Urfa was founded as a city under the name Edessa by the Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator in 303 or 302 BC. There is no written evidence for earlier settlement at the site, but Urfa's favorable commercial and geographical placement suggests that there was a smaller settlement present prior to 303 BC. The indigenous Aramaic name for the site prior to the Seleucid period was Orhai or Orhay, which survives as the basis of the city's modern Turkish name. Perhaps Orhai's absence from earlier written sources is due to the settlement having been small and unfortified prior to the Seleucid period. Seleucus named the city Edessa after the ancient capital of Macedonia.
In the late 2nd century, as the Seleucid dynasty disintegrated, it became the capital of the Arab Nabataean Abgar dynasty, which was successively Parthian, Aramean/Syriac kingdom Osroene, Armenian, and Roman client state and eventually a Roman province. Its location on the eastern frontier of the Empire meant it was frequently conquered during periods when the Byzantine central government was weak, and for centuries, it was alternately conquered by Arab, Byzantine, Armenian, and Turkoman rulers. It fell under the rule of the Seljuks until the First Crusade. On 10 March 1098, the Crusader Baldwin of Boulogne induced the final Armenian ruler to adopt him as his successor then, after seizing power, established the first Crusader State in the East, known as the County of Edessa. Unlike other crusaders states, Christian groups such as Armenian Apostolic were allowed to keep their customs and institutions, and a level of religious tolerance was established towards Indigenous Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Urfa was conquered by Imad al-Din Zengi in 1144 after a month-long siege, and from that point the city came under the Zengid dynasty. The last Crusader count of Edessa besieged the city again in 1146 in an attempt to retake it from the Zengids, but only held the city for six days before being defeated by Zangi's son Nur ad-Din. Urfa's population was massacred in the process, and its Christian community never recovered.
After the Zengids, Urfa was ruled by the Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty from 1182 to 1260, when it was captured by the Mongols. In the early 1300s, it became part of the Mamluk Sultanate, and then the Aq Qoyunlu captured it in the early 1400s. The Ottoman Empire took Urfa from the Safavids around 1517 and ruled it until the 20th century. Under Ottoman rule, Urfa was initially was sanjak centre in Diyarbekir Eyalet, lately made capital of Raqqa Eyalet, finally made part of the Aleppo Vilayet. The area became a centre of trade in cotton, leather, and jewellery.
Prehistory
Urfa shares the Balikh River Valley region with two other significant Neolithic sites at Nevalı Çori and Göbekli Tepe. Settlements in the area originated around 9000 BC as a PPNA Neolithic sites located near Abraham's Pool (Site Name: Balıklıgöl).
In prehistoric times, the Urfa Region was attractive for human habitation because of its dense grazing areas and the presence of wild animals on migration routes. As a result, the area became densely populated, particularly in the Neolithic period.
In Urfa itself, there was a prehistoric settlement at Yeni Mahalle Höyüğü (aka Balıklıgöl Höyüğü), located immediately north of Balıklıgöl in the heart of the old town. Now buried under single-story houses, the site was accidentally discovered during road construction in the 1990s and then excavated in 1997 by the Şanlıurfa Museum Directorate. The findings included flint tools, arrowheads dated to the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B phase, and two round buildings with terrazzo floors. Animal bones found at the site indicate hunting activity, and charred seed samples indicate that the villagers cultivated wheat and barley. The village at Yeni Mahalle is radiocarbon dated to roughly 9400–8600 BCE.
A much later artifact is a black stone pedestal with a double bull relief, found at a hill called Külaflı Tepe in the former village of Cavşak in the 1950s when the village was being evacuated to build a base for the Urfa Brigade. The pedestal contains an inscription with an invocation to the god Tarhunza and mentions a city whose name is only partly visible, but which Bahattin Çelik restores as "Umalia", in the country of Bit Adini.
City of Edessa
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, but they never formed a majority of its population. The city's culture remained predominantly Semitic (specifically Aramaic), and any Hellenization was minimal.
Edessa was an important commercial center in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. 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.
The Seleucids declined in the 2nd century BC, and Edessa became the capital of the Abgarid kingdom of Osrhoene in about 132 BC. Originally from Nisibis, the Abgarids appear to have been an Arabized dynasty and may have ruled their kingdom "much as Arab shaikhs, through a council of tribal elders". The Abgarids were generally allied with the Parthian Empire and were under Parthian cultural influence as well.
In the early second century AD, however, the Abgarids came under Roman influence. Abgar VII supported the Roman emperor Trajan's campaign in Mesopotamia and received him "sumptuously" 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.
Ma'nu VIII died in 177 and was succeeded by Abgar VIII, also called Abgar the Great. Abgar sided with Pescennius Niger in his civil war against Septimius Severus. Severus ended up winning that conflict and, as punishment, stripped Abgar of most of his kingdom. Osrhoene now became a Roman province, while Abgar himself was left to rule just Edessa. Abgar mostly retired from international politics and spent the rest of his reign as "one of the Near East's greatest patrons of the 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 all who were 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.
In 1979, an archaeological excavation at present-day Çamlık Parkı in central Urfa uncovered seven rock-cut tombs dating back to the first centuries AD. Mosaics on the floor appear to contain portraits of several members of the Abgarid dynasty, possibly including Abgar the Great. The tombs have since been closed back up with the mosaics still inside.
Ancient Edessa's diverse religious background
Ancient Edessa was an eclectic melting pot of different religious groups. Unlike Harran, where the cult of the moon god Sin predominated, the people of Edessa worshipped a whole pantheon of gods that can generally be identified with planets. The most important were Nabu and Bel. The cult of the sun and moon that was later known in Harran as the Sabians also had followers in Edessa. The fertility goddess Atargatis, whose cult was based at Manbij, was also worshipped in Edessa. Fish were an important symbol of Atargatis, and in ancient Edessa there was a fish pond filled with sacred carp dedicated to Atargatis – today's Balıklıgöl. Other gods worshipped in pagan Edessa included the Nabataean deity Dushara, the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, and also the moon god Sin. Another important cult at Edessa involved the veneration of a virgin mother and her child.
In addition to polytheists, Edessa also had a prominent Jewish community. Many of Edessa's Jews were merchants, involved in long-distance trade between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.
By the end of the 2nd century, a small Christian community had appeared in Edessa. The city's cosmpolitan religious background meant that its people were open and accepting towards this new religion, which just added another element into the mix. 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. The people of Edessa were also familiar with monotheism, through exposure to Judaism, and Edessa's Jewish community was probably partly responsible for the rapid spread of Christianity in the city. 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. In 232 the relics of Thomas the Apostle were brought from Mylapore, in today's Tamil Nadu in India.Elif Keser-Kayaalp and Hendrik J. Drijvers “Edessa” in The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2018:517.
Still more religions joined the mix during the 3rd century. One was the Bardaisanites, founded by the important philosopher Bardaisan who Abgar the Great was a patron of. Another was the Elkesaites, a syncretic religion that combined elements of Christianity, Judaism, and paganism. Its founder, Elkesai, claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus, and the Elkesaite belief in reincarnation is possibly a sign of Buddhist influence. The prophet Mani was an Elkesaite before founding Manichaeism – another syncretic religion that "found ready ground in Edessa". 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. 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.
Edessa under 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.
In 260, the Sasanian emperor Shapur I defeated the Romans in the Battle of Edessa and captured the emperor. 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.