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Edessa

Ancient city in upper Mesopotamia, modern day Urfa, Southeast Turkey

Cityancient city archaeological site polisQ1190403

Also known as Antiochia on the Callirhoe · Callirrhoe · Justinopolis · Mint of Edessa

Country: Turkey(since 1923)
, Osroene(0137–0216)
, Roman Empire(until 0395)
+16 more
Located in: Şanlıurfa(since 2000)
, Osroene(0244–0637)
Population: 55,000(1890)
Founded: 302 BCE

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Edessa was an ancient city (polis) in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire. He named it after an ancient Macedonian capital. The Greek name Ἔδεσσα (Édessa) means "tower in the water". It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene, and continued as capital of the Roman province of Osroene. In Late Antiquity, it became a prominent center of Christian learning and seat of the Catechetical School of Edessa. During the Crusades, it was the capital of the County of Edessa.

Overview

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66 statements · 8% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

37.1500, 38.7825OpenStreetMap ↗

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Source last edited September 14, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Edessa (Q1190403). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/edessa-Q1190403