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The history of Sanliurfa can be traced back around 9000 years and the
atmosphere is one of living history, where traditional life, culture
and even clothing is more akin to the Middle East with Turkish, Kurdish
and Arabic all being spoken. Sanliurfa (often referred to as Urfa) is
also a place of pilgrimage for many religions, containing what is
thought to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham. According to
Jewish and Muslim scriptures, he was summonsed by god whilst living
there.
The traditional and religious conservatism, combined with the ancient historical monuments, has also given it the name City of the Prophets and has made Urfa a unique place to visit. Away from the city, the ancient village and genuine living museum Harran with its famous bee-hive type houses, has been continuously inhabited for more than 6000 years.
Sanliurfa (often simply known as Ourfa, Urfa or Orfa, formerly Edessa) is a city in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Sanliurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain under big open skies, about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. The climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.
The city has been known by many names: ܐܘܪܗܝ, Urhāy in Syriac, Riha in Kurdish, الروها, Ar-Ruha in Arabic, Ուռհա, Urha in Armenian, Ορρα, Orrha in Greek (also Ορροα, Orrhoa). For a while it was named Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe (Greek: Αντιόχεια η επί Καλλιρρόης). During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis. Although it is often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Εδεσσα, Edessa.
Urfi means belong to Urfa. Many poets and historical people called as Urfi.
'Şanlı' means great, glorious, dignified in Turkish and Urfa was officially re-named 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 rival cities 'Gazi' (veteran) Antep and 'Kahraman' (Heroic) Maraş.
History
The history of Sanliurfa is recorded from the 4th century BC, but may date back to the 8th century BC, when there is ample evidence for the surrounding sites at Duru, Harran and Nevali Cori. It was one of several cities in the Euphrates-Tigris basin, the cradle of the Mesopotamian civilization. According to Turkish Muslim traditions Urfa (its name since Byzantine days) is the biblical city of Ur, due to its proximity to the biblical village of Harran. However, the Iraqis also claim the city of Ur in southern Iraq, as do many historians and archeologists.
Urfa is also known as the birthplace of Abraham, commemorated by a mosque in the city and the birthplace of Job.
Urfa was conquered repeatedly throughout history, and has been dominated by many civilizations, including the Ebla, Akkadians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Hurris, Mittannis, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Macedonians (under Alexander the Great), Seleucids, Arameans, Osrhoenes, Armenians, Romans, Sassanids, Byzantines, Crusaders.
The city of Edessa
In the Byzantine period Edessa was a powerful regional centre, and a sophisticated city with churches, schools and monasteries.
For more on this please see the article Edessa, Mesopotamia.
The age of Islam
Islam first arrived around 639 C.E., when the Umayyad army conquered the region without a fight. Islam was then established permanently in Urfa by the empires of the Ayyubids, Seljuk and Ottoman Turks. In the aftermath of the First Crusade, the city was the center of the Crusader County of Edessa, but Muslim forces retook the city in 1146.
Under the Ottomans Urfa was a centre of trade in cotton, leather, and jewellery. 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 Syrian Quarter").
The First World War and after
In 1914 Urfa was estimated to have 75,000 inhabitants: 45,000 Turks, 25,000 Armenians and 5,000 Syrian Christians. There were also some Jews. During the last half of 1915 the Armenian community became increasingly worried about their fate, as Armenians were being moved out of lands to the north. Early in 1916 the Armenians in the city revolted and took control of the old quarters of the city. They fought off the Ottoman army for some weeks, standing up to an artillery bombardment. The German General Baron von der Goltz arrived and negotiated a settlement, the Armenians would surrender and disarm and in exchange the Ottomans would not deport them. However, the Ottoman government did deport the Armenians. Few survived. This is considered to be part of the Armenian Genocide.
At the end of World War I, with the Ottoman Empire defeated, and European armies attempting to grab parts of Anatolia, first the British and then the French occupied Urfa. The British occupation of the city of Urfa started de facto on 7 March 1919 and officially as of 24 March 1919, and lasted till 30 October 1919. French forces took over the next day and their uncomfortable presence, met by outbursts of resistance, lasted until 11 April 1920, when they were defeated by local resistance forces (the new Turkish government in Ankara not being established, with the National Assembly declared on 23 April 1920.
The French retreat from the city of Urfa was conducted under an agreement reached between the occupying forces and the representatives of the local forces, commanded by Captain Ali Saip Bey assigned from Ankara. The withdrawal was meant to take place peacefully, but was disrupted by an ambush on the French by irregular forces at the Şebeke Pass on the way to Syria, leading to 296 casualties among the French, and more among the ambushers.
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