Page 12 - Edessa, 'The Blessed City'-01, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1970). Chapters 1-3

INTRODUCTION

^ * ^HE TRAVELLER APPROACHING URFA FROM THE WEST—along
T the route taken silk of India and quest of the the cohorts gems, and
by
the
spices,
caravans in
China,
the
of Roman
by
and
muslin
of
inkling
students—has
by
Byzantium,
he
is
until
the
the
a
prospect that awaits him pilgrims and few miles from little city. Then the
winding road falls sharply; the barren brown hills give way to trees and
orchards, and beyond to the south, as far as the eye can see, stretch the corn-
fields of the plain of Harran. Suddenly the white cubes of the new housing
estates of Urfa come into sight. A later turn of the road reveals the domes and
minarets of the mosques. And finally, far away, two slender columns crowned
by Corinthian capitals appear on the crest of the Citadel mount, towering
over the countryside, a lonely relic of the Roman period.
The order in which the landmarks of Urfa emerge is strangely significant.
They represent three successive stages in the history of the city. Today Urfa
is a thriving city of some eighty thousand inhabitants, the seat of a Vali and
the chief town of an extensive province. Modern suburbs have sprung up to
the east and north-east of the city—evidence of the vitality of the new Turkey.
But in medieval times, too, Islam left its mark upon the habits and appearance
of the city; those who frequented its mosques won a considerable reputation
for piety. The historian may, however, be pardoned for looking back yet
further to a more distant age when this city, under the name of Edessa, had
more than local fame. For over a millennium it held a unique position in
Christendom, whether its rulers were Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Turkish,
Armenian, or Latin. Tradition associated it with Jesus himself and the early
missionary activities of Christianity. To it came pilgrims from Mesopotamia
and Persia and even from the Far East; its legends were known and venerated
in western Europe centuries before the Norman conquest. Its monasteries
and caves were the dwelling place of saints, scholars, and poets. It was
celebrated in the civilized world as the birthplace of Syriac literature and
philosophy.
It is of this early stage in its history that the present work will seek to
treat, citing wherever possible the words of contemporary writers. Thereafter
—with the cruel disaster of 1146—its Christian community dwindled. The
city, now under the name of Urfa, declined in the course of time into relative
obscurity, as the chief town of a remote province of Turkey. Edessa had
disappeared from the pages of history. A few of its ancient monuments have
emerged in recent years (though much has fallen victim to the encroachments

www.knanayology.org