View source for Urfa

{{Short description|City in southeastern Turkey}}
{{hatnote|For other uses, see [[Urfa (disambiguation)]]. For the province, see [[Şanlıurfa Province]].}}
{{Very long|words=14,706|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name                     = Urfa
| official_name            = Şanlıurfa
| settlement_type          = City
| image_skyline            = {{multiple image|total_width=270px|perrow=1/2/2/2|border=infobox
| image1                          = Mevlid-i Halil Mosque 19.jpg
| alt1                            = View of Urfa
| image2                          = 
| alt2                            = 
| image3                          = Rizvaniye Mosque 03.jpg
| alt3                            = Rizvaniye Mosque
| image4                          = Balıklıgöl_park_9401.jpg
| alt4                            = Urfa Castle
| image5                          = 
| alt5                            = 
| image6                          = Urfa_Selahaddin_Eyyubi_Camii_Vali_Fuat_Bey_Street_side_3686.jpg
| alt6                            = Selahaddin Eyyubi Mosque
| image7                          = Şanlıurfa 25 05 2010 Burg mit Ayn Zeliha Gölü und Park.jpg
| alt7                            = Ayn Zeliha
| image8                          = 
| alt8                            = 
}}
| image_caption            = '''Clockwise from top:''' View of Urfa, [[Şanlıurfa Castle|Urfa Castle]], Ayn Zeliha, St. Johannes Prodromos Addai Church, Rizvaniye Mosque
| image_shield             = 
| nicknames                 = "City of Prophets",<ref name="rel">{{cite web|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/city-of-prophets-drawing-faith-tourists-74542|title='City of prophets' drawing faith tourists|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=November 20, 2014|access-date=October 29, 2020}}</ref> "Urfa the Glorious"
| pushpin_map              = Turkey#Near East
| coordinates              = {{coord|37|09|30|N|38|47|30|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = [[Turkey]]
| subdivision_type1        = [[Provinces of Turkey|Province]]
| subdivision_type2        = 
| subdivision_name1        = [[Şanlıurfa Province|Şanlıurfa]]
| subdivision_name2        = 
| leader_party             = Independent
| leader_title             = Mayor
| leader_name              = Mehmet Kasım Gülpınar
| leader_title1            = Governor
| leader_name1             = Abdullah Erin
| elevation_m              = 477
| population_urban         = 596,637
| population_as_of         = 2022
| population_footnotes     = <ref name=citypop>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/sanliurfa/_/1926__%C5%9Fanl%C4%B1urfa/|title=Şanlıurfa|website=citypopulation.de|access-date=10 January 2024}}</ref>
| timezone                 = [[Time in Turkey|TRT]]
| utc_offset               = +3
| postal_code_type         = 
| postal_code              = 
| website                  = {{URL| https://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr | www.sanliurfa.bel.tr }}
| founder                  = [[Seleucus I Nicator]]
| established_title        = Founded
| established_date         = 303/302 BC
| image_blank_emblem       = Şanlıurfa City Logo.png
| blank_emblem_type        = Emblem of Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality
}}
'''Urfa''', officially called '''Şanlıurfa''' ({{IPA|tr|ʃanˈɫɯuɾfa}} {{Literal translation|Urfa the Glorious}}), is a city in southeastern [[Turkey]] and the capital of [[Şanlıurfa Province]]. The city was known as [[Edessa]] from [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about {{cvt|80|km}} east of the [[Euphrates]]. Its climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.

About {{cvt|12|km|0}} northeast of the city is the famous [[Neolithic]] site of [[Göbekli Tepe]], the world's oldest known temple, which was founded in the 10th millennium BC.<ref name="The World's First Temple">{{cite web|url=http://archive.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html|title=The World's First Temple – Archaeology Magazine Archive|website=archive.archaeology.org|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> The area was part of a network of the first human settlements where the [[Neolithic Revolution|agricultural revolution]] took place. Because of its association with [[Jewish history|Jewish]], [[History of Christianity|Christian]], and [[History of Islam|Islamic history]], and a legend according to which it was the hometown of [[Abraham]], Urfa is nicknamed the '''City of Prophets'''.<ref name="rel"/>

Religion is important in Urfa. The city "has become a center of fundamentalist Islamic beliefs"<ref name="Miller 1995">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Julie A. |editor1-last=Ring |editor1-first=Trudy |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places, Vol. 3: Southern Europe |date=1995 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |location=Chicago and London |isbn=1-884964-02-8 |pages=617–20 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74JI2UlcU8AC&dq=gumruk+hani+sanliurfa&pg=PA620 |access-date=3 October 2022 |chapter=Şanlıurfa}}</ref>{{rp|620}} and "is considered one of the most devoutly religious cities in Turkey".<ref name="JTA 2003">{{cite web |title=The secret Jews of remote Turkey |url=https://www.jta.org/2003/03/04/lifestyle/the-secret-jews-of-remote-turkey |website=Jewish Telegraph Agency |date=4 March 2003 |access-date=4 October 2022}}</ref>

The city is located 30 miles from the [[Atatürk Dam]], at the heart of the [[Southeast Anatolia Project]], which draws thousands of job-seeking rural villagers to the city every year.<ref name="JTA 2003"/>

==Name==
[[File:Urfa Castle 02.jpg|thumb|The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of Urfa.]]
The earliest name of the city was ''Admaʾ'' (also written ''Adme'', ''Admi'', ''Admum''; {{langx|arc|אדמא}}), recorded in [[cuneiform script#Assyrian cuneiform|Assyrian cuneiform]] in the [[Old Assyrian period]].{{sfn|Harrak|1992|p=212-214}} It is recorded in Syriac as ܐܕܡܐ ''Adme.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harrak |first=Amir |title=The Ancient Name of Edessa |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies}}</ref>

Modern names of the city are likely derived from '''Urhay''' or '''Orhay''' ({{langx|syc|ܐܘܪܗܝ|ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy}}), the site's [[Syriac language|Syriac]] name before the re-foundation of the settlement by [[Seleucus I Nicator]]. After the defeat of the Seleucids in the [[Seleucid–Parthian Wars]], Edessa became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene, with a mixed Syriac and Hellenistic culture. The origin of the name of [[Osroene]] itself is probably related to Orhay.{{sfn|Harrak|1992|p=209-214}}{{sfn|Keser-Kayaalp|Drijvers|2018|p=516–518}} This originally Aramaic and Syriac name for the city may have been derived from the Persian name [[Khosrow (name)|Khosrow]].{{sfn|Gray|Kuhrt|2012}}

The ancient town was refounded as a [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] military settlement by [[Seleucus I Nicator]] in {{circa|303}} BC, and named ''Edessa'' after the [[Edessa, Greece|ancient capital]] of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]], perhaps due to its abundant water, just like its [[Edessa, Greece|Macedonian namesake]].{{sfn|Harrak|1992|p=209}}{{sfn|Lieu|1997|pages=174–175}}{{sfn|Gray|Kuhrt|2012}}{{sfn|Everett-Heath |2018}} It was later renamed ''Callirrhoe'' or ''Antiochia on the Callirhoe'' ({{langx|grc|Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης}}; {{langx|la|Antiochia ad Callirhoem}}) in the 2nd century BC (found on Edessan coins struck by [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]], r. 175–164 BC).{{sfn|Harrak|1992|p=211}}{{sfn|Lieu|1997|pages=174–175}}

After Antiochus IV's reign, the name of the city reverted to Edessa, in Greek,{{sfn|Lieu|1997|pages=174–175}} and appears in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] as ''Urha'' or ''Ourha'' ({{lang|hy|Ուռհա}}),<ref>{{cite book |author1=Roderick Beaton |title=Digenes Akrites: new approaches to Byzantine heroic poetry |author2=David Ricks |date=1993 |publisher=Variorum |isbn=0-86078-395-2 |location=Brookfield, Vt. |page=87}}</ref> in Aramaic ([[Syriac language|Syriac]]) as ''Urhay'' or ''Orhay'' ({{langx|syc|ܐܘܪܗܝ|ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy}}), in local [[Neo-Aramaic languages|Neo-Aramaic]] ([[Turoyo language|Turoyo]]) as ''Urhoy'', in [[Arabic]] as ''ar-Ruhā'' ({{lang|ar|الرُّهَا}}), in the [[Kurdish language]] as {{lang|ku|Riha}},<ref>{{cite book |author1=Avcıkıran |first=Adem |url= |title=Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî |date=2009 |page=57 |language=tr, ku |accessdate=}}</ref> [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]] as ''Rohais'', and finally adopted into [[Turkish language|Turkish]] as ''Urfa'' or ''Şanlıurfa'' ("Glorious Urfa"), its present name.{{sfn|Harrak|1992|p=209–214}}

[[James Silk Buckingham]] claimed that in earlier times, the city was known as ''Ruha'', and with the Arabic article, it became ''Ar-Ruha'', evolving into ''Urha'', and eventually ''Urfa''. [[Carsten Niebuhr]] observed that Turks called the city ''El-Rohha'' in the 18th century, although Buckingham who later visited Urfa, disagreed and noted that all Turks, and most Arabs and Kurds in the surrounding countryside called it Urfa, while a small portion of the Christians called it as the former.<ref name = "Buckingham"/>

In 1984, the Turkish National Assembly granted Urfa the title "Şanlı", meaning "glorious", in honor of its citizens' resistance against British and French troops at the end of the [[First World War]], hence the present name "Şanlıurfa".<ref name="Saraç 2018">{{cite book |last1=Saraç |first1=Mehmet Adil |title=Tanıklarıyla Urfalı Urfalıca |date=2018 |publisher=Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality |location=Istanbul |isbn=978-975-8165-40-7 |url=https://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr/files/1/bsb_sonra/urfaca_urfalica.pdf |access-date=28 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|17}}

==History==
{{main|History of Urfa}}

===Prehistory===
[[File:Urfa_Adamı_(2).jpg|thumb|[[Urfa Man]], [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]], {{c.|9000 BC}}. [[Şanlıurfa Museum]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Renfrew |first1=Colin |last2=Boyd |first2=Michael J. |last3=Morley |first3=Iain |title=Death Rituals and Social Order in the Ancient World: Death Shall Have No Dominion |year=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107082731 |pages=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdnECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 }}</ref>]]
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 [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A|PPNA]] Neolithic sites located near Abraham's Pool (site name: [[Balıklıgöl]]).

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.<ref name=":0" /> Perhaps Orhai's absence from earlier written sources is due to the settlement having been small and unfortified prior to the Seleucid period.<ref>{{cite book |last=Segal |first=J. B. |title=Edessa:'The Blessed City' |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-9713097-1-X |edition=2 |location=Piscataway, New Jersey, United States |pages=5 |chapter=I. The Beginnings |quote=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. |author-link=Judah Segal |orig-year=1970}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Çelik 2008">{{cite book |last1=Çelik |first1=Bahattin |title=Arkeoloji'de Urfa |date=2008 |publisher=Fsf Printing House |location=Istanbul |isbn=978-975-585-992-7 |url=https://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr/files/1/bsb_sonra/il_kultur_mudurlugu/1_arkeolojide_urfa.pdf |access-date=8 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|XXIII}}

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.<ref name="Çelik 2014">{{cite book |last1=Çelik |first1=Bahattin |editor1-last=Engin |editor1-first=Atilla |editor2-last=Helwing |editor2-first=Barbara |editor3-last=Uysal |editor3-first=Bora |title=Armizzi: Engin Özgen Armağan |date=2014 |publisher=Asitan Kitap |pages=101–7 |url=https://www.academia.edu/20828712 |access-date=7 November 2022 |chapter=Şanlıurfa – Yeni Mahalle Höyüğü in the Light of Novel C14 Analysis}}</ref><ref name="Çelik 2008"/>{{rp|15}} 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.<ref name="Çelik 2014"/> 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.<ref name="Çelik 2008"/>{{rp|15}}

====Bronze Age====
During the Uruk expansion period, around 3200 BC, the villages of Urfa and Harran began to transform into cities. By the Early Bronze Age (2900–2600 BCE) Urfa had grown into a walled city of 200ha. This city is located at the archeological site Kazane Tepe adjacent to modern Urfa.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Creekmore |first1=Andrew |title=Landscape and Settlement in the Harran Plain |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=2018 |volume=122 |issue=2 |doi=10.3764/aja.122.2.0177 |jstor=10.3764/aja.122.2.0177 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3764/aja.122.2.0177 |access-date=1 July 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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]].<ref name="Çelik 2008"/>{{rp|16–7}}

===City of Edessa===
{{main|Edessa}}
Urfa was founded as a city under the name Edessa by the Seleucid king [[Seleucus I Nicator]] in 302 or 303 BC.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Schnusenberg |first=Christine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhE2GC-rI04 |title=The Mythological Traditions of Liturgical Drama: The Eucharist as Theater |publisher=Paulist Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8091-0544-1 |location=New York |pages=116}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Alan V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-opAQAAMAAJ |title=The Crusades: An Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-862-4 |pages=378 |language=en}}</ref> Seleucus named the city Edessa after the [[Edessa, Greece|ancient capital of Macedonia]].<ref name="Patten 2022 p. 79">{{cite book |last=Patten |first=N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RhtEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |title=The Rose of Balarm: A Tale of 12th-Century Sicily |publisher=Strategic Book Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-68235-601-2 |page=79 |access-date=2023-09-22}}</ref>

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,<ref name="Ball 2000">{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Warwick |title=Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |isbn=0-415-11376-8 |pages=87–96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73-JAgAAQBAJ |access-date=4 November 2022 |chapter=Edessa and the Coming of Christendom}}</ref>{{rp|89}} but they never formed a majority of its population.<ref name="Lieu 1997">{{Cite book|last=Lieu|first=Samuel|chapter=Edessa|title=Encyclopaedia Iranica|year=1997|volume=8|issue=2|pages=174–175|chapter-url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/edessa}}</ref> The city's culture remained predominantly Semitic (specifically Aramaic), and any [[Hellenization]] was minimal.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|89, 91–2}}

Edessa was an important commercial center in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|198}} 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.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|195}}

In 132 BC, following the decline of the Seleucids, Edessa became the capital of the kingdom of [[Osrhoene]], which was ruled by the [[Abgarid dynasty|Abgarids]], an Arabized tribal dynasty with origins in [[Nisibis]].<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|89–90}} The Abgarids were generally allied with the [[Parthian Empire]] and were under Parthian cultural influence as well.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

[[File:Roman Orpheus Taming Wild Animals.jpg|thumb|left|Mosaic of [[Orpheus]] from Roman Edessa, {{circa}} 200 AD]]
In the early second century AD, [[Abgar VII]] supported the Roman emperor [[Trajan]]'s campaign in Mesopotamia and received him "sumptously" 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.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|90}}

Ma'nu VIII died in 177 and was succeeded by [[Abgar VIII]], also called Abgar the Great. Abgar was stripped of most of his domains except for Edessa, and Osrhoene became a Roman province, when his ally [[Pescennius Niger]] lost the civil war to [[Septimius Severus]].<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|90}} Abgar devoted his remaining time to fostering 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 people 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.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|91}}

[[File:Balıklıgöl_Urfa2.jpg|thumb|The sacred carp of Balıklıgöl: a tradition which goes back to ancient times]]
Ancient Edessa was an eclectic melting pot of different religious groups.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|92}} Unlike Harran, where the cult of the moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] predominated, the people of Edessa worshipped a whole pantheon of gods that can generally be identified with planets.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|195}} In addition to polytheists, Edessa also had a prominent Jewish community.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|93}} Many of Edessa's Jews were merchants, involved in long-distance trade between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|94}} By the end of the 2nd century, a small Christian community had appeared in Edessa.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|195}} 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.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}} Edessa's Jewish community was probably partly responsible for the rapid spread of Christianity in the city.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|94–5}} 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.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}}

More religions joined the mix during the 3rd century.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}} One was the Bardaisanites, founded by the important philosopher [[Bardaisan]] who Abgar the Great was a patron of.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|94}} Another was the [[Elkesaites]], a [[syncretism|syncretic]] religion that combined elements of Christianity, Judaism, and paganism.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|96}} There was already an active [[Manichaeanism|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.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> 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.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|95}}

====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.<ref name="Ball 2000"/>{{rp|91}}

In 260, the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] emperor [[Shapur I]] defeated the Romans in the [[Battle of Edessa]] and captured the emperor.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> 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.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

