Şanlıurfa

Şanlıurfa
City

Şanlıurfa skyline
Şanlıurfa
Coordinates: TR 37°09′30″N 38°47′30″E / 37.15833°N 38.79167°E / 37.15833; 38.79167Coordinates: TR 37°09′30″N 38°47′30″E / 37.15833°N 38.79167°E / 37.15833; 38.79167
Country Turkey
Province Şanlıurfa
Government
 • Mayor Celalettin Güvenç (AKP)
Area[1]
 • District 3,668.76 km2 (1,416.52 sq mi)
Population (2012)[2]
 • Urban 526,247
 • District 788,956
 • District density 220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Website www.sanliurfa.bel.tr

Şanlıurfa , pronounced [ʃanˈlɯuɾfa], often simply known as Urfa in daily language Riha, Arabic الرها ar-Ruhā, Syriac ܐܘܪܗ Urhoy), in ancient times Edessa (Έδεσσα in Greek), is a city with 561,465 inhabitants[3] in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. It is a city with a primarily Kurdish population. Urfa is situated on a plain about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. Urfa's climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.

Name

The city has been known by many names in history: Ուռհա Uṙha in Armenian, ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhai in Syriac, ره, الرها, Ar-Ruhā in Arabic and Ορρα, Orrha in Greek (also Ορροα, Orrhoa). For a while during the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 - 164 BCE) it was named Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης). During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis. Prior to Turkish rule, it was often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Ἔδεσσα, Edessa.

Şanlı means "great, glorious, dignified" in Turkish, and Urfa was officially renamed 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 cities 'Gazi' (veteran) Antep and 'Kahraman' (Heroic) Maraş.

History

Costumes of the wealthy women of Urfa in the early 20th century.
According to tradition, Nimrod had Abraham immolated on a funeral pyre, but God turned the fire into water and the burning coals into fish. The pool of sacred fish remains to this day.
Abraham's Pool in Şanlıurfa
Old drawing of Abraham's Fountain.

The history of Şanlıurfa is recorded from the 4th century BC, but may date back at least to 9000 BC, when there is ample evidence for the surrounding sites at Duru, Harran and Nevali Cori.[4] Within the further area of the city are three neolithic sites known: Göbekli Tepe, Gürcütepe and the city itself, where the life-sized limestone "Urfa statue" was found during an excavation in Balıklıgöl.[5] The city was one of several in the upper Euphrates-Tigris basin, the fertile crescent where agriculture began.

According to Jewish and Muslim tradition, Urfa is Ur Kasdim, the hometown of Abraham. This identification was disputed by Leonard Woolley, the excavator of the Sumerian city of Ur in 1927 and scholars remain divided on the issue. Urfa is also one of several cities that have traditions associated with Job.

For the Armenians, Urfa is considered a holy place since it is believed that the Armenian alphabet was invented there.[6]

Urfa was conquered repeatedly throughout history, and has been dominated by many civilizations, including the Ebla, Akkadians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Armenians, Hurri-Mitannis (Armeno-Aryans), Assyrians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Ancient Macedonians (under Alexander the Great), Seleucids, Arameans, Osrhoenes, Romans, Sassanids, Byzantines, and Crusaders.

City of Edessa

Main article: Edessa, Mesopotamia

Although the site of Urfa has been inhabited since prehistoric times, the modern city was founded in 304 B.C by Seleucus I Nicator and named after the ancient capital of Macedonia. In the late 2nd century, as the Seleucid dynasty disintegrated, it became the capital of the Nabataean Abgar dynasty, which was successively a Parthian, 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, Turkish rulers. In 1098, the Crusader Baldwin of Boulogne induced the final Armenian ruler to adopt him and then seized power, establishing the first Crusader State known as the County of Edessa and imposing Latin Christianity on the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic majority of the population.

Age of Islam

Islam had first arrived in Urfa around 638 AD, when the region surrendered to the Rashidun army without resisting, and had become a significant presence under the Ayyubids (see: Saladin Ayubbi), Seljuks. In 1144, the Crusader state fell to the Turkish Abassid general Zengui, who had most of the Christian inhabitants slaughtered together with the Latin archbishop (see Siege of Edessa) and the subsequent Second Crusade failed to recapture the city.[7] Subsequently, Urfa was ruled by Zengids, Ayyubids, Sultanate of Rum, Ilkhanids, Memluks, Akkoyunlu and Safavids before Ottoman conquest in 1516.

