]], on the Edessan throne as a puppet ruler in 117, but the Abgarids were later restored to power. Similarly, the Parthians captured Edessa in 163 and installed Wa'el bar Sharu as a puppet king. The deposed Ma'nu VIII went to the Romans, who took Edessa in 165 and restored Ma'nu to power. In 166, Osrhoene became a Roman client kingdom.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|90}}

Ma'nu VIII died in 177 and was succeeded by [[Abgar VIII]], also called Abgar the Great. Abgar was stripped of most of his domains except for Edessa, and Osrhoene became a Roman province, when his ally [[Pescennius Niger]] lost the civil war to [[Septimius Severus]].<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|90}} Abgar devoted his remaining time to fostering arts and learning. In 201, much of Edessa was destroyed by a major flood. According to the ''Chronicle of Edessa'', over 2,000 people died. Abgar granted a remission of taxes for people affected by the flood and immediately began a large-scale reconstruction project of the city after the old Seleucid plan. Abgar repaired the old royal palace by the river, which had been damaged by the flood, but he also built a new palace on higher ground.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|91}}

[[File:Balıklıgöl_Urfa2.jpg|thumb|The sacred carp of Balıklıgöl: a tradition which goes back to ancient times]]
Ancient Edessa was an eclectic melting pot of different religious groups.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|92}} Unlike Harran, where the cult of the moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] predominated, the people of Edessa worshipped a whole pantheon of gods that can generally be identified with planets.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|195}} In addition to polytheists, Edessa also had a prominent Jewish community.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|93}} Many of Edessa's Jews were merchants, involved in long-distance trade between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|94}} By the end of the 2nd century, a small Christian community had appeared in Edessa.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|195}} Christianity also resonated with several religious themes already present in Edessa – besides the concept of a virgin mother and child, there was also the concept of a divine trinity and a hope for life after death.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}} Edessa's Jewish community was probably partly responsible for the rapid spread of Christianity in the city.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|94–5}} Abgar the Great reportedly converted to Christianity around the turn of the 3rd century, which if true would make Edessa the first Christian polity in the world.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}}

More religions joined the mix during the 3rd century.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}} One was the Bardaisanites, founded by the important philosopher [[Bardaisan]] who Abgar the Great was a patron of.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|94}} Another was the [[Elkesaites]], a [[syncretism|syncretic]] religion that combined elements of Christianity, Judaism, and paganism.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|96}} There was already an active Manichaean community in Edessa during Mani's lifetime: there is a reference in the [[Cologne Mani Codex]] to a letter he wrote to his followers in Edessa.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> Manichaeism's spread to Edessa was attributed to two of Mani's disciples named Addai and Thomas. Edessa's Manichaean community remained prominent until the 5th century.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}}

====Roman rule====
Abgar the Great died in 212 and was succeeded by [[Abgar IX]], also called Severus as a sign of Roman influence. Abgar IX only reigned for a year – in 213, he was summoned to Rome by the emperor [[Caracalla]], who then had him murdered. In 214, Caracalla made Edessa a Roman colony, officially ending any autonomy the city had. A son of Abgar IX, known as Ma'nu IX, appears to have been nominally a king until 240; he received an embassy from India in 218, during the reign of [[Elagabalus]], but he did nothing else of note. The monarchy seems to have been restored to power at some point – and Abgar IX was apparently king until 248, when the emperor [[Philip the Arab]] had him banished after Edessa rebelled.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|91}}

In 260, the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] emperor [[Shapur I]] defeated the Romans in the [[Battle of Edessa]] and captured the emperor.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> However, either Shapur never actually captured the city or he only held it for a very short time – it is not listed among the cities he captured in his inscription on the [[Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]], and in the aftermath of the battle he had to bribe Edessa's garrison to let his army pass unmolested.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

As a result of [[Diocletian]]'s reorganization of the empire in 293, a state-run factory was built at Edessa to make weapons and equipment for the soldiers stationed along the border.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> In 298, after [[Galerius Maximianus]]'s victory over the Sasanians, Edessa was made capital of the new province of Osrhoene.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> It served as a military base in the Mesopotamian ''[[limes (Roman Empire)|limes]]'', although it was secondary to Nisibis in that system.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

====Late antiquity====
In the 4th through 6th centuries AD, Edessa went through arguably its period of greatest prosperity. It was again an important commercial center, and merchants grew rich on trade in luxury goods from the east, particularly silk. As with later periods, the city had a council of notable citizens who were at least partly in charge of local government and administration. In the 5th century there were three different theological schools in Edessa: the School of the Syrians (affiliated with the patriarchate of Antioch), the School of the Armenians, and the famous School of the Persians (whose teachers were not actually Persians but rather members of the [[Church of the East]]). The School of the Persians was closed down in 489 and its staff relocated to Nisibis. There were many churches in the city and monasteries in the area. Just outside the walls were several infirmaries and hospitals.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|198}}

When the Roman emperor [[Jovian (emperor)|Jovian]] surrendered Nisibis to the Sasanians in 363, an influx of refugees came to Edessa, including many Christians.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> One of these refugees was the writer and theologian [[Ephrem the Syrian]], who was a co-founder of the School of the Persians in Edessa.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> According to T.A. Sinclair, as Christianity gained more of a presence in Edessa, the pagan planet-worshippers increasingly emigrated to Harran.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|198}}

By the early 6th century, a small lake had formed on the west side of the city. In 525, a flood destroyed part of the western city wall and damaged some of the city. Afterwards, a deep ditch was dug on the north and east sides of the city to act as a [[flood channel]]. In normal weather, a low dam kept the Daisan river in its original course, but if the dam overflowed, then the floodwaters would flow through the artificial channel instead of into the city. At some point later on, the flood channel became the normal course of the river.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3}}

Edessa successfully held out during a siege in 544.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> In 609, however, the Sasanian emperor [[Khosrow II]] captured Edessa during his campaign in Mesopotamia.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> Many of the city's Monophysites were deported to Iran.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> In 628, the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]] captured Edessa.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>