As a result of [[Diocletian]]'s reorganization of the empire in 293, a state-run factory was built at Edessa to make weapons and equipment for the soldiers stationed along the border.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> In 298, after [[Galerius Maximianus]]'s victory over the Sasanians, Edessa was made capital of the new province of Osrhoene.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> It served as a military base in the Mesopotamian ''[[limes (Roman Empire)|limes]]'', although it was secondary to Nisibis in that system.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

====Late antiquity====
In the 4th through 6th centuries AD, Edessa went through arguably its period of greatest prosperity. It was again an important commercial center, and merchants grew rich on trade in luxury goods from the east, particularly silk. As with later periods, the city had a council of notable citizens who were at least partly in charge of local government and administration. In the 5th century there were three different theological schools in Edessa: the School of the Syrians (affiliated with the patriarchate of Antioch), the School of the Armenians, and the famous School of the Persians (whose teachers were not actually Persians but rather members of the [[Church of the East]]). The School of the Persians was closed down in 489 and its staff relocated to Nisibis. There were many churches in the city and monasteries in the area. Just outside the walls were several infirmaries and hospitals.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|198}}

When the Roman emperor [[Jovian (emperor)|Jovian]] surrendered Nisibis to the Sasanians in 363, an influx of refugees came to Edessa, including many Christians.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> One of these refugees was the writer and theologian [[Ephrem the Syrian]], who was a co-founder of the School of the Persians in Edessa.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> According to T.A. Sinclair, as Christianity gained more of a presence in Edessa, the pagan planet-worshippers increasingly emigrated to Harran.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|198}}

By the early 6th century, a small lake had formed on the west side of the city. In 525, a flood destroyed part of the western city wall and damaged some of the city. Afterwards, a deep ditch was dug on the north and east sides of the city to act as a [[flood channel]]. In normal weather, a low dam kept the Daisan river in its original course, but if the dam overflowed, then the floodwaters would flow through the artificial channel instead of into the city. At some point later on, the flood channel became the normal course of the river.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3}}

Edessa successfully held out during a siege in 544.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> In 609, however, the Sasanian emperor [[Khosrow II]] captured Edessa during his campaign in Mesopotamia.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> Many of the city's Monophysites were deported to Iran.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/> In 628, the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]] captured Edessa.<ref name="Lieu 1997"/>

===Age of Islam===
Urfa surrendered to the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] general [[Iyad ibn Ghanm]] in 639 without resistance, supposedly when Iyad "stood at its gate riding a brown horse" according to [[al-Baladhuri]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|46}} Several versions of the terms of surrender appear in historical sources, mentioning the citizens would be responsible for "repairing 'bridges and roads'".<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|46}} The pact also guaranteed that the city's Christians would keep ownership of the cathedral.<ref name="Guidetti 2013"/>{{rp|244}} Sometime shortly after Urfa submitted to Muslim rule, a mosque was built in the city, although its location is unknown.<ref name="Guidetti 2013"/>{{rp|245}}

In the early centuries of Arab rule, and particularly under the Umayyads, Urfa was still a major Christian city.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|201}} It formed part of the province of [[Diyar Mudar]].<ref name="Brill EoI">{{cite book |last1=Honigmann |first1=E. |last2=Bosworth |first2=C.E. |last3=Faroqhi |first3=Suraiya |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C.E. |editor2-last=Van Donzel|editor2-first=E. |editor3-last=Heinrichs|editor3-first=W.P. |editor4-last=Lecomte |editor4-first=G. |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume VIII (NED-SAM) |date=1995 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-09834-8 |pages=586–7 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/volume-5/Volume%208/page/589 |access-date=27 October 2022 |chapter=AL-RUHĀ}}</ref>{{rp|589}} The city reportedly had 300 or 360 churches, and there were many monasteries. The population was mostly Syrian Orthodox but with significant Melkite and Jewish minorities; there were relatively few Muslims.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|201}} The city was led by a group of distinguished citizens, including magnates and agricultural landowners, who "formed a partly self-governing body" that dealt with the caliphal government rather than the bishop.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3, 201}} Some of the leading families in this period included the Gūmāyē, the Telmaḥrāyē, and the Ruṣāfāyē.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|589}}

[[File:Surrender of the Mandylion to the Byzantines.jpg|thumb|left|Image from the [[Madrid Skylitzes|Chronicle of John Skylitzes]] showing the surrender of the ''Mandylion'' to the Byzantine army in 943.]]
During the reign of the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mansur]], the city walls were demolished after the local Muslim governor revolted.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3}} The old walls had already been damaged by floods in the 7th and 8th centuries.<ref name="Tonghini 2021">{{cite book |last1=Tonghini |first1=Cristina |title=From Edessa to Urfa: The Fortification of the Citadel |date=2021 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-78969-757-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tAqEAAAQBAJ |access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref>{{rp|11}} In 812, Urfa's citizens had to pay a large sum to the anti-Abbasid rebel [[Nasr ibn Shabath al-Uqayli]] to prevent him from attacking the unprotected city.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|589}} Afterwards, the citizens had new defensive walls built around the city.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3}} According to [[Bar Hebraeus]], the walls were commissioned by someone named Abu Shaykh and paid for by the citizens.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|589–90}} The walls and towers visible today belong to this rebuilding effort, albeit with later renovations.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3}} The citadel was likely begun at the same time, probably with the addition of a moat on the south side.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}}

When the caliph [[al-Ma'mun]] came to power in 813, he dispatched his general [[Tahir ibn Husayn]] to Urfa to put down Nasr ibn Shabath's rebellion. The rebels besieged Tahir's forces in Urfa, but the local civilians (one of them was the future Syriac church leader [[Dionysius I Telmaharoyo]]) supported the soldiers and the siege was unsuccessful. Tahir's troops later mutinied, however, and he was forced to flee to Raqqa; he later appointed someone named 'Abd al-A'la as governor of Urfa.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} In 825, while Tahir's son [[Abdallah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani|Abdallah]] was governor of al-Jazira, his brother Muhammad enacted a series of anti-Christian policies in Urfa. He ordered the destruction of several churches, claiming that they had illegally been built after the Muslim conquest. That same year, he also had a new mosque built in the [[tetrapylon]] in front of the city's Melkite cathedral. Before its conversion into a mosque, the tetrapylon had been a meeting place for church leaders. The locations of the mosque and cathedral are unknown.<ref name="Guidetti 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Guidetti |first1=Mattia |title=The contiguity between churches and mosques in early Islamic Bilād al-Shām |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=2013 |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=229–58 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X13000086 |jstor=24692807 |s2cid=162707445 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24692807 |access-date=21 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|245}}

In the spring of 943, the Byzantine army campaigned in upper Mesopotamia, capturing several cities and either threatening Urfa or, according to [[Symeon Magister]], besieging it outright.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|19}} The Byzantines demanded that the ''[[mandylion]]'' (called ''al-mandīl'' in Arabic), by now a famous Christian relic, be handed over to the emperor. In return, the city would be spared and 200 Muslim prisoners would be released. With permission from the caliph [[al-Muttaqi]], the people of Edessa handed over the ''mandylion'' and signed a truce with the Byzantines.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|46}}<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|589}} The ''mandylion'' was [[translation (relic)|translated]] to Constantinople; it arrived "triumphantly" on 15 August 944.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|19}}

===11th century===
The [[Numayrid dynasty|Numayrid]] emir [[Waththab ibn Sabiq]] declared independence in 990 and annexed Edessa early in his reign. Waththab appointed his cousin 'Utayr as governor of the city.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} 'Utayr installed someone named Ahmad ibn Muhammad as his ''[[na'ib]]'' (deputy) here, but then later had him assassinated.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} This evidently made 'Utayr unpopular with the locals, since Ahmad had treated them well.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} In 1025/6 (416 AH), the city's inhabitants rebelled and appealed to [[Marwanids (Diyar Bakr)#Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwan|Nasr ad-Dawla]], the Marwanid emir of Diyar Bakr.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}}<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} At first, Nasr ad-Dawla appointed someone named Zangi to be his deputy in Edessa, but Zangi died in 1027. Meanwhile, 'Utayr had been assassinated.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} This time, Nasr ad-Dawla ended up appointing two deputies to jointly control Edessa: he chose 'Utayr's son, known only by the ''[[nasab]]'' "Ibn 'Utayr", to be in charge of the main citadel, while he appointed a different Numayrid named Shibl ad-Dawla to be in charge of the smaller citadel – i.e. the converted east gate, now the Bey Kapısı.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}}

[[Image:The seizure of Edessa in Syria by the Byzantine army and the Arabic counterattack from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes.jpg|thumb|Miniature from the ''History'' of John Skylitzes showing George Maniakes defending Edessa from Nasr ad-Dawla's counterattack.]]
In October 1031, the Byzantine general [[George Maniakes]] conquered Edessa. This would ultimately be the last significant territorial acquisition by the Byzantine Empire in Mesopotamia.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|20}} The accounts of this event differ heavily.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} According to one version, Ibn 'Utayr had entered into negotiations with Maniakes, intending to sell him the citadel. His desire to sell was apparently motivated by a threat from Shibl ad-Dawla.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} In [[John Skylitzes]]'s version, however, Maniakes had bribed Salman, a deputy of Nasr ad-Dawla's, into surrendering the city to him in the middle of the night.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|20}} If this was the case, then Salman either had some authority over Ibn 'Utayr or had otherwise deposed him.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}}

Whoever Maniakes had been negotiating with, Byzantine forces gained control of some of the fortifications but not the rest of the city.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} Exactly which parts Maniakes had taken control of are unclear – Skylitzes described Maniakes had taken possession of "three heavily fortified towers", but his description of Edessa's geography is completely inaccurate and he clearly had never been to the city himself. [[Matthew of Edessa]]'s account, which is more reliable, mentions "three citadels"; according to Tara Andrews, the upper citadel must have been one of them.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|20}} According to T.A. Sinclair, Maniakes had already gained control of the upper citadel.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} That winter, Nasr ad-Dawla came with an army in an attempt to drive out the Byzantines.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} Nasr ad-Dawla tried to besiege the Byzantine positions but was unsuccessful and decided to loot the city and tear down buildings, then burn the city to the ground while retreating with camels carrying off precious objects. According to Skylitzes, Maniakes was able to then capture the citadel and, summoning external reinforcements, secure the whole city.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|20}}

Maniakes remained in charge of Edessa for several years and, according to Honigmann and Bosworth, appears to have been relatively autonomous from the Byzantines, merely sending an annual tribute to Constantinople.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} On the other hand, while Skylitzes does mention that "Maniakes sent an annual tribute of 50 pounds [of gold] to the emperor", Niccolò Zorzi remarks that this "does not necessarily imply that Edessa 'enjoyed a certain amount of independence from Byzantium'".<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|21}} The citadel became known as "Maniakes's citadel" at some point.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|21}}

In May 1036, the Numayri prince Ibn Waththab plundered the city and took the ''patricius'' of Edessa as prisoner, but the fortress remained in the hands of the Byzantine garrison.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} A peace treaty was reached in 1037; under its terms, Edessa came directly under Byzantine control and it was refortified.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} Edessa now became an important Byzantine command placed under a series of [[katepano]]s and dukes.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|204}} The "duchy" of Edessa probably comprised the whole area beyond the Euphrates under their control with several fortresses north of the river.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|20}} The city "was still inhabited by many Christians" at this point.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}}

In 1065-6 and 1066-7, the city was attacked by the Turkish leader Khurasan-Salar.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} For 50 days beginning on 10 March 1071, Urfa was besieged by the Seljuk sultan [[Alp Arslan]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} Alp Arslan eventually lifted the siege in return for a large payment and possibly also the submission of its ruler, the ''doux'' Basilios Alousianos (son of [[Alusian of Bulgaria]]).<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} After the [[Battle of Manzikert]], Edessa was intended to be handed over to the Seljuks, but the Byzantine emperor [[Romanos Diogenes]] was deposed and in the political chaos its katepano Paulus ended up siding with the new emperor.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}}

In 1077 or 1078, [[Basil Apokapes]] besieged and captured Edessa, displacing the Byzantine governor Leo Diabatenos.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} He was an agent of [[Philaretos Brachamios]], the main Byzantine agent in the region who governed from Marash; however, Basil ruled Edessa independently.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|205}} In 1081-2, an amir named Khusraw unsuccessfully besieged the city.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} After Basil's death in 1083, the citizens of Edessa elected an Armenian named Smbat to succeed him.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} Smbat was in charge for six months before Philaretos came in person on 23 September 1083.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} He appointed a Greek eunuch as governor and gave him the title ''parakoimomenos''; this eunuch was later assassinated by an official named Barsauma.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}}

However, Edessa was in a particularly vulnerable position "caught between two blocks of [[Uqaylid]] territory", and it was particularly vulnerable to the Seljuks.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|205}} In 1086-7, the Seljuk sultan [[Malik Shah I]] sent his general Buzan to take the city<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|205}} while he himself campaigned in Syria.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} A three-month siege followed, with Barsauma defending the city.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} The city surrendered in March 1087 and Buzan appointed a Seljuk commander to head the citadel.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} At some point, an Armenian named [[Thoros of Edessa|Toros]] in charge of the city administration – according to the Syriac ''Chronicle of 1234'', this happened in 1087, while Matthew of Edessa wrote that it happened after Buzan's death in 1094.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} Toros appears to have begun a rebuilding project on the Bey Kapısı fortress, but it wasn't finished until after his rule.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} Meanwhile, Malik Shah had died in 1092 and a Seljuk dynastic crisis had broken out.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} In 1094, Malik Shah's brother [[Tutush I|Tutush]] demanded the city's surrender, but both Toros and the Seljuk citadel commander refused.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} Tutush's forces seized the citadel and made their encampment on the west side of the city.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} Fearing an attack from them, Toros apparently tried to cut the citadel off by building a wall between it and the city.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}} After Tutush died in 1095, however, his forces abandoned the citadel and Toros now took control of the whole city as a ''de facto'' independent ruler.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|23}}

During the 11th century, there was a large influx of Armenian immigrants into the region, especially the towns.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} In Urfa, they supplanted Syrians as the leading citizens and wealthiest landowners.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}}

===County of Edessa===
[[File:Map County of Edessa 1098-1131-en.svg|thumb|A map of the County of Edessa]]
{{main|County of Edessa}}
Urfa was capital of the crusader [[County of Edessa]] for about half a century beginning in 1098.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} The crusaders' subjects were a mix of Armenians and Syrians.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} In Urfa itself, Armenians were the dominant group.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} The crusaders themselves don't seem to have undertaken much construction in Urfa.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} The only extant structure that can be attributed to them is the southernmost tower of the Bey Kapısı, on the east side of the city walls.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} This was completing the rebuilding that Toros had begun before the crusaders seized Edessa and was finished in 1122-3, while the count [[Joscelin I]] was in captivity at [[Harput]].<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}}

====Sieges of 1144 and 1146====
{{main|Siege of Edessa (1144)|Siege of Edessa (1146)}}
The County of Edessa had survived largely because their Muslim rivals were disunited.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590}} The rise of a single powerful Muslim rival – namely [[Imad ad-Din Zangi]], the crafty atabeg of [[Mosul]] – spelled disaster for the county.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|590–1}} The tipping point came in late 1144, when [[Joscelin II]] left Edessa with a big chunk of his soldiers to assist Zengi's rival [[Kara Arslan]].<ref name="Gibb 1969">{{cite book |last1=Gibb |first1=Hamilton A. R. |editor1-last=Setton |editor1-first=Kenneth M. |editor2-last=Baldwin |editor2-first=Marshall W. |title=History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Hundred Years |date=1969 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Milwaukee, and London |isbn=0-299-04834-9 |pages=449–64 |edition=Second |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheCrusadesVol2/History%20of%20the%20Crusades%20Vol%201/page/n495/mode/2up?q=edessa |access-date=29 September 2022 |chapter=Zengi and the Fall of Edessa}}</ref>{{rp|461}}

Upon becoming aware of the city's weakness, Zengi led a series of forced marches and [[Siege of Edessa (1144)|laid siege to the city]] on 24 November.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|461}} By 24 December, he had successfully gained entry to the city; the citadel fell two days later on the 26th.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|461}} Zengi's forces spared the native Christian population and their churches, but the Franks were killed and their churches destroyed.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|461}} Zengi then appointed [[Zayn ad-Din Ali Küçük]], the commander of his guard, as governor of the city.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|461}}