Under the Ottomans Urfa was part (Sanjak) of the Aleppo Vilayet. The area became a centre of trade in cotton, leather, and jewellery. There was a small but ancient Jewish community in Urfa,[8] with a population of about 1,000 by the 19th century.[9] Most of the Jews emigrated in 1896, fleeing the Hamidian massacres, and settling mainly in Aleppo, Tiberias and Jerusalem. There were three Christian communities: Syriac, Armenian, and Latin. According to Lord Kinross,[10] 8,000 Armenians were massacred in Urfa in 1895. The last Neo-Aramaic Christians left in 1924 and went to Aleppo (where they settled in a place that was later called Hay al-Suryan "The Syriac Quarter").[11]

First World War and after

In 1914 Urfa was estimated to have 75,000 inhabitants: 45,000 Muslims, 25,000 Armenians and 5,000 Syriac/Assyrian Christians. There was also a Jewish presence in the town. During the First World War, Urfa was a site of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides, beginning in August 1915.[12] By the end of the war, the entire Christian population had been killed, had fled, or was in hiding.

The British occupation of the city of Urfa started de facto on 7 March 1919 and officially de jure as of 24 March 1919, and lasted until 30 October 1919. French forces took over the next day and lasted until 11 April 1920, when they were defeated by local resistance forces before the formal declaration of the Republic of Turkey 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 units by irregular Turkish and Kurdish Muslim forces at the Şebeke Pass on the way to Syria, leading to 296 casualties among the French, and even more among the ambushers.

The skyline of Şanlıurfa as viewed from the Castle which dominates the City Centre.

Modern Şanlıurfa presents stark contrasts between its old and new quarters.

Politics

It is a stronghold of the governing Justice and Development Party. However, in the 2009 local elections, the city elected an independent, Ahmet Eşref Fakibaba, as mayor.[13]

Cuisine

As the city of Urfa is deeply rooted in history, so its unique cuisine is an amalgamation of the cuisines of the many civilizations that have ruled in Urfa . Dishes carry names in Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Syriac, and Turkish, and are often prepared in a spicy manner. It is widely believed that Urfa is the birthplace of many dishes, including Raw Kibbé (Çiğ Köfte), that according to the legend, was crafted by the Prophet Abraham from ingredients he had at hand.[14]

Many vegetables are used in the Urfa cuisine, such as the "'Ecır," the "Kenger," and the "İsot", the legendary local red capsicum that is a smaller and darker cultivar of the Aleppo pepper that takes a purplish black hue when dried and cured.

Unlike most of the Turkish cities that use different versions of regular butter in their regional cuisine, Urfa is, together with Antep, Mardin and Siirt a big user of clarified butter, made exclusively from sheep's milk, called locally "Urfayağı" ("Urfabutter").

Transport

Şanlıurfa GAP Airport is located about 34 km (21 mi) northeast of the city and has direct flights to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Demographics

With roughly 500,000 Syrian refugees currently living in Urfa, there have been a number of protests against the growing Syrian population.[15]

Climate

Şanlıurfa has a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Şanlıurfa is very hot during the summer months. Temperatures in the height of summer usually reach 39 °C (102 °F). Rainfall is almost non-existent during the summer months. Winters are cool and wet. Frost is common and there is sporadic snowfall. Spring and autumn are mild and also wet.

