The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of Şanlı Urfa.

Shows the location of Edessa within modern Turkey.

Edessa (Greek: Eδεσσα) is the historical name of a Syriac^[1] town in northern Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site by Seleucus I Nicator. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Aramean-Syriac people ( Syriac: arc [[arcܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܐܪܡܝܐ]]) are an Ethnic group who are widely Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Seleucus I (surnamed for later generations Nicator, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, i For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa. Şanlıurfa (often simply known as Urfa in daily language formerly cited as Edessa or in Kurdish; Riha or Urhāy

The name

The name under which Edessa figures in cuneiform inscriptions is unknown. In early Greek texts, the city is called Ορρα or Ορροα, transliterated Orrha or Orrhoa respectively, as the capital of the Kingdom of Osroe, named after its legendary founder Osroe, the Armenian form for Chosroes. The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian The later native name was Edessa, which became in Syriac ܐܘܪܗܝ, transliterated Orhāy or Ourhoï, in Armenian it is Ուռհա , transliterated Urha or Ourha, in Arabic it is الرُّهَا, transliterated as Er Roha or Ar-Ruha, commonly Orfa, Turkish Urfa, Ourfa, Sanli Urfa, or Şanlıurfa ("Glorious Urfa"), its present name. See Syriac (disambiguation for other uses Syriac (syr ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ leššānā Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Şanlıurfa (often simply known as Urfa in daily language formerly cited as Edessa or in Kurdish; Riha or Urhāy Due to similarity of names, folk mythology in Islam connects Edessa with Ur as the abode of Abraham. Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Seleucus I Nicator, when he refounded the town as a military colony in 303 BC, mixing Greeks with its eastern population, called it Edessa, in memory of Edessa the ancient capital of Macedon. Seleucus I (surnamed for later generations Nicator, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, i Edessa (Έδεσσα Édessa, ˈe̞ðe̞sa local Slavic: Voden) is an ancient town of 25000 inhabitants in Central part of Macedonia Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most The name is also recorded as Callirrhoe, and under Antiochus IV Epiphanes the town was called Antiochia on the Callirhoe (Greek: Αντιόχεια η επί Καλλιρρόης) by colonists from Syrian Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey) who had settled there. Another Antiochus IV Epiphanes was king in Commagene under Caligula and Claudius. Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also Antakya (انطاكية Anṭākyä; Ἀντιόχεια Antiókheia or Antiócheia) is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis. Its Kurdish name is Riha. The Kurdish language (Kurdish Kurdî or کوردی is a term used for the language spoken by Kurds.

History

In the second half of the second century BCE, as the Seleucid monarchy disintegrated in the wars with Parthia (145 –129), Edessa became the capital of the Abgar dynasty, who founded the Kingdom of Osroene (also known in history as Kingdom of Edessa). Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran Osroene (also spelled Osrohene, Osrhoene; Syriac:ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܥܣܪܐ ܥܝܢܐ Malkuṯā d-Bēt ʿŌsrā ʿĪnē This kingdom was established by Nabataean or Arab tribes from North Arabia, and lasted nearly four centuries (c. The Nabataeans ( Arabic: الأنباط, Al-Anbāṭ) were an ancient Semitic people Arabs of southern Jordan, Canaan The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) 132 BC to 214), under twenty-eight rulers, who sometimes called themselves "king" on their coinage. Edessa was at first more or less under the protectorate of the Parthians, then of Tigranes of Armenia, then from the time of Pompey under the Romans. Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran For the modern Ethiopian ethnic group known as Tigrayans see Tigray-Tigrinya people Tigranes (sometimes Tigran or Dikran) Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, commonly known as Pompey /'pɑmpi/ Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir ( Classical Latin abbreviation The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Following its capture and sack by Trajan, the Romans even occupied Edessa from 116 to 118, although its sympathies towards the Parthians led to Lucius Verus pillaging the city later in the second century. Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan ( September 18 53 &ndash August 9 117) was a Roman Emperor who Lucius Aurelius Verus ( December 15 130 &ndash 169 born as Lucius Ceionius Commodus, known simply as Lucius Verus, was Roman co-emperor The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. From 212 to 214 the kingdom was a Roman province. Caracalla was assassinated in Edessa in 217. Caracalla ( April 4 188 &ndash April 8, 217) born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later

The literary language of the tribes which had founded this kingdom, was Aramaic, whence came the Syriac. Aramaic is a Semitic language with See Syriac (disambiguation for other uses Syriac (syr ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ leššānā Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language Traces of Hellenistic culture were soon overwhelmed in Edessa, whose dynasty employs Syriac legends on their coinage, with the exception of the Roman client king Abgar IX (179-214), and there is a corresponding lack of Greek public inscriptions^[2]. Client state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs Abgar IX of Osroene, was a Syriac ruler of Osroene from 177 AD to 212 AD.