The fall of Edessa was a direct motivator for the [[Second Crusade]].<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|466–8}} Christian pilgrims returning to Europe brought news of the city's conquest, and emissaries from the crusader states also came to appeal for help.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|466}} The pope responded by issuing the [[papal bull]] ''[[Quantum praedecessores]]'' on 1 December 1145, which directly called for another crusade.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|466–7}} Meanwhile, in the Muslim world, news of this victory made Zengi a hero.<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|461}} The caliph gave him many gifts and titles, including ''al-malik al-mansūr'' – "the victorious king".<ref name="Gibb 1969"/>{{rp|461}}

In May 1146, there was a plot by Urfa's Armenian community to overthrow the Turks and restore the city to Joscelin II.<ref name="Amouroux-Mourad 1988">{{cite book |first=Monique |last=Amouroux-Mourad |title=Le comté d'Edesse, 1098–1150 |publisher=Paul Guethner |year=1988}}</ref>{{rp|86–7}} The Turks suppressed this plot and settled 300 Jewish families in the city.<ref name="Amouroux-Mourad 1988"/>{{rp|86–7}} However, after Zengi was assassinated on 14 September 1146,{{rp|461}} the Armenians again conspired with Joscelin II to take the city.<ref name="Baldwin 1969">{{cite book |last1=Baldwin |first1=Marshall W. |editor1-last=Setton |editor1-first=Kenneth M. |editor2-last=Baldwin |editor2-first=Marshall W. |title=A History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Hundred Years |date=1969 |orig-year=1955 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Milwaukee, and London |isbn=0-299-04834-9 |pages=528–61 |edition=Second |url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.CrusOne |chapter=The Latin States under Baldwin III and Amalric I, 1143–1174}}</ref>{{rp|531}} Sometime in October, Joscelin II and [[Baldwin of Marash]] came and laid siege to the city.<ref name="Baldwin 1969"/>{{rp|531}} [[Siege of Edessa (1146)|This second siege]] proved far more destructive than the first.<ref name="Baldwin 1969"/>{{rp|531}} The Franks succeeded in entering the city,<ref name="Brill EoI"/> but they were not properly equipped for a siege of the main citadel.<ref name="Baldwin 1969"/>{{rp|531}} During their six-day-long reoccupation of Urfa, the Franks indiscriminately looted shops belonging to Christians and Muslims alike.<ref name="Amouroux-Mourad 1988"/>{{rp|86–7}} The city's Muslims either fled to Harran or took shelter in the citadel with the Turkish garrison.<ref name="Amouroux-Mourad 1988"/>{{rp|86–7}}

Meanwhile, Imad ad-Din's successor [[Nur ad-Din Zengi]] had arrived with an army of 10,000 soldiers and surrounded the city.<ref name="Baldwin 1969"/>{{rp|531}} When the Franks realized they were trapped, they attempted to retreat, but it ended in disaster and they were slaughtered as they tried to escape.<ref name="Nicholson 1973">{{cite book |first=Robert Lawrence |last=Nicholson |title=Joscelyn III and the Fall of the Crusader States, 1134–1199 |year=1973 |publisher=E. J. Brill |location=Leiden}}</ref>{{rp|10–12}} Moreover, the city's population was massacred – the men were put to death, while the women and children were sold into slavery.<ref name="Amouroux-Mourad 1988"/>{{rp|86–7}} The city's Christian community, one of the oldest in the world, had been destroyed and never recovered.<ref name="Runciman 1952">{{Runciman-A History of the Crusades|volume=2}}</ref>{{rp|240}}

===Zengid and Ayyubid rules===
Although Nur ad-Din was an active builder elsewhere, only one building at Urfa can be attributed to him: the "rather plain" Great Mosque, which was probably on the site of an earlier church.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} After Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Urfa was captured by his nephew [[Sayf al-Din Ghazi II]].<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}}

[[File:Umar Farrukh's Salah ad-Din.png|thumb|[[Saladin]] captured Urfa in 1182 after a siege, but the citadel continued to hold out and required a second siege.]]
[[Saladin]] captured Urfa in 1182 after a siege; he then separately besieged the citadel.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|48}} He ended up paying the defenders off to let him take control of the citadel.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|48}} He then appointed [[Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri]] as governor of Urfa along with Harran.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|48}} During Saladin's reign, the cathedral of the Melkites was demolished.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}} Part was used as building material for Urfa's citadel, and part was taken to Harran.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|6}}

The [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid empire]] essentially functioned as a dynastic "confederation of principalities united under one leading prince".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|212}} During Saladin's reign, he established a principality based at Harran; Urfa was part of this principality.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|213}} After Gökböri, the Harran-Urfa principality was also held by Saladin's brother [[al-Adil I|al-Adil]], who later ruled as the Ayyubid sultan himself.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|213}}

During Ayyubid rule, Edessa had a population of approximately 24,000, according to J.C. Russell's estimate (Russell generally favored smaller, more conservative estimates).<ref name="Shatzmiller 1993">{{Cite book|last=Shatzmiller|first=Maya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bzo0Skd1kcYC&q=Population+of+Egypt+Ayyubid&pg=PA59|title=Labour in the Medieval Islamic World|date=1993-12-31|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09896-1|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|59}}

In June 1234, the city was taken by the Seljuk sultan [[Kayqubad I]]'s army, and its inhabitants were deported to Anatolia.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} However, it was recaptured within four months by the Ayyubid ruler [[al-Kamil]].<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Sometime shortly thereafter, the citadel was [[slighting|slighted]] on al-Kamil's orders.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|9–10}}

===Mongol rule===
In 1260, Urfa voluntarily submitted to the troops of [[Hulagu]] and thus came under Mongol rule.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Because the city had surrendered peacefully, its inhabitants were spared.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}}

The Mongols never garrisoned Urfa; it was near their western border with the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] and was probably seen as "too difficult to defend".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}} Its ruined fortress was "probably not thought worth repairing".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}} The city was desolate at this point; its inhabitants had evacuated or abandoned it and "only Turcoman nomads lived in the otherwise empty city".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}}

===Mamluk and Aq Qoyunlu rules===
The Mamluks gained control of Urfa sometime in the early 14th century.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}} They renovated the ruined citadel probably during the third reign of [[an-Nasir Muhammad]] (1309–40), but the city "attracted few inhabitants".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7, 216}} The Mamluk garrison only occupied the citadel itself; the surrounding city was still practically deserted and not worth committing any soldiers to defend.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|218}} Located close to the Mamluks' eastern frontier, Urfa had "no commercial importance" because merchant traffic in Upper Mesopotamia was taking a route through [[Mardin]] and [[Ra's al-'Ayn]] rather than through Amid and Urfa.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7, 218–9}}

That changed in the late 14th century, toward the end of the Mamluk period.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7, 218}} Some commercial traffic had begun passing through Urfa enroute to Aleppo, and the city became at least partly repopulated.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|218}} By around 1400, [[al-Qalqashandi]] wrote that Urfa had been rebuilt and was prosperous again.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Meanwhile, in 1394, [[Timur]] occupied Urfa without much resistance; he "admired the buildings and took away some of the portable wealth".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|219}}

The [[Aq Qoyunlu]] seized Urfa, a strategic military outpost on their western frontier, in the late 1410s or early 1420s.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|219}} At some point, the Aq Qoyunlu ruler [[Kara Osman]] granted Urfa to his son [[Ali Beg (Aq Qoyunlu)|Ali]], whose quarrels with his brothers beginning in autumn 1428, prompted Kara Osman to replace him with Ali's brother Habil as governor of Urfa.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|59}} Ali left Urfa in 1429 and headed north where he laid siege to Harpoot, which fell before Mamluk aid could come to the city's aid. This prompted the Mamluks to attack Urfa, an Aq Qoyunlu base that posed threat to Mamluk-held Aleppo.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|59}} One day before the main Mamluk army arrived, a "local Arab contingent" reached Urfa and defeated Habil's Turkic forces. The Mamluk army arrived the next day and besieged the city. On 24 July, the citadel surrendered, and the Mamluks demolished the fortress and enslaved the women and children, killing many others. Contemporary historians compared the violent event to [[Siege of Damascus (1400)|Timur's sack of Damascus in 1400]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|59}}

About a decade later, Urfa was involved in the civil war between Ali Beg's son [[Jahangir (Aq Qoyunlu)|Jahangir]] and Jahangir's uncle Hamza for control of the Aq Qoyunlu.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|59}} The contemporary historian [[Abu Bakr Tihrani|Tihrani Isfahani]] wrote that Hamza's troops besieged Urfa but did not elaborate.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} Jahangir ended up making Urfa his main base at some point, from which he attacked Hamza in [[Erzincan]] and then later sent a raid against [[Ergani]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} Urfa was then the site of a battle in 1451, where [[Uzun Hasan]] successfully defeated other Aq Qoyunlu leaders shortly before gaining control of the tribal confederation as a whole.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|219}} In 1462-3, under Uzun Hasan's reign, Urfa's citadel was renovated.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|10}}

In early November 1480, a large Mamluk army under [[Yashbak min Mahdi]], who was ''[[dawatdar|dawātdār-i kabīr]]'' or executive secretary to the Mamluk sultan [[Qaitbay]], laid siege to Urfa.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} Yashbak bombarded the city walls with heavy cannon fire and used catapults to hurl fireballs into the city.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} This happened during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, prompting [[Fazlallah Khunji Isfahani]] to liken Yashbak's actions to the tyrant [[Nimrod]] torturing the prophet Abraham with fire – also in Urfa, according to tradition.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} Aq Qoyunlu forces quickly arrived at Urfa from Diyar Bakr and, after a failed attempt at negotiations, [[Battle of Urfa (1480)|a pitched battle]] took place.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} The Aq Qoyunlu army's right wing was commanded by [[Sulayman Beg Bijan]] and the left wing was commanded by [[Sufi Khalil Beg Mawsilu|Khalil Beg Mawsillu]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}} The Mamluk forces were utterly defeated, and Yashbak was later executed.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}}{{refn|group=note|Contemporary sources give conflicting dates for when this battle took place. According to [[Ibn al-Himsi]], it took place on 19 November; according to [[al-Sayrafi (Mamluk historian)|al-Sayrafi]], 17 November; according to the anonymous ''Chronicle of Bar Hebraeus'', 23 November.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|60}}}}

===Ottoman period===
{{see also|Urfa Sanjak}}
[[File:Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Museum MS Hazine 1563 fol. 47v Suleyman I by Nakkaş Osman.jpg|thumb|[[Suleiman the Magnificent]]'s conquest of Baghdad in 1534 indirectly boosted commerce in Urfa by making regional trade routes safer to travel.]]<!-- [[File:Balıklıgöl_park_9091.jpg|thumb|Park of Balıklıgöl]] -->

Urfa was likely initially incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] during the rule of [[Selim I]] around 1517.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} The earliest surviving Ottoman [[defter|tax register]] for Urfa, compiled in 1518, documented 1,082 families (700 Muslim and 382 Christian), suggesting a total population slightly exceeding 5,500 people.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} The relatively low population figure can be attributed to political turmoil in the region, particularly the ongoing conflict with [[Safavid Iran]].<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} By 1526, the city's population had increased to 1,322 families (988 Muslim and 334 Christian), indicating an estimated population of approximately 8,000.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}}

Urfa experienced a renaissance under Ottoman rule.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}} Industry and commerce picked back up, and its population rebounded, although it never reached the same population heights it had once held in the classical and early medieval periods.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}} The high point lasted for about a century and a half, beginning with its conquest by the Ottomans.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}} According to Mehmet Adil Saraç, Urfa's population first became majority Turkish sometime during this period, sometime between 1520 and 1570.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|22}} By 1566, a tax register shows the city with an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 people (1,704 Muslim families and 866 Christian families).<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} At this point, the city was described as having five large ''mahalle''s, each named after one of the five city gates, and it "must have had an active textile industry".<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} A [[bedestan]] is also recorded.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Urfa's prosperity in the 1500s was based on both trade and agricultural production.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|66}} Urfa was an important [[entrepot]] on trade routes between Iran and Aleppo.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|7}}

Because of its prosperity, Urfa's population grew as it attracted residents from nearby cities.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|66}} In 1586, Ottoman authorities created the [[Eyalet of Raqqa]] out of territories that had previously belonged to the [[Eyalet of Diyarbekir]], and Urfa became "the center of economic and political power" in this new province.<ref name="Winter 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Winter |first1=Stefan |title=The Province of Raqqa under Ottoman Rule, 1535–1800 |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=2009 |volume=68 |pages=253–67 |doi=10.1086/649610 |s2cid=163430587 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3809120 |access-date=16 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|258}} At the same time, the city's prosperity attracted bandits and nomadic tribes, although the urban population was largely unaffected.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|66–7}} That changed at the end of the century, when the revolt of Karayazıcı Abdulhalim turned Urfa into a battlefield.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|67}}

Relatively little is known about Karayazıcı, but he was presumably a tribesman who worked as a bureaucrat in the local administration (''Yazıcı'' means "scribe").<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|67}} His army was recruited from other local tribal members.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|67}} In 1599–1600 (1008 AH), Karayazıcı's army laid siege to the outer and then inner citadel and thus gained control of Urfa.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|67}} The contemporary historian [[Mustafa Selaniki]] blamed Urfa's fall on the governors of Aleppo and Damascus failing to send reinforcements in time.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|67}} He set up a "quasi-state" based at Urfa's inner citadel, declaring himself sultan and [[Hüseyin Pasha (Celali rebel)|Hüseyin Pasha]] (who had worked with him to capture the citadel) as grand vizier.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|67}} Eventually, though, Ottoman troops (backed by reinforcements from Damascus and Aleppo) surrounded the inner citadel, dug trenches, and engaged the rebels in a bloody battle in the middle of the city.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|68}} The rebels ran into ammunition shortages during the battle and had to melt down coins to use as bullets.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|68}} Hüseyin Pasha was killed in the battle, but Karayazıcı himself managed to escape.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|68}}

The instability accompanying the [[Celali rebellions|Celali revolts]], and especially Karayazıcı's occupation of the city, must have sapped Urfa's prosperity.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Several 17th-century accounts refer to parts of the town as being in disrepair.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} For example, when [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]] visited Urfa in 1644, "there were so many empty lots that [he] compared the town to a desert".<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} The central Ottoman state's control of the surrounding Raqqa Eyalet weakened significantly in the early 1600s.<ref name="Winter 2009"/>{{rp|259}} Powerful ''[[emir|ümera]]'' families from Urfa assumed responsibility for governance of the eyalet, while the actual office of governor was a [[sinecure]] for prominent Ottoman generals or their sons.<ref name="Winter 2009"/>{{rp|259–60}}

Urfa court records from about 1629 to 1631 (1039–40 AH) provide insight into local government during the [[Ottoman-Safavid War (1623-1639)|Ottoman-Safavid War of 1623–1629]].<ref name="Winter 2009"/>{{rp|259}} The Ottomans were in the process of mobilizing troops and resources in the area for the war effort, and the [[qadi]] of Urfa was responsible for [[billet]]ing troops and gathering provisions.<ref name="Winter 2009"/>{{rp|259}} In August 1638, Sultan [[Murad IV]] stayed at Urfa along with his army while en route to Baghdad in [[Capture of Baghdad (1638)|the final campaign of the war]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|12}} He ordered restoration work on the citadel, which is mentioned in written sources and confirmed by an inscription on the walls that still exists.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|12}}

The most detailed account of early Ottoman Urfa was written by [[Evliya Çelebi]], who visited the city in 1646.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Part of his interest may have been because one of his relatives was a qadi here.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} His account mentions only three gates, with different names than those of the 1566 tax register.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Evliya wrote that he counted 2,600 houses in the fortified part of the city, which probably indicates a population total similar to 1566.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} At this point, Urfa had houses generally made of mud brick; more opulent houses, belonging to paşas and qadis, had their own gardens and baths.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591}} Evliya also recorded 22 mosques, 3 medreses, and 3 [[zaviye]]s.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|591–2}} He listed several hans, including the Yemiş Hânı, the Samsatkapısı, the Hacı İbrâhim Hânı, the Beykapısı Hânı, and the Sebîl Hânı.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|306}} He also wrote that the city had 400 shops and several mills, including one named after one Tayyaroğlu Ahmed Paşa.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} However, he was apparently unimpressed by the city's shops and markets.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}}

Evliya also wrote that Urfa had a [[tannery]] that produced high-quality yellow [[maroquin]] leather.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Tavernier also noted the city's leather, saying that along with [[Tokat]] and Diyarbakır it produced some of the best maroquin leathers.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Besides leather, Urfa was also renowned for its cotton fabrics during this period.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}}

