EDESSA., or CALL11212Ila (modern name Cr fah, or Orfa). A very ancient city on the river Daisan. in the north of Mesopotamia (in the modern Vilayet of Aleppo), 7S miles southwest of Diarbekir. Though the town is of very early origin, it is with the conquest of Persia by the Greeks that the history of Edessa first becomes clearer. Seleuens, in particular, is said to have done much for the aggrandizement of the city. and its prosperity increased under an indepen dent line of kings reigning just before and after the Christian Era. Christianity was introduced into Edessa at an early period, and the supposed relations of King Abgarus and Christ are em bodied in the famous letter found in Ede-sa by Eusebius at the beginning of the fourth cen tury. In the reign of Trajan the place was made tributary to Rome. and in A.D. 216 became a Roman military colony under the name of Column Marcia Edesseno•um. it was. with Nisibis, Damascus, and Antioch, one of the four greatest cities of Syria. During this period its importance ill the history of the Christian Church continued to increase. More than three hundred monasteries are said to have been in cluded within its walls: it was the birthplace of Saint Ephraim Syrtis, the principal centre of Syrian learning and literature during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries. and played an important part in the Arian and other contro versies. Its famous university or school of the Persians was closed on account of heretical ten dencies by the Emperor Zeno toward the (bud of the fifth century. With the extension of the religion of Islam Edessa 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 posses
sion of the Seljuk Turks. The Byzantine em perors succeeded in recovering Edessa. but the viceroy contrived to make himself independent. Ile was, however, 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 bul wark of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Under the Frankish prinees, Edessa held out valiantly against the Mussifimans, till at length Zengi, of Mosul, succeeded in taking the town and citadel in the year 1114, when all the Christian churches ere converted into mosques. An at tempt made by the inhabitants to throw off the Mohammedan yoke eompleied the ruin of Edessa. Its inhabitants were defeated by Nor-ed-Din, and all who were not massacred were sold as slaves. After many vicissitmles, in the course of which Edessa fell successively into the hands of the sultans of Egypt, the Byzantines, the Almmngois., Turkomans. and Persians, the city was finally conquered by the Turks. and has since formed a portion of the Turkish dominions. On its site stands the modern city of ()Ha or Urfah, with a population estimated at from 20,000 to 55,000, mostly Mohammedans. The modern city has numerous mosques and bazaars: manufactures of cotton goods, goldsmiths' wares, and morocco leather. commerce in manufactures ob tained by way of Aleppo, and a largo trade in corn. etc., with Syria. it is regarded by the Orientals as a sacred city, because they believe it to have been the residence of Abraham.