Rebuilt by Emperor Justin, and called after him Justinopolis (Evagrius, Hist. Flavius Iustinus (c 450&ndash August 1, 527) known in English as Justin I, was an Byzantine Emperor (518&ndash527 who rose through the ranks Evagrius Scholasticus (536/537 - after 594 an ecclesiastical historian who wrote six books covering a period of 163 years from the Second Council of Ephesus in 431 Eccl. , IV, viii), Edessa was taken in 609 by the Sassanid Persia, soon retaken by Heraclius, but lost to the Muslim army under Rashidun Caliphate during the Islamic conquest of Levant in 638 A. Events By Place Asia Edessa is taken by the Sassanids. The tax Census of the Sui Dynasty The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire Heraclius, or Herakleios (Flavius Heraclius Augustus;) (c 575 - February 11, 641) was a Byzantine Emperor, who ruled the East The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria Events By Place Asia The Muslims capture Jerusalem, Antioch, Caesarea Maritima and Akko D. The Byzantines often tried to retake Edessa, especially under Romanus Lacapenus, who obtained from the inhabitants the "Holy Mandylion", or ancient portrait of Christ, and solemnly transferred it to Constantinople, August 16, 944. Romanos I Lekapenos or Romanus I Lecapenus ( Greek: Ρωμανός Α΄ Λακαπήνος Rōmanos I Lakapēnos; Րոմանոս Ա Ղակապենոս Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting This article is about the year 944 For the Porsche sports car see Porsche 944. This was the final great achievement of Romanus' reign. For an account of this venerable and famous image, which was certainly at Edessa in 544, and of which there is an ancient copy in the Vatican Library, brought to the West by the Venetians in 1207, see Weisliebersdorf, Christus und Apostelbilder (Freiburg, 1902), and Ernst von Dobschütz, Christusbilder (Leipzig, 1899). Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano is a Landlocked sovereign City-state whose territory Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Ernst Adolf Alfred Oskar Adalbert von Dobschütz ( 9 October 1870 &ndash 20 May 1934 was a German Theologian,

In 1031 Edessa was given up to the Byzantines under George Maniakes by its Arab governor. George Maniakes (Γεώργιος Μανιάκης transliterated as Georgios Maniaces, Maniakis, or Maniaches, Giorgio Maniace (d It was retaken by the Arabs, and then successively held by the Greeks, the Armenians, the Seljuk Turks (1087), the Crusaders (1099), who established there the County of Edessa and kept the city until 1144, when it was again captured by the Turk Zengui, and most of its inhabitants were slaughtered together with the Latin archbishop (see Siege of Edessa). The Seljuq (also Seljuq Turks, Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Ṣaljūqīyān; in The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century, based around a city with an ancient history and an early tradition of Christianity The Siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the Crusader County of Edessa These events are known to us chiefly through the Armenian historian Matthew, who had been born at Edessa. Matthew of Edessa (Մատթէոս Ուռհայեցի — Matevos Urhayetsi) was an Armenian historian in the 12th century born in the city of Edessa ( Since the twelfth century, the city has successively belonged to the Sultans of Aleppo, the Mongols, the Mameluks, and from 1517 to 1918 to the Ottoman Empire. For other meanings see Aleppo (disambiguation. Halab redirects here for other meanings see Halab (disambiguation. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish

Christianity

The precise date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa is not known. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings However, there is no doubt that even before 190 A. D. Christianity had spread vigorously within Edessa and its surroundings and that (shortly after 201 or even earlier?) the royal house joined the church^[3]. According to a legend first reported by Eusebius in the 4th century, King Abgar V Ukāmā was converted by Addai^[4], who was one of the seventy-two disciples, sent to him by "Judas, who is also called Thomas". For the other historical kings Abgar of Osroene see Osroene. Abgar V or Abgarus V of Edessa (4 BC - AD 7 and AD 13 - 50 Thaddeus was one of the Seventy Apostles of Christ, not to be confused with Thaddeus of the Twelve Apostles. Thomas the Apostle, also called Judas Thomas, Doubting Thomas, or Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. . Yet various sources confirm that the Abgar who embraced the Christian faith was Abgar IX^[5][6]. Under him Christianity became the official religion of the kingdom^[7]. As for Addai, he was neither one of the seventy-two disciples as the legend asserts, nor was sent by Apostle Thomas, as Eusebius says (Historia Ecclesiastica, I, xiii), but a missionary from Palestine who evangelized Mesopotamia about the middle of the second century, and became the first bishop of Edessa. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. He was succeeded by Aggai, then by Palout (Palut) who was ordained about 200 by Serapion of Antioch. Serapion was Patriarch of Antioch ( 191 - 211) He is known primarily through his theological writings Thence came to us in the second century the famous Peshitta, or Syriac translation of the Old Testament; also Tatian's Diatessaron, which was compiled about 172 and in common use until St. The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version' Tatian the Assyrian was an early Christian writer and theologian of the second century. Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa (412-435), forbade its use. Rabbula (or Rabbulas) was a bishop of Edessa (411 - August 435 noteworthy for his opposition to the views of Theodore of Mopsuestia, as well as those Among the illustrious disciples of the School of Edessa Bardesanes (154 - 222), a schoolfellow of Abgar IX, deserves special mention for his role in creating Christian religious poetry, and whose teaching was continued by his son Harmonius and his disciples. Bardaisan (ܒܪܕܝܨܢ Bardaiṣān; 154–222 also Latinized as Bardesanes) was a Syriac Gnostic, founder of the Bardaisanites

A Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197 (Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia ecclesiastica, V, 23). In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (Chronicon Edessenum, ad. an. 201). In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written. Thomas the Apostle, also called Judas Thomas, Doubting Thomas, or Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Under Roman domination many martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa had evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, and established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanids. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicaea (325). The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine The Peregrinatio Silviae (or Etheriae) (ed. Gian-Francesco Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq. ) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.