According to Onur Usta, part of why Urfa appeared to European visitors as "a derelict city with houses reduced to rubble" during this period was because it had a lot of residents from nomadic and tribal backgrounds.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|68}} These people would have still engaged in nomadic [[transhumance]] activities during most parts of the year and "only needed a roof over their heads during the winter".<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|69}} The abandoned-looking houses would have belonged to them.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|69}}

[[File:Şanlıurfa,_Şanlıurfa_Merkez-Şanlıurfa_Province,_Turkey_-_panoramio_(6).jpg|thumb|left|The Rızvaniye Mosque at Balıklıgöl, built in the early 1700s]]
Information about Urfa during the 1700s is relatively scarce, but one source is the fiscal records of the new Rızvaniye Mosque.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} These document the [[waqf]] properties assigned to the mosque, including shops, gardens, mills, and public baths, as well as information about tenants and rents.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Based on various fiscal and tax documents, it seems that Urfa suffered a series of troubles in the 1750s and began to sink into poverty.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|70}} One of the most serious problems was rampant banditry, which both impeded agricultural production in surrounding rural areas and hindered economic recovery.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|70–1}}

A serious outbreak of plague hit Urfa in the 1780s, and many people died.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|22}} [[Iraqi Turkmen]], particularly from the regions around Mosul and [[Kirkuk]], were deported and resettled in Urfa to help repopulate the city.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|22}} The connection with Kirkuk in particular left cultural and linguistic traces in Urfa, and some present-day Urfalis have described the two cities as having an "uncle-nephew relationship".<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|19, 22}}

====19th century====
[[File:Urfa_Regie_church_5489.jpg|thumb|Urfa Reji Church, the structure was built on the remains of a church from the 6th century in 1861.]]
In the Ottoman period, Urfa was a center of commerce because of its location at a crossroads with Diyarbakır, Antep, Mardin, and Raqqa.<ref name="Taş 2019">{{cite book |last1=Taş |first1=Yasin |title=Osmanlı döneminde Urfa'da sosyal hayat (mahkeme kayıtlarına göre 1850–1900) |date=2019 |publisher=Hiperlink Eğitim İletişim Yayıncılık |location=Istanbul |isbn=978-605-281-528-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzfLDwAAQBAJ |access-date=3 October 2022 |language=Turkish}}</ref>{{rp|292}} Many Jewish, Armenian, and Greek merchants were present in Urfa, especially from Aleppo.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}}

[[James Silk Buckingham]] visited Urfa in 1816 and ended up stuck there for a while because the roads were closed due to the ongoing [[Ottoman-Wahhabi War]].<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Buckingham's account of early-1800s Urfa is one of the most informative of the late Ottoman period.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} By this time, the name "Urfa" had come to predominate, with only the city's Arab Christians still calling it "al-Ruha".<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} The standard of living in Urfa had evidently increased since the 1600s – the mud brick houses recorded by Evliya Çelebi had given way to finer masonry structures that Buckingham compared to the houses of Aleppo.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} The houses described by Buckingham had ''[[harem]]'' and ''[[selamlik]]'' quarters separated by a courtyard, with the ''selamlik''s boasting "opulently furnished reception rooms" on their upper floors.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Buckingham described the city as being divided into [[janissary]] and sharif factions, also like Aleppo.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Many of the city's bazaars were closed due to the war, but Buckingham noted that Urfa had a thriving [[cotton]] trade during peacetime and observed some of the city's cotton printers at work.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}} Coarser wool cloth and rugs were also manufactured in Urfa.<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|592}}

In the mid-1800s, Urfa benefitted from a general increase in commercial activity in the region.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}} Most of the larger courtyard houses in the present-day old town probably date from this period.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}} The large Armenian church on the western main street was built in 1842 and many mosques were probably also built around this time.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}} According to Suraiya Faroqhi, though, the city's population "must have been at a low ebb for several decades in the mid-century".<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|593}}

[[File:Urfa_Kitchen_Museum_building_3309.jpg|thumb|left|Urfa Kitchen Museum Building]]
However, in the late 1800s, Urfa declined in importance as a commercial center.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}} In particular, the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869 caused a major realignment of trade routes, shifting away from overland caravans and towards maritime commerce.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}} As a result, the volume of commercial traffic coming through Urfa decreased markedly compared to previous periods and became increasingly local/regional in nature.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}} The local economy shifted away from producing goods for export and toward meeting the basic needs of the local population.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}} Workshops produced less in general during this period and their focus was more on cheap basic goods like local fabrics and household goods.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}} Imports also declined because the locals were focusing more on consuming cheap basic goods rather than luxuries; they were living simpler, more frugal lives.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292}} Because people were using more local products, the cost of living also decreased and people had to work less to meet their expenses.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|292–3}} Contemporary court records document that there was extensive commercial contact between Muslims and non-Muslims; they bought and sold goods freely between each other and entered into commercial partnerships together, indicating that there was relatively high trust between both groups.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|293–4}}

The main centers of commercial activity in the Ottoman period were the bazaars, where both local and imported goods were bought and sold.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|309}} Generally, a bazaar would be named after its primary function and main goods sold there.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|309}} For example, the İsotçular Çarşısı was named because of the homemade chili peppers sold in this street.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|309}} Among the bazaars mentioned in late 19th-century records: Kadıoğlu, Köroğlu, Eski Arasa, Teymurcu, Sarayönü, Belediye, Beykapı, Akar, Sipâhî, Bedestan, Hânönü, Kafavhâne, and Hüseyniye.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|309}}

There was a huge increase in the number of hans recorded in the ''Aleppo [[Salname]]''s in the late 1800s: from just 7 in 1867 to 11 in 1888, 18 in 1889, and 32 in 1898.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|306}} According to Yasin Taş, this is because not only were new hans being built, but records were simply counting more types of commercial buildings as hans.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|306}} Muslim and non-Muslim travelers would both use the same hans regardless of religion.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|309}}

In the countryside surrounding Urfa, life went on largely unchanged.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|314}} Most rural villagers were involved in agriculture, and farmlands were typically plowed using the same low-tech methods that had been used for thousands of years.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|314}} Cows and oxen were kept as draft animals.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|314}} Irrigated farmland around the Euphrates and some streams was more expensive than the waterless fields called "deştî land" which was not able to be irrigated.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|314}} Irrigation channels were repaired jointly among the people who used the water.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|314}} Sometimes there would be people living in the city (often non-Muslim) who would own farmland outside the city and deputize local villagers (often Muslim) to run the farm under the muzâraa contract.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|314–5}} In 1846, taxes could not be collected because of drought and locusts.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|315}} In 1861, 1863, and 1886, there were locusts; in 1870 there was a drought due to lack of rain.<ref name="Taş 2019"/>{{rp|315}}

Up until the mid-1890s, about 20,000 of the city's 60,000 residents were Armenians.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} In 1895, however, thousands of Armenians were killed in a series of massacres by both civilians and soldiers.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} First, in October, Turkish and Kurdish locals killed hundreds of Armenians over a two-day period.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} Then for two months the Armenian quarter was effectively subjected to a siege, with no food or water allowed in.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} The Turks claimed that the Armenians had a weapon cache, which they demanded in return for lifting the siege.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} In December, the siege ended when "a crowd of Turkish soldiers and civilians" entered the Armenian quarter and killed thousands of its inhabitants.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} About 3,000 survivors sought shelter in a nearby church – which is normally recognized as a place of refuge under Islamic law.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} However, soldiers burned the church to the ground, killing everyone inside.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} The troops went on to loot and burn the rest of the Armenian quarter.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} According to [[Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross|Lord Kinross]], some 8,000 Armenians were killed in total.<ref>{{cite book | first = Lord | last = Kinross | author-link = Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross | title = The Ottoman Centuries, The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire | publisher = [[Harper Perennial]] | year = 1977 | location = United States | isbn = 0-688-08093-6 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/ottomancenturies00kinr/page/560 560] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/ottomancenturies00kinr/page/560 }}</ref>

There was a small but ancient [[Urfalim|Jewish community in Urfa]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Edessa|journal=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]|year=1906|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5431-edessa}}</ref> with a population of about 1,000 by the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview with Harun Bozo|url=http://www.centropa.org/index.php?nID=30&x=bGFuZF9zZWxlY3Rvcj0xODc7IHNlYXJjaFR5cGU9QmlvRGV0YWlsOyBzZWFyY2hWYWx1ZT03MzM=|work=The Library of Rescued Memories|publisher=Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation}}</ref> 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 Orthodox Church|Syriac]], [[Armenian Orthodox Church|Armenian]], and [[Roman Catholic Church|Latin]]. The last [[Neo-Aramaic Languages|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 Christians|Syriac]] Quarter").<ref>{{cite book
 | first = John |last=Joseph
 | author-link = John Joseph (academic)
 | title = Muslim-Christian Relations and Inter-Christian Rivalries in the Middle East: The Case of the Jacobites in an Age of Transition
 | url =https://archive.org/details/muslimchristianr0000jose
 | url-access = registration
 | year = 1983
 | publisher = [[State University of New York]] Press
 | location = United States
 | isbn = 0-87395-612-5
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/muslimchristianr0000jose/page/150 150]
 }}</ref>

===World War I and after===
[[File:TripartiteAgreement1920.jpg|thumb|Map showing the borders set by the [[Treaty of Sevres]], which assigned Urfa to the French-controlled [[Mandate of Syria]]. Urfa is shown here just below the dotted red line, and directly above the "Y" in "Syria".]]
During [[World War I]], Urfa was a site of the [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]] and [[Assyrian genocide|Assyrian]] genocides, beginning in 1915.<ref name="armenian-genocide.org">{{cite web |title=Chronology of the Armenian Genocide – 1915 (July–September) |url=https://www.armenian-genocide.org/1915-3.html |website=Armenian-Genocide.org |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref> Members of Urfa's Armenian community were deported and killed.<ref name="Akçam 1999">{{cite book |last1=Akçam |first1=Taner |title=A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility |date=1999 |page=200 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780805086652 |edition=English |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E-_XTh0M4swC&pg=PA200 |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref> In May, 18 families were deported from Urfa, and in June, 50 people were arrested, tortured, and then deported to Diyarbakır, where they were killed on the road.<ref name="Akçam 1999"/> Urfa was also a stop on the deportation route, and the [[Urfa resistance]] in October was composed of Armenians deported from Van and Diyarbakır.<ref name="Akçam 1999"/> Survivors from killings elsewhere had begun to arrive in Urfa, and by mid-August, massacres had begun in Urfa itself.<ref name="Akçam 1999"/> Some 400 Armenians were taken to the edge of town and killed during a four-day period from 15–19 August.<ref name="Akçam 1999"/>{{refn|group=note|Armenian-Genocide.org presents a somewhat different timeline: according to them, the first killings happened on 19 August, when about 250 Armenians were killed, and the second round happened four days later on 23 August.<ref name="armenian-genocide.org"/>}} Another massacre took place on 23 September, when 300 Armenians were killed.<ref name="armenian-genocide.org"/>

In response to the Urfa resistance in October, [[Mehmet Celal Bey]], who had served as governor of Aleppo before being sacked for refusing to comply with the order to deport the local Armenians, commented: "Each human has the right to live. A trampled worm will squirm and wriggle. The Armenians will defend themselves."<ref name="Akçam 1999"/> The final event of the resistance was on 15 October, when several thousand Turkish troops attacked their position.<ref name="armenian-genocide.org"/> The next day, some 20,000 Armenian deportees in transit were killed in and around Urfa.<ref name="armenian-genocide.org"/>

Meanwhile, during the Russian [[occupation of Western Armenia]], many Turks fleeing those regions came and settled in Urfa.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|22}} Mehmet Adil Saraç estimates that around 8,000 to 10,000 Turks migrated to the Urfa region this way.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|22}}

At the end of World War I, the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] assigned Urfa to the French-controlled [[Mandate of Syria]], 5&nbsp;km south of the border with Turkey.<ref name="Treaty of Sèvres">{{cite book |title=Original text of the Treaty of Sèvres |date=1920  |url=http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1920/TS0011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531175547/http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1920/TS0011.pdf |access-date=28 December 2022|archive-date=31 May 2014 }}</ref>{{rp|15}} As a result, Urfa was occupied by British and then French troops.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|17}} Locals from Urfa formed a militia and successfully drove out the occupying troops on 11 April 1920.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|17}} The 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]] officially settled the matter by including Urfa as part of the new [[Republic of Turkey]].<ref name="Brill EoI"/>{{rp|593}} Under the new republic, Urfa was made capital of the new [[Urfa Province]] on 20 April 1924.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|17}}

===21st century===
During the [[Syrian Civil War]], thousands of Syrian refugees fled to Turkey, and many of them settled in Urfa.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Karademir |first1=Diyar |last2=Doğan |first2=Mesut |title=Suriyeli Mültecilerin Mekânsal Analizi: Şanlıurfa Örneği (Spatial Analysis of Syrian Refugees: The Şanlıurfa Case) |journal=Coğrafya Dergısı |date=2019 |volume=39 |pages=111–124 |doi=10.26650/JGEOG2019-0053 |s2cid=212768026 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|111–2}} When [[Raqqa]] became the capital of the [[Islamic State]], Urfa became a gateway for jihadists entering Syria because of its closeness to the [[Akçakale]]-[[Tall Abyad]] border crossing and to Raqqa itself.<ref name="EB 2016">{{cite news |title=How do Syrians live in the Turkish city of Urfa amid "extremism"? |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2016/05/syrians-live-turkish-city-urfa-amid-extremism/?so=related |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=[[Enab Baladi]] |date=29 May 2016}}</ref> The city's general religious-conservative climate meant that many locals who adhere to [[Salafi]] thought sympathized with the Islamic State, and many of its members lived in the city as well.<ref name="EB 2016"/>

On 6 February 2023, Urfa suffered some damage from the twin [[2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake|Turkey-Syria earthquakes]].

==Geography==
[[File:Göbekli Tepe - landscape.jpg|thumb|The Urfa countryside, as seen from [[Göbekli Tepe]]]]
Urfa is located at the border between the foothills of the [[Taurus Mountains]] and the great Mesopotamian plain. In general, these two regions meet "well to the south" of Urfa, but around [[Harran]] the plain extends northward, cutting into the hills. At the northwestern corner of the Harran plain, there is another extension in the plain, this time going westward. Urfa is located in this second extension of the plains, tucked behind the hills at its southern edge.<ref name="Sinclair 1990">{{cite book |last1=Sinclair |first1=T. A. |title=Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey, Volume IV |date=1990 |publisher=The Pindar Press |location=London |isbn=0-907132-52-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CMnEAAAQBAJ |access-date=20 March 2022}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

A small stream flows through Urfa.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|2}} This stream is known as the [[Daisan River|Daisan]], or "leaping river", after its tendency for flooding.<ref name="Unfinished">{{cite book |last1=Purcell |first1=Bridget |editor1-last=Biehl |editor1-first=Joao |editor2-last=Locke |editor2-first=Peter |title=Unfinished: The Anthropology of Becoming |date=2017 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=United States |isbn=9780822372455 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pfk9DwAAQBAJ&dq=urfa+economy&pg=PT138 |access-date=4 October 2022 |chapter=Rebellious Matter}}</ref>{{rp|136}} Today, the Daisan flows through a man-made channel that follows the north and east sides of the old walled city. Before the channel was made, though, the stream's natural course was on the west side of the old city, then it turned east.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|2}} Part of the former course survives as the fish pool called Birket Ibrahim, which tradition associates with the  patriarch [[Abraham]]. To the south of the stream's old course is a spring in a cave that is now converted into a mosque.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|3, 6}}

Since the 20th century, Urfa has expanded northward, across the little plain and the hill known as Şehitlik Mahallesi with blocks of flats, as well as over the escarpment to the south.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}}

===Climate===
Urfa has a [[hot-summer Mediterranean climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Csa,'' [[Trewartha climate classification|Trewartha]]: ''Cs''). During the summer months, average high temperatures often exceed {{Convert|40|C|F}} and it has one of the hottest summers in the world among places that are not in [[Desert climate|arid]] or [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] regions, while rainfall is almost non-existent. Winters are cool and relatively wet, frost is common along with very sporadic snowfall. Spring and autumn are warm and moderately dry.