Climate data for Şanlıurfa (1960-2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 10.0
(50)		 11.8
(53.2)		 16.5
(61.7)		 22.2
(72)		 28.6
(83.5)		 34.6
(94.3)		 38.7
(101.7)		 38.2
(100.8)		 33.8
(92.8)		 26.9
(80.4)		 18.5
(65.3)		 12.0
(53.6)		 24.32
(75.77)
Daily mean °C (°F) 5.6
(42.1)		 6.9
(44.4)		 10.9
(51.6)		 16.1
(61)		 22.2
(72)		 28.2
(82.8)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.2
(88.2)		 26.8
(80.2)		 20.2
(68.4)		 12.7
(54.9)		 7.5
(45.5)		 18.35
(65.04)
Average low °C (°F) 2.3
(36.1)		 2.9
(37.2)		 6.2
(43.2)		 10.5
(50.9)		 15.6
(60.1)		 20.8
(69.4)		 24.4
(75.9)		 24.0
(75.2)		 20.1
(68.2)		 14.8
(58.6)		 8.4
(47.1)		 4.1
(39.4)		 12.84
(55.11)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 86.5
(3.406)		 71.2
(2.803)		 64.3
(2.531)		 48.0
(1.89)		 28.3
(1.114)		 3.4
(0.134)		 0.7
(0.028)		 0.9
(0.035)		 2.9
(0.114)		 27.4
(1.079)		 46.6
(1.835)		 78.8
(3.102)		 459
(18.071)
Average rainy days 12.4 11.3 10.9 9.8 6.5 1.5 0.3 0.2 2.9 5.3 8.1 11.2 80.4
Average relative humidity (%) 74 72 61 51 43 27 22 24 28 43 57 72 47.8
Mean monthly sunshine hours 127.1 137.2 195.3 228 310 363 381.3 350.3 303 238.7 174 124 2,931.9
Source #1: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü[16]
Source #2: Weatherbase[17]

Places of interest

Main courtyard of the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque

Gallery

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference The_World.27s_First_Temple was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Famous people

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  2. ↑ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  3. ↑ "Turkey: Major cities and provinces". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  4. ↑ Segal, J. B. (2001) [1970]. "I. The Beginnings". Edessa:'The Blessed City' (2 ed.). Piscataway, New Jersey, United States: Gorgias Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-9713097-1-X. It is certainly surprising that no obvious reference to Orhay has been found so far in the early historical texts dealing with the region, and that, unlike Harran, its name does not occur in cuneiform itineraries. This may be accidental, or Orhay may be alluded to under a different name which has not been identified. Perhaps it was not fortified, and therefore at this time a place of no great military significance. With the Seleucid period, however, we are on firm historical ground. Seleucus I founded—or rather re-founded—a number of cities in the region. Among them, probably in 303 or 302 BC, was Orhay.
  5. ↑ Image
  6. ↑ Öktem, Kerem (2003). Creating the Turk's Homeland: Modernization, Nationalism and Geography in Southeast Turkey in the late 19th and 20th Centuries (PDF). Harvard: University of Oxford, School of Geography an the Environment, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB, UK. For Armenians, the city has a great symbolic value, as the Armenian alphabet was invented there, thanks to a group of scholars and clergy headed by Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century
  7. ↑ Roberts, J. M. (1996). "II/4. Frontiers and neighbours". The Penguin History of Europe. London: Penguin Books. pp. 162–163. ISBN 978-0-14-026561-3.
  8. ↑ "Edessa". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906.
  9. ↑ "Interview with Harun Bozo". The Library of Rescued Memories. Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation.
  10. ↑ Kinross, Lord (1977). The Ottoman Centuries, The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire. United States: Harper Perennial. p. 560. ISBN 0-688-08093-6.
  11. ↑ Joseph, John (1983). Muslim-Christian Relations and Inter-Christian Rivalries in the Middle East: The Case of the Jacobites in an Age of Transition. United States: State University of New York Press. p. 150. ISBN 0-87395-612-5.
  12. ↑ armenian-genocide.org
  13. ↑ "Kurds in Southeast Anatolia celebrate DTP’s boost in votes". Today's Zaman. 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  14. ↑ From Kâtib el Bağdadî in p.196Urfa'da Pişer Bize de Düşer, Halil & Munise Yetkin Soran, Alfa Yayın, 2009, Istanbul ISBN 978-605-106-065-1
  15. ↑ http://www.todayszaman.com/national_turkish-parents-protest-syrian-children-attending-school-in-sanliurfa_369697.html
  16. ↑ http://www.dmi.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?m=SANLIURFA
  17. ↑ http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=7271&refer=&units=us&cityname=Urfa-Turkey
  18. ↑ The World's First Temple

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Urfa.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Urfa.
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