When Nisibis was ceded to the Persians in 363, Ephrem the Syrian left his native town for Edessa, where he founded the celebrated School of the Persians. Nusaybin ancient Nisibis, Nisibia Nisibin is a city in Mardin Province, southeastern Turkey populated by Turks, Aramean-Syriacs Ephrem the Syrian ( Syriac: ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ Mor Afrêm Sûryāyâ; Greek:; Latin This school, largely attended by the Christian youth of Persia, and closely watched by St. Rabbula, the friend of St. Cyril of Alexandria, on account of its Nestorian tendencies, reached its highest development under Bishop Ibas, famous through the controversy of the Three Chapters, was temporarily closed in 457, and finally in 488, by command of Emperor Zeno and Bishop Cyrus, when the teachers and students of the School of Edessa repaired to Nisibis and became the founders and chief writers of the Nestorian Church in Persia (Labourt, Le christianisme dans l'empire perse, Paris, 1904, 130-141). Cyril of Alexandria (ca 378 - 444 was the Pope of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern The Three-Chapter Controversy was a phase in the Monophysite controversy was an attempt to reconcile the Christians of Syria and Egypt with Flavius Zeno, original name Tarasicodissa or Trascalissaeus, Byzantine Emperor ( Circa Monophysitism prospered at Edessa, even after the Arab conquest. Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one alone' and physis meaning 'nature' or Monophysiticism is the Christological position that

Under Byzantine rule, as metropolis of Osroene, it had eleven suffragan sees (Echos d'Orient, 1907, 145). Lequien (Oriens christianus II, 953 sqq. Michel Le Quien ( Boulogne-sur-Mer 8 October 1661 – Paris 12 March 1733) was a French historian and theologian ) mentions thirty-five Bishops of Edessa; yet his list is incomplete. The Eastern Orthodox episcopate seems to have disappeared after the eleventh century. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Of its Jacobite bishops twenty-nine are mentioned by Lequien (II, 1429 sqq. ), many others in the Revue de l'Orient chrétien (VI, 195), some in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft (1899), 261 sqq. Moreover, Nestorian bishops are said to have resided at Edessa as early as the sixth century.

Cultural

Famous individuals connected with Edessa include: Jacob Baradaeus, the real chief of the Syrian Monophysites known after him as Jacobites; Stephen Bar Sudaïli, monk and pantheist, to whom was owing, in Palestine, the last crisis of Origenism in the sixth century; Jacob, Bishop of Edessa, a fertile writer (d. Jacobus Baradaeus or James Baradaeus (other spellings of his surname include Al Baradai Burdoho Burdeono Burdeana or Burdeaya also Phaselita or Zanzalus was ordained The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca 708); Theophilus the Maronite, an astronomer, who translated into Syriac verse Homer's Iliad and Odyssey; the anonymous author of the Chronicon Edessenum (Chronicle of Edessa), compiled in 540; the writer of the story of "The Man of God", in the fifth century, which gave rise to the legend of St. Maronites ( الموارنة,, Syriac: ܡܪܘܢܝܐ, Latin: Ecclesia Maronitarum) are members of one of the Syriac Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. Alexius. The oldest known dated Syriac manuscripts (AD 411 and 462), containing Greek patristic texts, come from Edessa.

See also

• Image of Edessa
• List of bishops of Edessa

External links

• Old and new Images from Edessa
• Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Antioch by the Callirhoe, later Justinopolis (Edessa; Urfa) Turkey"
• Andre Palmer, in e-journal Golden horn: Journal of Byzantium An essay on Egeria's escorted visit (April 384), and the bishop's tall tales
• Chronicle of Edessa

References

Further reading

• Walter Bauer 1971. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity, 1934, (in English 1971): Chapter 1 "Edessa" (On-line text)
• A. von Gutschmid, Untersuchungen über die Geschichte des Könligliches Osroëne, in series Mémoires de l'Académie impériale des Sciences de S. Petersbourg, series 7, vol. 35. 1 (St. Petersburg, 1887)
• J. B. Segal, Edessa: The Blessed City (Oxford and New York: University Press, 1970)
• Schulz, Mathias, "Wegweiser ins Paradies," Der Spiegel 2372006, Pp. 158-170.
• This entry uses text from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909.

External link

• Livius.org: Edessa