Highest recorded temperature: {{Convert|46.8|C|F}} on 30 July 2000<br>Lowest recorded temperature: {{Convert|-12.4|C|F}} on 9 February 1932<ref name=MGM/>

{{Weather box 
|width= auto 
|metric first= Yes 
|single line= Yes 
|location= Urfa (1991–2020, extremes 1929–2023)
|Jan record high C = 21.6
|Feb record high C = 25.5
|Mar record high C = 29.5
|Apr record high C = 36.4
|May record high C = 40.4
|Jun record high C = 44.1
|Jul record high C = 46.8
|Aug record high C = 46.2
|Sep record high C = 43.9
|Oct record high C = 37.8
|Nov record high C = 30.8
|Dec record high C = 26.0
|year record high C = 46.8
|Jan high C = 10.6
|Feb high C = 12.5
|Mar high C = 17.5
|Apr high C = 23.1
|May high C = 29.6
|Jun high C = 35.7
|Jul high C = 39.5
|Aug high C = 39.0
|Sep high C = 34.5
|Oct high C = 27.7
|Nov high C = 18.9
|Dec high C = 12.4
|year high C = 25.1
|Jan mean C = 6.2
|Feb mean C = 7.5
|Mar mean C = 11.8
|Apr mean C = 16.8
|May mean C = 22.8
|Jun mean C = 28.8
|Jul mean C = 32.6
|Aug mean C = 32.0
|Sep mean C = 27.4
|Oct mean C = 21.2
|Nov mean C = 13.1
|Dec mean C = 7.9
|year mean C = 19.0
|Jan low C = 3.0
|Feb low C = 3.6
|Mar low C = 7.0
|Apr low C = 11.3
|May low C = 16.6
|Jun low C = 21.9
|Jul low C = 25.4
|Aug low C = 25.0
|Sep low C = 20.8
|Oct low C = 15.8
|Nov low C = 8.9
|Dec low C = 4.8
|year low C = 13.7
|Jan record low C = -10.6
|Feb record low C = -12.4
|Mar record low C = -7.3
|Apr record low C = -3.2
|May record low C = 2.5
|Jun record low C = 8.3
|Jul record low C = 15.0
|Aug record low C = 16.0
|Sep record low C = 10.0
|Oct record low C = 1.9
|Nov record low C = -6.0
|Dec record low C = -6.4
|year record low C = -12.4
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 81.0
|Feb precipitation mm = 66.3
|Mar precipitation mm = 57.9
|Apr precipitation mm = 44.7
|May precipitation mm = 26.2
|Jun precipitation mm = 5.8
|Jul precipitation mm = 2.0
|Aug precipitation mm = 4.0
|Sep precipitation mm = 8.1
|Oct precipitation mm = 24.6
|Nov precipitation mm = 51.2
|Dec precipitation mm = 78.7
|year precipitation mm = 450.5
|Jan rain days = 11.57
|Feb rain days = 10.67
|Mar rain days = 9.77
|Apr rain days = 9.53
|May rain days = 7.33
|Jun rain days = 1.57
|Jul rain days = 0.4
|Aug rain days = 0.3
|Sep rain days = 1.2
|Oct rain days = 5.47
|Nov rain days = 7.17
|Dec rain days = 10.77
|year rain days = 75.8
| Jan snow days  =1.9
| Feb snow days  =1.4
| Mar snow days  =0.6
| Apr snow days  =0
| May snow days  =0
| Jun snow days  =0
| Jul snow days  =0
| Aug snow days  =0
| Sep snow days  =0
| Oct snow days  =0
| Nov snow days  =0.1
| Dec snow days  =0.7
|Jan humidity = 70.6
|Feb humidity = 66.5
|Mar humidity = 59.6
|Apr humidity = 55.5
|May humidity = 45.8
|Jun humidity = 34.6
|Jul humidity = 32.0
|Aug humidity = 36.5
|Sep humidity = 39.3
|Oct humidity = 47.3
|Nov humidity = 59.6
|Dec humidity = 70.2
|year humidity = 51.4
|Jan sun = 117.8
|Feb sun = 135.6
|Mar sun = 189.1
|Apr sun = 225.0
|May sun = 288.3
|Jun sun = 345.0
|Jul sun = 359.6
|Aug sun = 325.5
|Sep sun = 273.0
|Oct sun = 220.1
|Nov sun = 159.0
|Dec sun = 108.5
|year sun = 
|Jand sun = 3.8
|Febd sun = 4.8
|Mard sun = 6.1
|Aprd sun = 7.5
|Mayd sun = 9.3
|Jund sun = 11.5
|Juld sun = 11.6
|Augd sun = 10.5
|Sepd sun = 9.1
|Octd sun = 7.1
|Novd sun = 5.3
|Decd sun = 3.5
|yeard sun = 7.5
|source 1= Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü<ref name=MGM>{{cite web
| url = https://www.mgm.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?k=H&m=SANLIURFA
| title = Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)
| publisher = Turkish State Meteorological Service
| language = tr
| access-date = 7 August 2021}}</ref>
|source 2 = [[NOAA]] (humidity, 1991–2020),<ref name=WMOCLINO>{{cite web
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Sanliurfa_17270.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020
| publisher = [[NCEI|National Centers for Environmental Information]]
| access-date = 2 August 2023}}</ref> Meteomanz(snow days 2000–2023)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.meteomanz.com/sy3?l=1&cou=6290&ind=17270&m1=01&y1=2000&m2=12&y2=2023 |title=Sanliurfa – Weather data by months |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=meteomanz}}</ref>
}}

==Main sights==
[[File:Mevlid-i Halil Mosque 08.jpg|right|thumb|Main courtyard of the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque]]

===The citadel===
[[Şanlıurfa Castle|Urfa castle]] is located on the rocky heights south of the historical city center.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|3}} It is long and thin because it crowns a ridge.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}}

The hilltop was the site of an Abgarid winter palace built in the 3rd century; the two columns are the only remnant of this palace.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|11}} The first known fortification of the site dates from the early 6th century, under the emperor Justinian.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|11}} Fortifications may have existed here previously, but if they did then they went unrecorded.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|11}}

The fortress was generally well-maintained during the middle ages, and it withstood a number of attacks.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|11–2}} It was destroyed on the orders of the Ayyubid sultan [[al-Kamil]] around 1235.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|12}} In the early 1300s, it was rebuilt under the Mamluk sultan [[an-Nasir Muhammad]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|12}} It was further renovated under the Aq Qoyunlu in the 1400s, and then again under the Ottomans at various points: under [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] in the 1500s and then under [[Murad IV]] in the early 1600s.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|12}}

Urfa's castle was garrisoned with [[janissary|janissaries]] until [[Auspicious Incident|their dissolution in 1826]].<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|70}} It was already in serious disrepair by that point, though; only the part where the janissaries were posted was maintained at all.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|71}} Afterwards, the citadel was essentially abandoned.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|71}} In 1849, a local citizen named Sakıp Efendi dismantled part of the citadel and used the stones to build an inn and market; he also allegedly took a lot of stones to sell for money.<ref name="Tonghini 2021"/>{{rp|71}}

===Old city walls===
[[File:Urfa city walls 5424.jpg|thumb|Some stretches of the old city walls remain standing]]
[[File:Urfa Barla Kapısı 3567.jpg|thumb|Inner face of the Harran Gate]]
The monumental walls surrounding the old town date from the Abbasid-era rebuilding in 812.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The only major repairs to them took place during the early Ottoman period, in 1660–61, when there was restoration work done on the city's fortifications in general.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The walls are made of large stone blocks over 30&nbsp;cm tall all the way through (i.e. not just on the faces).<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The early Ottoman repairs are distinguished by their small size, white color, and light bossing.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} In many places, people have built private houses directly adjoining the city wall's inner face, so that it forms one side of the house.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} Because of Urfa's location, the east wall was always the most exposed to attack; large chunks of the surviving sections here consist of Ottoman repairs.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|14}}

There were three known gates in the city walls: the Harran Gate; the Bey Kapısı, or "Lord's Gate"; and the Saray Kapısı, or "Palace Gate".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12–4}} The Harran Gate, located near the southeast corner of the walled city, still exists; its outer face (outside the walls) was rebuilt at some point, possibly during the Ottoman renovations of 1660–61.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} Its inner face, however, dates back to the Ayyubid period, under the local ruler Muzaffar Ghazi Shihab ad-Din (1230–45).<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The inscription recording his name runs almost from one end of the gatehouse to the other; below it, and above the top of the arch, is a small relief of a [[eagle of Saladin|double-headed eagle]].<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}}

The monumental Bey Kapısı, located on the east side of the old city, also still exists, although the actual gate no longer does.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The original gatehouse was built in ancient times, perhaps during the 4th or 6th century.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} It probably had two large U-shaped towers with two or three gates in between them.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} Those two towers still exist today, although they were completely rebuilt over the centuries so that none of the original structures remain.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The south tower kept its shape, but the north tower is now shaped like a polygon with straight sides.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The entire gatehouse was turned into a fortress in the early middle ages.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} This may have happened during the Abbasid rebuilding of the city walls in 812, but in any case it had already happened by the early 11th century when sources refer to two castles in the city.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The fortress consisted of a rectangular enclosure with the two towers on its east side; the north tower was probably rebuilt at this point.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The fortress's entire eastern wall appears to have been moved back by about 12&nbsp;m and the old gates were closed up in the process.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The new gate was built at the northwest corner of the fortress, between it and the main city wall, so that there was a passage between them.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} At some point, this passage was blocked up.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The Armenian prince Toros appears to have begun a rebuilding of the Bey Kapısı fortress, as attested by an Armenian inscription on the south tower, but this project was only finished under the crusaders.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13–4}} Later, during the Ottoman renovations of 1660–61, the fortress was rebuilt again.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} In the mid-1800s, the entire fortress was converted into a private residence, and rebuilding from this period has replaced most of the earlier masonry in many places.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13–4}}

As for the Saray Kapısı, it no longer exists, but it was originally located behind the bridge that takes Atatürk Caddesi over the river on the north side of town.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|14}}

===Balıklıgöl===
{{main|Balıklıgöl}}
[[File:Balikli Göl 03.jpg|thumb|right|Abraham's Pool in Urfa]]
According to legend, Balıklıgöl was formed by the prophet Abraham's confrontation with the tyrant Nimrod, who supposedly ruled over Urfa from the citadel above.<ref name="Unfinished"/>{{rp|138}} When Abraham came of age, he destroyed Nimrod's idols, and in retaliation Nimrod "made a catapult out of the castle's twin pillars" and hurled Abraham into a pit of fire below.<ref name="Unfinished"/>{{rp|138}} When Abraham landed, the flames miraculously turned into water, and the wood used to stoke the fire was turned into carp.<ref name="Unfinished"/>{{rp|138}}

====Halil ür-Rahman Cami====
[[File:Halil Ür-Rahman Camii 9397.jpg|thumb|The Halil ür-Rahman Cami]]
The Halil ür-Rahman Cami, also called simply the Halil Cami, is a mosque and medrese located on the south side of the pool.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18}} Just south of the mosque is a cave which according to legend is where the prophet Abraham was born.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18}} Another tradition says that Abraham intended to sacrifice his son Isaac here, but sacrificed a goat instead; when he did, a spring gushed out, feeding the fish pool.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18}}

The earliest part of the complex is the minaret, which was built in 1211–12 under Ayyubid rule.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18}} There was presumably a mosque with a prayer hall on the site of the present one, which was completely rebuilt in 1819–20 (but probably similar to the original one).<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18–9}} The other major component is a series of medrese "cells", fronted by a portico, which were built in 1808–09 and then renovated in 1871–72.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The original Ayyubid complex may have been built to serve as a medrese, but by Ottoman times it was being used as a [[khanqah|tekke]] with kitchens, reception rooms, and guest rooms, which may have been on the same site as the medrese cells.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The tekke complex was converted into a medrese in the 1800s, possibly as soon as the medrese cells were built.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}}

The mosque itself now serves as an antechamber where prayers can be said before entering the cave through a door on the south side.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The mosque is entered through a domed vestibule on the west side.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The prayer hall is a small squarish room with three aisles; two of them have groin-vaulted ceilings, while the middle one is topped with a dome.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The mihrab is surrounded by an arch with [[squinch]]es that seem to imitate [[Artukid]] style.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}}

The minaret is a square tower that is visually divided into thirds by three molded [[cornice]]s, one of which is at the very top.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The upper level has pairs of [[mullion]]ed windows on all four sides.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The tops of the windows form horseshoe-shaped arches.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}}

The medrese cells, now used as a Qur'an school, are elevated from the surrounding pavement.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} The cells are fronted by a portico with simple rounded arches.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} A [[balustrade]] with zigzag posts runs along the front of the portico.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} At the northwest corner of the pool is a five-sided room that projects out into the water on three sides.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}} A restoration in the late 20th century extended the balustrade onto the top of the five-sided room.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|19}}

====Ayn Zeliha====
The pool of Ayn Zeliha, named after Nimrod's daughter,<ref name="Rough Guide"/> is located south of the main pool.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18}} It is shaded by trees and surrounded by cafés.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|18}}

===Haleplibahçe museum complex===
{{main|Şanlıurfa Museum}}
[[File:Urfa museum Building 5080.jpg|thumb|Exterior of the Şanlıurfa Museum]]
The Haleplibahçe museum complex (Turkish: Haleplibahçe Müze Kompleksi) is located near Balıklıgöl and occupies a 40-hectare area.<ref name="Ertuğrul 2015">{{cite web |last1=Ertuğrul |first1=Erman |title=Urfa'da Haleplibahçe Müze Kompleksi Açıldı |url=https://arkeofili.com/?p=4486 |website=Arkeofili |access-date=30 November 2022 |format=Web |date=2015}}</ref> It consists of two museums: the [[Şanlıurfa Museum]] and the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum.<ref name="Ertuğrul 2015"/> The Şanlıurfa Museum was originally founded in 1965 and moved to its present location in 2015.<ref name="Müze">{{cite web |title=Şanlıurfa Museum |url=https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?sectionId=SUM02&distId=SUM |website=müze.gov.tr |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> With over 34,000 square meters of indoor space, it is the largest museum in Turkey.<ref name="Ertuğrul 2015"/> It has 14 exhibition halls and 33 animation areas<ref name="Müze"/> and houses some 10,000 artefacts from the Paleolithic through Islamic times.<ref name="Ertuğrul 2015"/> This includes finds from Göbekli Tepe, Harran, and the areas now inundated by the Atatürk Dam.<ref name="Müze"/> As for the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum, it was built ''[[in situ]]'' on the top of where the Haleplibahçe mosaics were originally found.<ref name="Müze"/> Among the mosaics on display here is the oldest known mosaic to depict the [[Amazons]].<ref name="Müze"/>

===Kızılkoyun necropolis===
[[File:Şanlıurfa Kızılkoyun (1).jpg|thumb|Part of the Kızılkoyun necropolis]]
Just to the east of the Haleplibahçe museum complex is the Kızıllkoyun necropolis, where at least 75 rock-cut cave tombs were carved into a limestone ridge during the Roman period, in the 3rd and 4th centuries.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Şenol |first1=Halil İbrahim |last2=Memduhoğlu |first2=Abdulkadir |last3=Ulukavak |first3=Mustafa |title=Multi instrumental documentation and 3D modelling of an archaeological site: a case study in Kizilkoyun Necropolis Area |journal=Dicle University Journal of Engineering |date=2020 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=1241–50 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1315627 |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>{{rp|1243–4}} The tombs vary in size and design based on the socioeconomic status of their occupants, ranging from one to three rooms and some having special front entrances.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020"/>{{rp|1244}} Some of the tombs were also decorated with statues and mosaics.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020"/>{{rp|1244}}

In the 1970s, the Kızılkoyun area became occupied by informal [[squatting|squatter]] housing, which was later legitimized through [[construction amnesty]] in the 1980s.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020"/>{{rp|1244}} Nearby sites were designated as protected monuments, but the Kızılkoyun necropolis was not designated as anything until 2008 when it was declared as a second-degree archaeological site.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020"/>{{rp|1245}} In 2012, the necropolis was officially registered as the Yenimahalle Urban Archaeological Site, and 387 houses and workplaces on the premises were demolished.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020"/>{{rp|1245}} A new landscaping project was commenced in 2015.<ref name="Şenol et al 2020"/>{{rp|1245}}

===Grand Mosque===
{{main|Grand Mosque of Urfa}}
The 12th-century Grand Mosque of Urfa is a [[congregational mosque]].

