URFA

The city dates back to the 16th century BC. According to local tradition allegedly based on the quran it is the birthplace of Abraham, and he lived here before his migration to Canaan, now Palestine. Local Moslem legend differs from that of the other great monotheistic faiths by the invention of vicious cruel King Nimrod, whom had Abraham launched from a catapult from the city's citadel to fall into a pile of burning wood. God intervened and turned the fire into water and the burning sticks into to fish. Today, the visitor can visit the mosque complex surrounding it. Two Corinthian columns still standing atop the citadel represent the cruel rule's giant slingshot. The city's history is far more complex than mere legendary myths. Known to the ancient Greeks as Orrhoe or Osrhoe, Seleucus Nicator of Antioch-fame first established the capital of eastern Hellenistic realm here, populating it with Macedonian veterans who preferred to call it Edessa, after their native province. Urfa remained an important garrison town into Roman times, and was one of the first centers of the early church, but one given over to the monophysite heresy.