EDES'SA (modern name, Urfah, or Orfa), a very ancient city, on the river Daisan, in the n. of Mesopotamia, 78 m. s.w. of Diarbekir, although the Christian or INIoliam medau legend, ascribing its foundation to Nimrod, or Kliabiba, a female contemporary of Abraham, is uriworthy of any credence: With the conquest 'of Persia by the Greeks, the history of E. first becomes clearer. Seleucus, in particular, is said to have done much for the aggrandizement of the city. Christianity was introduced into E. at an early period. In the reign of Trajan, the place was made tributary to Rome, and in 216 A.D., became a Roman military colony, under the name of CoIonia Marcia Edessenorum, During this period its importance in the history of the Christian church continued to increase. More than 300 monasteries are said to have been included within its walls; it was the seat of Ephraim Syrus and his school, and played an important part in the Arian and other controversies. With the extension of the religion of Islam, E. fell into the hands of the Arabian caliphs. Christianity declined, and wars at home and abroad during the caliphate, destroyed likewise its temporal splendor and prosperity, till, in 1040, it fell into the possession of the Seljuk Turks. The Byzantine emperors succeeded in recovering E., but the viceroy contrived to make himself independent. He was, how ever, hard pressed by the Turks, and this rendered it easy for the crusader Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, to gain possession of the city (1097 A.D.), and make it
the capital of a Latin principality, and the bulwark of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Under the Frankish princes, E. held out valiantly against the Mussulmans, till at length Zengi, ruler of Mosul, succeeded in taking the town and citadel in the year 1144, when all the Christian churches were converted into mosques. An attempt made by the inhab itants to throw off the Turkish yoke, completed the ruin of E.; the Edessenes were defeated by Nur-ed-din; and all who were not massacred, were sold as slaves. After many vicissitudes, in the course of which E. fell successively into the hands of the sul tans of Egypt, the Byzantines, the Mongols, Turkomans, and Persians, the city was finally conquered by the Turks, and has ever since formed a portion of the Turkish dominions. It now contains 40,000 inhabitants, of whom 2,000 are Armenian Chris tians; the rest are Turks, Arabians, Kurds, and Jews. At present, E. has numerous mosques and bazaars; manufactures of cotton goods, goldsmiths' wares, and morocco leather, commerce in British manufactures obtained by way of Aleppo, and a large trade in corn, etc., with Syria. E. is regarded by the easterns as a sacred city, because they believe it to have been the residence of Abraham.