===Kapalı Çarşı===
[[File:Şanlıurfa covered market area 5499.jpg|thumb|Covered marketplace in Urfa]]
The Kapalı Çarşı is a "maze-like" covered bazaar area at the south end of Divan Caddesi,<ref name="Rough Guide"/> not far from Balıklıgöl.<ref name="Fidan 2018">{{cite web |last1=Fidan |first1=Halil |title=Şanlıurfa'da huzurlu alışverişin adresi: Tarihi Kapalı Çarşı |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur-sanat/sanliurfada-huzurlu-alisverisin-adresi-tarihi-kapali-carsi/1252715 |website=[[Anadolu Agency]] |date=2018 |access-date=4 October 2022}}</ref> Its narrow streets are lined with shops and stalls selling a wide variety of goods: herbs and spices, many different types of fabric, "green Diyarbakır tobacco by the kilo", even guns.<ref name="Rough Guide"/> Household appliances are sometimes auctioned off here as well.<ref name="Rough Guide"/> The bazaar is covered are because of the climate: during the summer, the covers allow people to stay cool in the shade, while in winter they offer a bit of warmth.<ref name="Fidan 2018"/>

The Kapalı Çarşı is one of the busiest shopping areas in the city; it serves locals and tourists as well as people coming from the surrounding villages to buy things in the city.<ref name="Fidan 2018"/> It remains popular in spite of the increasing number of shopping malls in the city.<ref name="Fidan 2018"/>

The Kapalı Çarşı is the most traditional marketplace in Urfa.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}} Merchants gather and take part in a traditional prayer for "good and fruitful gain" two days per week when they open their shops as part of a "traders' prayer" that dates back to the culture of the [[Ahis|Ahi guilds]].<ref name="Fidan 2018"/> Traditional artisans make goods for sale here, including shoes, saddles, and metal goods.<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}}<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|25}}

Among the bazaars located within the area: Kazaz (Bedesten), Sipahi Pazarı, Kınacı Pazarı, Bakırcılar Çarşısı (coppersmiths' market), Eskici Pazarı, Kuyumcular Çarşısı (jewellers' market), Kunduracılar Pazarı (shoemakers' market).<ref name="Fidan 2018"/> The coppersmiths' bazaar is located south of the bedesten, along with the Haci Kamil Hanı, while the Sipahi Pazarı and the Hüseyniye bazaar are located further west.<ref name="Rough Guide"/> In the coppersmiths' and tin-beaters' quarter, there is "a vaulted street with shops down either side."<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|25}}

====Gümrük Hanı====
[[File:Şanlıurfa Gümrük Hanı 3970.jpg|thumb|Courtyard of the Gümrük Hanı, or "Customs Inn"]]
The Gümrük Hanı, or "customs caravanserai",<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|24}} is located in the middle of the Kapalı Çarşı.<ref name="Rough Guide">{{cite book |last1=Ayliffe |first1=Rosie |last2=Dubin |first2=Marc |last3=Gawthrop |first3=John |last4=Richardson |first4=Terry |title=The Rough Guide to Turkey |date=2010 |publisher=Rough Guides Limited |isbn=9781848368460 |edition=Digital |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdK9a0NYmLsC&dq=gumruk+hani+sanliurfa&pg=PT2134 |access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref> Variously dated to the late 16th century<ref name="Miller 1995"/>{{rp|620}}<ref name="Rough Guide"/> or the 18th or 19th centuries,<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|24}} it is a two-story building arranged around "a more or less square courtyard".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|24}} The ground floor is occupied by shops opening up onto the courtyard.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|24}} Above the shops on the upper level is a portico with access to rooms now used as private apartments.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|24–5}} The shady courtyard is filled with tables belonging to teahouses and watch repairers.<ref name="Rough Guide"/> Just next door to the Gümrük Hanı is a [[bedestan]].<ref name="Rough Guide"/>

====Bedesten====
[[File:Şanlıurfa bedesten 909.jpg|thumb|Interior of the bedesten]]
One of the most important markets in the Kapalı Çarşı is the [[bedesten]], which is located just south of the Gümrük Hanı.<ref name="Fidan 2018"/> Originally built in 1562, it is mentioned as "bezzazistan" in the waqf of Rızvan Ahmet Paşa in 1740.<ref name="Fidan 2018"/> It was restored in 1998 by the Şanlıurfa Culture, Art, and Research Foundation (ŞURKAV).<ref name="Fidan 2018"/> It has gates to 4 surrounding bazaars.<ref name="Fidan 2018"/>

====Tabakhane Cami====
The Tabakhane Cami, or "dye-house mosque", dates from the 1700s or early 1800s.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|23}} Its minaret, however, may be older – perhaps from the 15th or 16th centuries.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|23}} The mosque's main prayer hall goes east-west, with a groin-vaulted portico on the north side.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|23}} A rectangular courtyard surrounded by a high wall extends to the north.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|23}} The main entrance to the whole complex is at the north end of the courtyard's west side, where there is a high and deep porch covered by a high semi-dome.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|23}} The minaret is located at the east end of the portico; the ''[[Şerefe (minaret)|şerefe]]'' at the top features carved designs interspersed with turquoise tiles.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|23}}

===Kara Meydanı===
The Kara Meydanı is located at the north end of Divan Caddesi; north of here it becomes Sarayönü Caddesi.<ref name="Rough Guide"/> The 19th-century Yusuf Paşa Cami is located here, as is the old Haci Hafiz Efendi house, which is now restored and turned into an art gallery.<ref name="Rough Guide"/>

== Parks ==
The Akabe recreation area (Akabe Mesire alanı), in Batıkent mahalle, covers 100,00 square meters and was implemented by the Metropolitan Municipality under mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgül under the slogan "a greener Şanlıurfa" (''"Daha yeşil bir Şanlıurfa"''); work completed as of December 2022.<ref name="Urfanatik 2022">{{cite web |title=Mesire alanındaki çalışmalarda sona yaklaşıldı! |url=https://www.urfanatik.com/video/13322356/mesire-alanindaki-calismalarda-sona-yaklasildi |website=Urfanatik |date=22 December 2022 |access-date=23 December 2022}}</ref> It has sports fields, playgrounds, walking trails, and an archery range.<ref name="Urfanatik 2022"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mevlid-i Halil Mosque 01.jpg|[[Mevlid-i Halil Mosque]], built next to the site where prophet [[Abraham]] is believed to have been born.
File:Şanlıurfa Müzesi Roma Dönem Salonu.jpg|Interior of the [[Şanlıurfa Museum]]
File:Haleplibahçe_Mozaik_Müzesi_iç.jpg|Interior of the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum
File:Gölbaşı Urfa.jpg|Gölbaşı-Garden
File:Urfa Castle 01.jpg|Ruins of Urfa castle
File:Urfa protestant armenian church.jpg|Urfa Armenian Protestant church
File:Şanlıurfa_25_05_2010_Burg_mit_Ayn_Zeliha_Gölü_und_Park.jpg|Ayn Zeliha
File:Şanlıurfa Castle view of museum park 5253.jpg|The museum complex, viewed from the south: in the foreground is the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum; in the background is the [[Şanlıurfa Museum]].
File:Euphrates_river_-_panoramio.jpg|Euphrates River
File:Göbekli_Tepe_surrounding_area.JPG|Surrounding fields of [[Göbekli Tepe]], the site of the oldest temple in the world.<ref name="The World's First Temple"/>
</gallery>

== Religious significance ==
According to some [[Jewish]] and [[Muslim]] traditions, Urfa is [[Ur Kasdim]], the hometown of [[Abraham]], the grandfather of [[Jacob]]. This identification was disputed by [[Leonard Woolley]], the excavator of the [[Sumer]]ian 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 (Biblical figure)|Job]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

For the [[Armenians]], Urfa has "great symbolic value" since it is believed that the [[Armenian alphabet]] was invented there.<ref name="Creating the Turk's Homeland: Modernization, Nationalism and Geography in Southeast Turkey in the late 19th and 20th Centuries">{{cite book |last=Öktem |first=Kerem |url=http://arsiv.setav.org/ups/dosya/13204.pdf |title=Creating the Turk's Homeland: Modernization, Nationalism and Geography in Southeast Turkey in the late 19th and 20th Centuries |publisher=University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB, UK |year=2003 |location=Harvard |quote=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 |access-date=19 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109123500/http://arsiv.setav.org/ups/dosya/13204.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Politics==
[[File:Şanlıurfa_Belediyesi.._-_panoramio.jpg|right|thumb|Şanlıurfa Municipality Building on the right]]
{{see also|Şanlıurfa (electoral district)}}
Urfa is a stronghold of the governing [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|Justice and Development Party]] and is sometimes called a "vote depot" for the party.<ref name="Aksan 2022">{{cite news |last1=Aksan |first1=Cengiz |title=FAKIBABA, SIFIRI MI TÜKETTİ SIFIRDAN MI BAŞLIYOR? |url=https://www.ajansurfa.com/makale/12420109/cengiz-aksan/fakibaba-sifiri-mi-tuketti-sifirdan-mi-basliyor |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Ajans Urfa |date=22 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="Gerçek Gündem 2022">{{cite news |title=Erdoğan'a 'AKP'nin oy deposu' olan dört ilden kötü haber: Kaleleri birer birer düşüyor! |url=https://www.gercekgundem.com/siyaset/361394/erdogana-akpnin-oy-deposu-olan-dort-ilden-kotu-haber-kaleleri-birer-birer-dusuyor |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Gerçek Gündem |date=22 October 2022}}</ref>

From 2004 to 2014, [[Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba]] served as mayor of Urfa for two terms.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> A popular figure in Urfa politics, Fakıbaba first rose to prominence as Chief Physician at the Şanlıurfa SSK Hospital, a role which he held for 11 years.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> In 2004 he ran as the AKP candidate in the mayoral election and won.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> The AKP did not nominate Fakıbaba as their mayoral candidate in the [[2009 Turkish local elections|2009 local elections]], saying that they had 70% of the vote in Urfa and could win the election if their candidate was a jacket.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> However, Fakıbaba ran as an independent and won reelection to a second term.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> He later joined the [[Felicity Party]] before rejoining the AKP in 2013.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> In 2015, Fakıbaba was elected to the National Assembly as an AKP member, replacing previous Urfa MP [[Faruk Çelik]].<ref name="Aksan 2022"/> He later resigned as MP in 2022.<ref name="Aksan 2022"/>

==Demographics==
===History===
The ethnic and religious demographics of the city have shifted over the centuries and were largely diverse. In ancient times, the region was mixed with [[Greeks]], [[Arabs]], [[Syrians]], and [[Armenians]].<ref name = "Buckingham"/> At the time of the [[First Crusade]], the majority of the population were either Armenian or [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]].

There was an ancient Jewish community in Urfa, with about 1,000 people by the 19th century. Most of them emigrated in 1896, fleeing the [[Hamidian massacres]], and settling mainly in Aleppo, Tiberias and Jerusalem.<ref name=vgm>{{Cite web |title=Kaza of Urfa / ܐܘܪܗܝ – Urhoy / Ուռհա – Urha / Ἔδεσσα – Edessa |url=https://virtual-genocide-memorial.de/region/ort-3/ort-33/mutesarrifat-sancak-of-urfa-%DC%90%DC%98%DC%AA%DC%97%DC%9D-urhoy-%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%BC%D5%B0%D5%A1-urha-%E1%BC%94%CE%B4%CE%B5%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B1-edessa/kaza-of-urfa-%DC%90%DC%98%DC%AA%DC%97%DC%9D-urhoy-%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%BC%D5%B0%D5%A1-urha-%E1%BC%94%CE%B4%CE%B5%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B1-edessa/ |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=Virtual Genocide Memorial |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1910, [[Ely Bannister Soane]] wrote that apart from Turkish [[effendi]]s, Urfa was populated by [[Arabs]], [[Kurds]] and a large number of [[Armenians]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Soane |first=Ely Bannister |title=To Mesopotamia and Kurdistan in Disguise |year=1910 |pages=46–47}}</ref> British forces reported a mixed pre-war population of [[Kurds]], [[Turkish people|Turks]] and 7,500 [[Armenians]].<ref name = "Brit">{{cite book |title=Military Report on Mesopotamia (Iraq) |year=1923 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=62NBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA17 |access-date=28 October 2022}}</ref> The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople reported 25,000 to 30,000 Armenians in Urfa and its environs, on an overall population of 60,000.<ref name=vgm/> According to [[Agha Petros]], there were 7,200 [[Syriac Christianity|Syriacs]] in the city of Urfa, and 8,000 in ten surrounding villages.<ref name=vgm/> [[Joseph Tfinkdji]] reports 200 [[Chaldean Catholics|Chaldeans]].<ref name=vgm/> According to 1918 reports of the Urfa [[mutasarrif]]ate, there were 33,000 [[Turkish people|Turks]], 27,000 [[Kurds]], 12,000 [[Arabs]], 5,500 [[Armenians]], 3,000 [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], and 500 [[Jews]] in the central [[kaza]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aslan |first1=Ahmet |title=URFA'DA ASAYİŞ VE GÜVENLİK (1913–1918) |url=http://nek.istanbul.edu.tr:4444/ekos/TEZ/ET002813.pdf |website=İstanbul Üniversitesi |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref>

The [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]] and [[Sayfo|Assyrian Genocides]], undertaken by Ottoman troops and Ottoman-sponsored militias such as the [[Special Organization (Ottoman Empire)|special organization]],<ref>Bloxham, Donald (2003). "The Armenian Genocide of 1915–1916: Cumulative Radicalization and the Development of a Destruction Policy". Past & Present. 181 (181): 141–191.</ref> led to the slaughter, deportation,<ref name = "Brit"/> and ethnic cleansing of much of the Christian population of Urfa and the surrounding region. Following the establishment of the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]], most of the remaining non-Muslim population left the city due to continued persecution.<ref>Biner, Zerrin Özlem (2019), p371. States of Dispossession: Violence and Precarious Coexistence in Southeast Turkey</ref>

==== Language ====
In the early 19th century, the dominant language of the city was [[Turkish language|Turkish]],<ref>{{cite book |title=London Magazine, Volume 7 |date=1827 |location=London |page=546 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUTaFrXiQiQC&pg=PA546 |access-date=9 September 2022}}</ref> while Armenian, Syriac, Kurdish, Arabic, and Persian were also spoken. Armenians were observed to speak Turkish to strangers, while Assyrians spoke Arabic.<ref name = "Buckingham">{{cite book |title=The Oriental Herald, and Journal of General Literature Vol. XII |date=1827 |location=London |pages=39, 40, 47, 48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oRkYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA39 |access-date=9 September 2022}}</ref>

=== Present-day ===
Today, the city is mainly composed of [[Arabs]] and [[Kurds]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Çınar |title=The Decline of Democracy in Turkey: A Comparative Study of Hegemonic Party Rule |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2019 |isbn=9780367729233 |pages=102}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Muslu |first=Olcay |title=Music, Communities, Sustainability: Developing Policies and Practices |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2022 |editor-last=Schippers |editor-first=Huib |pages=124 |chapter=UNESCO-Based and UNESCO-Free: Governmental and Non-Governmental Efforts for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Turkey |editor-last2=Seeger |editor-first2=Anthony}}</ref> as well as [[Turkish people|Turks]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yavuz |first1=M. Hakan |title=Islamic Political Identity in Turkey |date=28 August 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-534770-8 |page=157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqqxxm47ZVAC&pg=PA157 |access-date=28 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Syrian refugees ====
{{see also|Refugees of the Syrian civil war in Turkey}}
Since the outbreak of the [[Syrian Civil War]], large numbers of refugees from Syria have settled in Urfa because of its closeness to the border and opportunities for employment.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|111–2}} As of 2017, as many as 300,000 Syrians live in Urfa, out of the total population of 750,000 in the province.<ref name="EB 2017">{{cite news |title=Ramadan Sidewalk Merchandise Displays: Job Opportunities for Syrians in Urfa |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2017/06/ramadan-sidewalk-merchandise-displays-job-opportunities-syrians-urfa/?so=related |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=[[Enab Baladi]] |date=21 June 2017}}</ref> As of 2014, about 79% of Syrian refugees in Urfa were Arabic-speakers, while the other 21% were Kurdish-speakers.<ref name="Hayata Destek 2014">{{cite book |title=Situation Report: An Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Şanlıurfa Province |date=2014 |publisher=Hayata Destek |url=https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/39769 |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|7}}

