Sanli Urfa
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Sanli Urfa (in Turkish Şanlıurfa) is a city in eastern Turkey, and the provincial capital of Sanliurfa Province. The city has been known by many names. In Syriac it is ܐܘܪܗܝ, Orhāy. In Kurdish it is Riha. In Arabic it is الروها, Ar-Ruha. In Greek it was Ορρα, Orrha. Although it is often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Εδεσσα, Edessa
The modern city of Urfa is situated about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. The population is about 275,000 (1990). For more on historic Urfa, please see the article Edessa, Mesopotamia.
According to Muslim tradition it is the location of Ur, and the birthplace of Abraham is said to be at a mosque in the city. The Great Mosque at Urfa was built in 1170, on the site of a Christian church the Arabs called the "red church," probably incorporating some Roman masonry. Contemporary tradition at the site identifies the well of the mosque as that into which the towel (mendil) of the prophet Jesus was thrown (see Image of Edessa). Under the Ottomans it was a centre of trade in cotton, leather, and jewellery.
It still has ruins of its ancient walls and of an Arab castle. There were three Christian communities: Syrian, Armenian, and Latin. The last Syrian Christians left in 1924 and went to Aleppo (where they settled down in a place that later got called Hay Al Suryan "The Assyrian Quarter").
The official name of the city has been changed into Sanliurfa (Şanlıurfa in Turkish spelling) in 1984 which was Urfa until this date. 'Şanlı' means great, glorious, dignified in Turkish, a reference to the city's role in the Turkish War of Independence.
External links
- e-journal Golden Horn: Journal of Byzantium (http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/goudenhoorn/61andrew.html): essay by Andrew Palmer on Egeria's visit in 384 AD
- English pages of the Sanliurfa Governor (http://www.sanliurfa.gov.tr/index.php?go=4,2,27): Some tourist information
- adiyamanli.org on Sanli Urfa (http://www.adiyamanli.org/urfa.html)
- Pictures of the city (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/urfa)de:Şanlıurfa