In general, Syrians in Urfa have clustered in areas where home rental prices are lower; typical rents range from 600 to 900 liras (as of 2019).<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|112, 22}} These homes are often small, and often more than one nuclear family shares the same residence, so a 100-140-square-meter may accommodate 6–17 people.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|122}} Syrians with the lowest incomes are most heavily concentrated in run-down neighborhoods with a lot of [[squatting]] that were previously inhabited mostly by poor people who had moved to Urfa from the countryside.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|112}} Often, they are in outlying neighborhoods far from the city center.<ref name="EB Tarahum">{{cite news |title="Tarahum 2" Community Opens its Doors in the Turkish City of Urfa |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2017/11/tarahum-2-community-opens-doors-turkish-city-urfa/?so=related |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=Enab Baladi |date=9 October 2017}}</ref> The largest number of Syrians in Urfa are in the [[Haliliye]] district, where they are especially concentrated in the neighborhoods (''[[mahalle]]''s) of Devteşti, Ahmet Yesevi, Süleymaniye, Bağlarbaşı, Şehitlik, Cengiz Topel, Şair Nabi, Yeşildirek, İpekyolu, Sancaktar, İmam Bakır and Yavuz Selim.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|119}} The second-highest concentration is in [[Eyyübiye]], whose neighborhoods (''mahalle''s) with the highest concentrations of Syrians are Eyyüpnebi, Hayati Harrani, Eyüpkent, Akşemsettin, Yenice, Muradiye, Direkli and Kurtuluş.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|118–9}} In both cases, the Syrians here tend to prefer single-story residences where rents are not too high.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|118–9}} The third urban district of Urfa, [[Karaköprü]], has a much smaller Syrian presence.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|120}} This area has been built up significantly in recent decades, with lots of luxury multi-story residences with high rents preferred by middle- and high-income residents.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|120}} The Syrians who live here mostly had relatively high pre-war incomes.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|120}} They are clustered in Maşuk, Karşıyaka, Akbayır and Şenevler.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|120}} As of 2014, the largest concentrations of Syrians in the city were in the mahalles of Hayati Harrani (165 families), Bağlarbaşı (115), Devteşti (105), Ahmet Yesevi (91), and Eyyüpnebi (90 families).<ref name="Hayata Destek 2014"/>{{rp|10}}

Syrian refugees in Urfa often struggle with financial difficulties and unemployment.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|122}} The language barrier hinders integration into the surrounding community, and many Syrians tend to form their own communities and interact less with Turkish locals.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|122}} Many Syrians in Urfa run their own businesses; workplaces belonging to Syrian refugees are clustered around Şehit Nusret Caddesi and Atatürk Boulevard, Sarayönü and Divanyolu Streets, and Haşimiye Meydan.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|122}} Many Syrians are also self-employed as street vendors, selling food, clothes, toys, and other items.<ref name="EB 2017"/>

Before 2017, relations were relatively friendly between Syrians and Turks, but after 2017 relations began to deteriorate as there was a growing perception among Turks that Syrians were to blame for economic stagnation.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|122}} The rapid increase in Syrian-owned businesses in Urfa, depressed wages for workers, and a perception that Syrians are "cheap labor"  have all contributed to anti-Syrian sentiment among Turks.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|121}} Some Turks also resent the fact that Syrian refugees have free access to healthcare and education.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|112}} In July 2019, local authorities removed all Arabic-language signs on Syrian-owned businesses in Urfa and made Turkish-language signs mandatory.<ref name="Karademir and Doğan 2019"/>{{rp|122}}

== Economy ==
[[File:Şanlıurfa Hotel El-Ruha 9381.jpg|thumb|A hotel in Şanlıurfa. Tourism contributes to the economy of the city.]]
[[File:Şanlıurfa_GAP_Arena.jpg|thumb|[[Şanlıurfa 11 Nisan Stadium|Şanlıurfa GAP Arena]] is the largest stadium]]
As of 2018, the average per capita income in Urfa is $4,400 USD per year.<ref name="Ergu 2018">{{cite news |last1=Ergu |first1=Elif |title=Urfa ayakkabı üssü oluyor |url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/urfa-ayakkabi-ussu-oluyor-40994065 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=[[Hürriyet]] |date=2018}}</ref> As of 2018, unemployment in Urfa is 18%, among young people it is 35%.<ref name="Ergu 2018"/>

Urfa is a center of footwear production in the region,<ref name="Ergu 2018"/> and around 5,000 people are employed in this sector.<ref name="Orange 2021">{{cite book |author1=Orange – MEAL Department |title=Labor Market Assessment and Mapping of Şanliurfa (COVID-19 Integration with Needs) Key Findings Report |date=2021 |url=https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/86671 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|15}} The Istanbul-based shoe retailer [[FLO Mağazacılık|FLO]], owned by the Ziylan Group, opened a shoe factory in Urfa in 2012.<ref name="Ertan 2021">{{cite book |last1=Ertan |first1=Serhat |title=51 Company Book – SHOE AND SHOE SIDE INDUSTRY |date=2021 |publisher=ERP Destekli Bütçe Danışmanlığı A.Ş. |pages=652–3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wB0uEAAAQBAJ&dq=sanliurfa+shoes&pg=PA653 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref> As of 2018, this factory employed 900 people and was the largest footwear factory in the region,<ref name="Ergu 2018"/> producing 1.8 million pairs of shoes per year.<ref name="Türkiye 2016">{{cite news |title=Şanlıurfa FLO'nun üretim üssü olacak |url=https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/ekonomi/emeklilik-yasi-degisti-mi-e-devlet-emeklilik-yasi-sorgulama-islemi-eyt-emeklilik-yas-sarti-kac-930767 |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=[[Türkiye (newspaper)|Türkiye]] |date=23 November 2016}}</ref> FLO was planning to open a second factory, employing 1,500 more people, in the city in early 2019.<ref name="Ergu 2018"/> According to the province governor Abdullah Erin, there were also plans to open some 13 more shoe factories in the Organized Industrial Zone by 2023, employing as many as 20,000 people and producing 30 million pairs of shoes annually.<ref name="Ergu 2018"/>

Urfa is a major producer of [[pistachio]] nuts, with 29.7 million trees in the whole province producing 38,576 tons of pistachios in 2021.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022">{{cite news |last1=Ayaydın |first1=Eşber |title=Gaziantep ve Şanlıurfa arasında ismi paylaşılamayan lezzet: Fıstık |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/yasam/gaziantep-ve-sanliurfa-arasinda-ismi-paylasilamayan-lezzet-fistik/2703938 |access-date=24 December 2022 |work=[[Anadolu Agency]] |date=10 June 2022}}</ref> However, most processing is done in Gaziantep, which is the other main pistachio producer in Turkey.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022"/> Both cities' pistachios have [[geographical indication]]s under different names for different cultivars, with Urfa's officially known as the "Urfa flax village pistachio" (''Urfa keten köyneği fıstığı'').<ref name="Ayaydın 2022"/>

===Handicrafts===
Urfa has a rich tradition of [[handicraft]]s: [[coppersmith]]s, [[furrier]]s, weavers and carpetmakers, [[felt]] makers, [[saddle]] makers, and [[jeweler]]s all form part of this tradition.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Akpınarlı |first1=H. Feriha |last2=Uluişik |first2=Yaprak Pelin |title=Yerel Kalkınmada Halk Kültürü Projelerinin Önemi "Şanlıurfa Örneği" |journal=Uluslararası Kazan Halk Kültürü Sempozyumu |date=2021 |volume=4 |pages=365–72 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353841085 |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>{{rp|369}} Historically, the various trades had their own bazaars where artisans sold their wares.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|369}} In the 21st century, however, these handicrafts have been on the decline, and new generations are generally not learning them.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}}

Copper-smithing is relatively prosperous among Urfa's handicrafts, although demand has fallen in favor of more contemporary décor.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} Many coppersmiths have left the profession altogether, and those who remain often face declining incomes.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} Jewelry making also remains a thriving business; its continued importance is partly because of traditional wedding customs that are still practiced.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} The making of prayer beads (''[[tespih]]'') also continues in Urfa, with craftsmen working particularly around the Gümrük Han and the shopping areas around Balıklıgöl.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} Woodcarvers, although few in number, are still in demand for restoration of old buildings.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} A few furriers and saddle makers also continue to ply their trades in the city.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}}

Artisanal [[tanning (leather)|leather tanning]], on the other hand, is no longer practiced in Urfa, and new apprentices are not taught.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}} Professionals now send the hides to industrial-scale leather factories instead.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}} Commercial production of handmade [[embroidery]] has also ceased in Urfa, although many women continue the craft for [[dowry]] purposes.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|369}}

=== Limestone quarrying ===
[[File:Urfa Göbeklitepe Building E sept 2019 5284.jpg|thumb|Limestone bedrock at [[Göbekli Tepe]], an example of Urfa limestone]]
There is an abundance of [[limestone]] in the Urfa area, and it has been quarried extensively since ancient times for use as a building material.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Öztürk Tel |first1=Hülya |last2=Sarıışık |first2=Gencay |title=Research on some effective properties in nomination of Urfa Limestone to the "Global Heritage Stone Resource" designation |journal=Arabian Journal of Geosciences |date=2020 |volume=13 |issue=18 |page=958 |doi=10.1007/s12517-020-05948-w |bibcode=2020ArJG...13..958T |s2cid=221674298 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344372760 |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref>{{rp|1–3, 5–7}} This limestone, known as [[Urfa limestone]], was mostly deposited in [[Eocene]] through [[Miocene]] times (about 56-5 million years ago).<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|8}}
It has a light, whitish-yellow [[ochre]] color.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|3, 10}} When freshly extracted from the quarry and still rather moist, Urfa limestone is relatively soft and can easily be cut with a handheld saw.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|489–90}} Once exposed to the atmosphere, though, its surface gradually hardens so that it makes a suitably strong building material.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Turgut |first1=Paki |last2=Yesilnacar |first2=Mehmet Irfan |last3=Bulut |first3=Husamettin |title=Physico-thermal and mechanical properties of Sanliurfa limestone, Turkey |journal=Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment |date=2008 |volume=67 |issue=4 |pages=485–90 |doi=10.1007/s10064-008-0145-2 |bibcode=2008BuEGE..67..485T |s2cid=1715021 |url=http://eng.harran.edu.tr/~hbulut/SanliurfaLimestone.pdf |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref>{{rp|490}}

Urfa limestone has been quarried for human use since at least the Neolithic period: it was the main building material used at [[Göbekli Tepe]], 12,000 years ago, and the prehistoric quarries and workshops at Göbekli Tepe are among the oldest in the world.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|2–3, 8}} On the southern edge of the rocky plateau, there are also traces of quarries dating back to ancient Roman times.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/> {{rp|8–9}} Many old quarries in the area were also dug underground, forming artificial caves.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|5}} The oldest of this type is the massive 4-story Basda quarry, although its precise age is unknown.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|9}}

A number of active limestone quarries exist today in the Urfa area.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|7–8}} Much of the quarrying is done just west of the city, around the Evren Industrial Estate.
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<ref name="Gürpinar et al 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Gürpinar |first1=Okay |last2=Yalçin |first2=M. Namık |last3=Gözübol |first3=Ali Malik |last4=Tuğrul |first4=Atiye |last5=Dalgiç |first5=Süleyman |last6=Kürkanç |first6=Mustafa |last7=Hoşgömerz |first7=Hakan |last8=Altinok |first8=Yıldız |last9=Özer |first9=Naşide |last10=Özler |first10=Murat |last11=Bulkan-Veşıladali |first11=Özlem |last12=Ündül |first12=Ömer |last13=Zarıf |first13=İ. Halil |last14=Şenyuva |first14=Tahsin |title=Birecik (Şanlıurfa) Yöresinin Temel Jeolojik Özellikleri ve Jeolojik Miras Envanteri |journal=TUBA Kültür Envanteri Dergisi |date=2004 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=157–68 |doi=10.22520/tubaked.2004-2.0007 |doi-broken-date=12 July 2025 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/tubaked/issue/57282/810186 |access-date=18 February 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|163}}
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Şanlıurfa province's total limestone reserves amount to 62.2 million tons, and its industry has an annual processing capacity of 31,680 tons.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|8}} Many of the stone blocks quarried from the Urfa area are sent to [[Mardin]] and [[Midyat]] for processing.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|5}}

Before the introduction of [[reinforced concrete]] structures, Urfa limestone was the main building material used for "major" construction projects in the area.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}} Many historical structures in the city were built with this limestone: the castle and city walls, the Ulu Cami, the Halil ür-Rahman and Rızvaniye mosques, and the Gümrük Hanı, as well as many of the old 18th- and 19th-century houses in the old town.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|1–2, 5}} It is also used in many contemporary buildings, such as the Mevlana mosque complex.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|7}} Especially since the start of the GAP in the 1980s, regional demand for Urfa limestone as a construction material has been increasing, particularly since it is cheaper than reinforced concrete.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}} It is also commonly used in combination with other building materials, such as [[aerated concrete]] and [[pumice]] blocks.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|13}} In addition to being used as a building block, Urfa limestone is also used for cladding on the outside of walls, as well as decorative finishing on indoor walls.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}} Its use is mostly regional; it is not used much outside the area.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}}

===Industrial zones===
====Organized Industrial Zone====
The Organized Industrial Zone (Turkish: Organize Sanayi Bölgesi) is located 17&nbsp;km west of central Urfa on the highway to Gaziantep.<ref name="OSB 1">{{cite web |title=Organize Sanayi Bölgesi I. Kısım |url=https://www-investsanliurfa-com.translate.goog/sanliurfa/organize-sanayi-bolgesi-i-kisim--42?_x_tr_sl=tr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |website=investsanliurfa.com |publisher=Yatirim Destek Ofısı Şanlıurfa |date=2018 |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref> Construction started in 1991.<ref name="OSB 1"/> The site consists of three areas covering over 1,700 [[hectare]]s as of 2018.<ref name="OSB 1"/> It is home to about 250 companies and employs about 13,000 people.<ref name="OSB 1"/>

====Evren Industrial Estate====
The Evren Industrial Estate (Turkish: Evren Sanayi Sitesi) is a Small Industrial Site located about 7&nbsp;km west of central Urfa on the highway to Gaziantep.<ref name="KSS'ler">{{cite web |title=KSS'ler |url=https://www-investsanliurfa-com.translate.goog/sanliurfa/kssler--46?_x_tr_sl=tr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |website=investsanliurfa.com |publisher=Yatirim Destek Ofısı Şanlıurfa |date=2018 |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref> It covers about 140 hectares and is home to about 1500 businesses.<ref name="KSS'ler"/> It became operational in 1994.<ref name="KSS'ler"/> Urfa's limestone quarries are also clustered around here.<ref name="Gürpinar et al 2004"/>{{rp|163}}

== Culture ==
{{main|Culture in Urfa}}

=== Cuisine ===
[[File:Patlıcan kebap at an Urfa restaurant.jpg|thumb|Patlıcan kebap, served at an Urfa-style restaurant in Ankara]]
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 . It is widely believed that Urfa is the birthplace of many dishes, including [[Çiğ köfte]], that according to the legend, was crafted by the Prophet Abraham from ingredients he had at hand.<ref>From Kâtib el Bağdadî in p.196''Urfa'da Pişer Bize de Düşer'', Halil & Munise Yetkin Soran, Alfa Yayın, 2009, Istanbul {{ISBN|978-605-106-065-1}}</ref>

Meat-based dishes are a staple of everyday meals in Urfa.<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Aksoy |first1=Mustafa |last2=Sezgi |first2=Gülistan |title=Gastronomi turizmi ve Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi gastronomik unsurları |journal=Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies |date=2015 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=79–89 |url=https://www.jotags.org/Articles/2015_vol3_issue3/2015_vol3_issue3_article8.pdf |access-date=26 December 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112195220/https://jotags.org/Articles/2015_vol3_issue3/2015_vol3_issue3_article8.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|85}} There is a local saying, "There is no trouble where meat comes in" (Turkish: ''et giren yere dert girmez'').<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015"/>{{rp|85}} Foods like [[lahmacun]] and [[kebab]] are consumed daily by many people.<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015"/>{{rp|85}} ''[[Ciğer kebabı]]'', or liver kebab, is especially popular among poorer Urfalis, since liver is usually a relatively cheap meat.<ref name="Ajans Urfa 2022 liver">{{cite news |title=Yoksul yemeği lüks tüketim oldu |url=https://www.ajansurfa.com/haber/13050875/yoksul-yemegi-luks-tuketim-oldu |access-date=27 December 2022 |work=Ajans Urfa |date=15 December 2022}}</ref> Liver kebab is popularly eaten for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.<ref name="Ajans Urfa 2022 liver"/>

The [[walnut]]-stuffed Turkish dessert crepe (called ''[[şıllık]]'') is a regional specialty.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Şanlıurfa'nın 'şıllık' tatlısı tescillendi| work = Sabah| access-date = 2018-11-08| url = https://www.sabah.com.tr/yasam/2017/11/17/sanliurfanin-sillik-tatlisi-tescillendi}}</ref> According to legend, its sweet syrup was first made using molasses from the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]].<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015"/>{{rp|86}}

=== Hospitality ===
Urfali society traditionally places a great value on [[hospitality]], and inviting guests over and sharing food with them has a special importance.<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015"/>{{rp|86}} Locals attribute this to the prophet Abraham, who according to legend never dined alone — he always had guests over to share his meals with.<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015"/>{{rp|86}} The locally common epithet "''Halil İbrahim Sofrası''" ("the tablecloth-like") depicts this characterization.<ref name="Aksoy and Sezgi 2015"/>{{rp|86}}

=== Literature ===
Urfa has a long history of literature, going back to early Christian writers such as [[Bardaisan]] and [[Ibas of Edessa]].<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|106}} A prominent medieval writer from Urfa was the 9th century Arabic author [[al-Ruhawi]], whose ''[[Adab al-Tabib]]'' covered the topic of [[medical ethics]].<ref name="Levey 1967">{{cite journal |last1=Levey |first1=Martin |title=Medical Ethics of Medieval Islam with Special Reference to Al-Ruhāwī's "Practical Ethics of the Physician" |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |date=1967 |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=1–100 |doi=10.2307/1006137 |jstor=1006137 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1006137 |access-date=28 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|8}} Later, from the 1600s to the 20th century, ''[[divan (poetry)|divan]]'' poetry became popular in Urfa.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|107}} The popularity of divan poetry in Urfa is unusual because, by the 1600s, Urfa was not a major center of learning that would typically be expected to produce a lot of poetry.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|107}} In all, 130 different Urfali poets are known from this period.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|107}} A few of them are [[Yusuf Nabi|Nâbî]], Ömer Nüzhet, Admî, Fehim, Hikmet, Şevket, Sakıb, and Emin.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|108}} Many of them were Sufis, affiliated with orders like the [[Bektashi]]s, [[Mevlevi Order|Mevlevi]]s, [[Naqshbandi]]s, [[Qadiriyya|Qadiri]]s, and [[Rifa'i]]s; they gathered in places like the Hasanpaşa Medrese, the İhlasiye Medrese, the Hasan Paşa Medrese, the Sakıbiye Tekke, the Halil’ür Rahman Medrese, the Rızvaniye Medrese, the Dabbakhane Medrese, and the Eyyübî Medrese.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|108}} Urfali divan poets almost exclusively used the [[ghazala]] form, with almost no known examples of the [[qasida]].<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|108}}

=== Traditional house architecture ===
[[File:Şanlıurfa Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism building 9128.jpg|thumb|Şanlıurfa Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism Building]]

Urfa's old town has many old courtyard houses; many were built during a construction boom in the 19th century.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}} A typical Urfa courtyard house is centered around a high-walled courtyard that is closed to the street.<ref name="Erdogan 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Erdogan |first1=Nevnihal |title=Investigating the Relationship Between Culture and Traditional Housing Architecture in Urfa, Turkey |journal=Journal of Architectural and Planning Research |date=2016 |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=309–25 |jstor=44987208 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44987208 |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|311, 6}} Facing the courtyard is a [[portico]]ed antechamber covered by a roof and partially surrounded by three walls.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|317}} In Urfa, the name for this space is ''mastaba''; elsewhere, the more general term is ''[[iwan]]''.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|317}} Other typical rooms include bedrooms, a kitchen (''tandir''), a [[sitting room]], or a [[water closet]].<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|316–7}} There is also a semi-basement called the ''zerzembe'', which is used for winter food storage and is practically omnipresent in traditional Turkish homes in regions with hot climates.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|316–7}} The house as a whole, with its courtyard, mastaba, and other rooms, forms one integrated living space rather than each room being its own "isolated, independent" space.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|318}}

[[File:Hacı Hafız Ahmet Balak Efendi Evi 3101.jpg|thumb|The Hacı Hafız house, now used as an art gallery, is a good example of traditional Urfa house architecture from the 1800s. The grand ''mastaba'' is in the middle. Below it is the entrance to the ''zerzembe''.]]
An important consideration in domestic architecture is ''mahremiyat'', which could roughly be translated into English as "privacy" or "intimacy" but which carries stronger implications.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|313}} This concept is especially important when it comes to relations between men and women – outside the extended family, interaction between men and women is restricted.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|313}} As a result, traditional Urfa houses are constructed in ways to prevent men outside from viewing the women of the household.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|319–20}} For example, doors facing each other, windows facing the street, and significant differences in roof elevation are all avoided.<ref name="Erdogan 2016"/>{{rp|313}}

=== Local Turkish dialect ===
The Turkish spoken in Urfa has some features in common with the variety of [[Iraqi Turkmen#Language|Iraqi Turkmen]] spoken in Kirkuk, as well as some features owed to Arabic influence.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|19}} For example, the Arabic sounds ''[[Ayin#Arabic ʿayn|'ayn]]'', ''[[ghayn]]'', and ''[[qoph#Arabic qāf|qāf]]'' are pronounced the same in Urfa as they are in Arabic, which is not done in standard Turkish.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|19}}

== Education ==
{{main|Education in Urfa}}

=== Harran University ===
[[Harran University]] was established in Urfa in 1992 as an amalgamation of several different [[faculty (division)|faculties]] that had previously been attached to two different universities.<ref name="Harran University">{{cite web |title=Tarihçemiz |url=http://www.harran.edu.tr/sayfa.aspx?st=icerik&sid=12 |website=Harran Üniversitesi |access-date=1 December 2022}}</ref>

=== Former vocational schools ===
==== Mekteb-i Sanayi ====
By 1906, the presence of a vocational school in Urfa called the Mekteb-i Sanayi is attested.<ref name="Eser and Orak 2016"/>{{rp|189}} It was used as a hospital for wounded fighters during the [[Turkish War of Independence]].<ref name="Eser and Orak 2016"/>{{rp|189}} This school stayed open after the war and is attested again in 1927, by then under the name of Urfa Male Industry School (Urfa Erkek Sanayi Mektebi).<ref name="Eser and Orak 2016"/>{{rp|190}} This school's building was demolished in the late 1930s and the [[Halkevi]] building was built on its site.<ref name="Eser and Orak 2016"/>{{rp|190}}

==== Urfa Girls' Institute ====
The Urfa Girls' Institute (Turkish: ''Urfa Kız Enstıtüsü''), which opened in 1942, was an early vocational school teaching practical trades and general subjects to girls and young women.<ref name="Eser and Osak 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Eser |first1=Gülşah |last2=Osak |first2=Abdullah |title=Cumhuriyet Dönemi Kadın Eğitiminde Bir Atılım Urfa Kız Enstitüsü (''A Breakthrough in Women's Education During Republican Period: Urfa Girls' Institute'') |journal=Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi |date=2015 |volume=8 |issue=41 |pages=421–40 |doi=10.17719/jisr.20154115030 |url=https://www.academia.edu/37040380 |access-date=3 December 2022 |issn=1307-9581|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|421}}

==== Urfa Institute of Art for Boys ====
The boys' equivalent to the Girls' Institute was Urfa Institute of Art for Boys (Turkish: ''Urfa Erkek Sanat Enstıtüsü''), which provided vocational education to boys aged 12 to 17.<ref name="Eser and Orak 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Eser |first1=Gülşah |last2=Orak |first2=Abdullah |title=Türkıye'de Meslekı ve Teknık Eğıtımın Gelıştırılmesınde Öncü Bır Kurum: Urfa Erkek Sanat Enstıtüsü (''An Institution Pioneering in Improving Vocational and Technical Education in Turkey: Urfa Institute of Arts for Boys'') |journal=Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi |date=2016 |volume=9 |issue=46 |pages=185–99 |doi=10.17719/jisr.20164622589 |url=https://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/abstract/an-institution-pioneering-in-improving-vocational-and-technical-education-inrnturkey-urfa-institute-of-arts-for-boys-73645.html |access-date=3 December 2022 |issn=1307-9581|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|187}}

== Health ==
=== Old state hospital ===
The old state hospital in Urfa was established by Ethem Bey in 1903 and became a public hospital in 1943.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/> This hospital eventually came to comprise four different buildings, serving as the A, B, C, and D blocks.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/> The A-block building, which was three stories tall, opened in 1962 and was originally dedicated to treatment of [[tuberculosis]].<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/> The B-block building opened in 1972 and had 200 beds.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/> The D block was for emergency care.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/> Demolition of the old state hospital, which was located in Atatürk ''mahalle'' of Haliliye district, was completed in 2022.<ref name="Ajans Urfa 2022">{{cite news |title=Urfa'da tamamen yıkılan eski devlet hastanesi yerine ne yapılacak? |url=https://www.ajansurfa.com/haber/11293567/urfada-tamamen-yikilan-eski-devlet-hastanesi-yerine-ne-yapilacak |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Ajans Urfa |date=29 June 2022}}</ref> At the time of the demolition, the provincial health directorate was planning to build a new 150-bed children's hospital on the site.<ref name="Ajans Urfa 2022"/>

=== Şanlıurfa Balıklıgöl State Hospital ===
The Şanlıurfa Balıklıgöl State Hospital (Şanlıurfa Balıklıgöl Devlet Hastanesi) was established in 1963 as a "Health Station" (Sağlık İstasyonu), and then became a [[dispensary]] in 1975.<ref name="Devlet Hastanesi">{{cite web |title=Tarihçemiz |url=https://balikligoldh.saglik.gov.tr/ |website=Şanlıurfa Balıklıgöl Devlet Hastanesi |publisher=Şanlıurfa İl Sağlik Müdürlüğü |access-date=23 December 2022}}</ref> In July 1983, it became the Şanlıurfa [[:tr:Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu|SSK]] Hastanesi and was operating as an inpatient facility with 150 beds.<ref name="Devlet Hastanesi"/> In addition, a 5-story [[outpatient department]] building began construction in 1991 and then became operational in 1994.<ref name="Devlet Hastanesi"/> It was renamed in 2005 to its current name.<ref name="Devlet Hastanesi"/>

=== Şanlıurfa Training and Research Hospital ===
The Training and Research Hospital (Şanlıurfa Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi) was established in 1973 with 125 beds.<ref name="Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi">{{cite web |title=Tarihçe |url=https://sanliurfaeah.saglik.gov.tr/TR-140971/tarihce.html |website=Şanlıurfa Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi |publisher=Şanlıurfa İl Sağlık Müdürlüğü |access-date=23 December 2022}}</ref> Originally, it was a branch hospital under the State Hospital, until 1984.<ref name="Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi"/> From 1984 until 2004, it was a gynecology and pediatric hospital, and in 2004 it was split in two: the gynecology and obstetric hospital, which remained in the same building, and the pediatric hospital, which moved into the old State Hospital building.<ref name="Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi"/> In 2016, the two branch hospitals were combined together into the Training and Research Hospital in the current building due to a shortage of beds.<ref name="Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi"/> The current building, as of 2019, covers over 100,000 square meters and has 400 patient rooms (with separate beds and restrooms), 18 operating rooms (2 of which are set aside for "maternity emergencies"), a 180-person conference hall, and an 80-person training hall, as well as a helipad and a parking lot with 1,200 spaces.<ref name="Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi"/> The hospital covers gynecology, pediatric, and adult healthcare.<ref name="Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi"/>

=== Mehmet Akif İnan Training and Research Hospital ===
The Mehmet Akif İnan Training and Research Hospital (Mehmet Akif İnan Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi) opened in 2004 and handles as many as 3,500 to 6,000 patient applicants per day.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi">{{cite web |title=Tarihçemiz |url=https://mehmetakifinaneah.saglik.gov.tr/TR-145904/tarihcemiz.html |website=Şanlıurfa Mehmet Akif İnan Eğitim Ve Araştırma Hastanesi |publisher=Şanlıurfa İl Sağlık Müdürlüğü |access-date=23 December 2022}}</ref> It has 500 beds (rooms have 1, 2, or 3 beds, as well as their own restrooms) and a conference hall that can seat 156 people.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/> There is a blood center, a dialysis unit, and an intensive care unit, as well as a physical therapy unit for outpatients.<ref name="Mehmet Akif İnan Hastanesi"/>

==Transport==
[[File:Şanlıurfa_GAP_Airport.jpg|right|thumb|[[Şanlıurfa GAP Airport]] ]]

[[Şanlıurfa GAP Airport]] is located about 34&nbsp;km (21&nbsp;mi) northeast of the city and has direct flights to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The main highway from Gaziantep to Diyarbakır now bypasses Urfa on the northwest.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|8}}

Construction of the first phase of a planned four-route, 78&nbsp;km network of [[trolleybus]] lines began in late 2017,<ref name="TM340">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews [regular news section] |date=July–August 2018 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine|volume=54 |issue=340 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=155 |issn=0266-7452 |oclc=62554332}}</ref> and the first of 10 [[bi-articulated bus|bi-articulated]] trolleybuses built by manufacturer [[Bozankaya]] was received in September 2018.<ref name="TM343">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=January–February 2019 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=55 |issue=343 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=38 |issn=0266-7452}}</ref> However, work on additional vehicles was suspended because of various problems,<ref name="TM344">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=March–April 2019 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=55 |issue=344 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=75 |issn=0266-7452}}</ref> and in 2020 the single vehicle delivered in 2018 remained the only trolleybus completed.<ref name="TM349">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=January–February 2020 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=56 |issue=349 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=35 |issn=0266-7452}}</ref> In late 2020, the original order for 10 bi-articulated vehicles was replaced by one for 12 standard-articulated vehicles, and the first of these was delivered in April 2022.<ref name="TM364">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=July–August 2022 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=58 |issue=364 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=173 |issn=0266-7452 |oclc=62554332}}</ref>  The trolleybus line opened for service on 28&nbsp;April 2023, by which time six of the 12 vehicles had been received.<ref name="TM370">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=July–August 2023 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=59 |issue=370 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=173 |issn=0266-7452 |oclc=62554332}}</ref> However, because of earthquake damage to certain streets in February 2023, among other factors, several temporary changes were made to the planned route after completion of the [[overhead wires|overhead wiring]] and other infrastructure such that, after the line's opening, the vehicles initially operated as trolleybuses on only about 600 metres of the now-7.1-km route.<ref name="TM373">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=January–February 2024 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=60 |issue=373 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=39 |issn=0266-7452 |oclc=62554332}}</ref> The trolleybuses are able to operate on [[Electric vehicle battery|battery]] power on sections of the route that are not equipped with overhead wires and recharge their batteries during an extended [[layover]] at the terminus.<ref name="TM370"/><ref name="TM373"/>  By July 2024, following repairs to the earthquake-damaged streets, the trolleybus service finally began following the originally planned route, which is equipped with overhead wires over most sections.  Numbered 63, the route begins at Emirgan Aktarma Merkezi.<ref name="TM378">{{cite magazine |title=Trolleynews |date=November–December 2024 |magazine=Trolleybus Magazine |volume=60 |issue=378 |publisher=National Trolleybus Association |location=UK |page=255 |issn=0266-7452 |oclc=62554332}}</ref>

== Twin towns and sister cities ==
*
* {{flagicon|Iran}} [[Urmia]], Iran (since 2025)

==See also==
{{Portal|Turkey}}
* [[Cilicia War]]
* [[Urfa Resistance]]
* [[Chronology of the Turkish War of Independence]]
* [[Cities of the ancient Near East]]
* [[Haliliye]]
* [[Karaköprü]]
* [[Göbekli Tepe]]
* [[Ur of the Chaldees]] in southern Iraq, also claimed as the birthplace of Abraham

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Şanlıurfa}}
{{Wikivoyage|Urfa}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20201002221120/http://www.sanliurfa.gov.tr/index.php?go=4,2,63 Şanlıurfa Governor's Office (English)]
* [http://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr Sanliurfa Mayor's Office]

{{Districts of Turkey
|provname=Şanlıurfa}}
{{Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey}}
{{Largest cities in Turkey}}
{{Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urfa}}
[[Category:Populated places established in the 9th millennium BC]]
[[Category:Populated places in Şanlıurfa Province]]
[[Category:Şanlıurfa]]
[[Category:Southeastern Anatolia region]]
[[Category:World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey]]
[[Category:Kurdish settlements in Turkey]]
[[Category:Arab communities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]]
[[Category:City-states]]
[[Category:Former kingdoms]]
[[Category:Former Armenian communities in Şanlıurfa Province]]
[[Category:Former Jewish communities in Turkey]]