Urfa in the context of "Şanlıurfa Province"

Osroene or Osrhoene (/ɒzˈriːniː/; Ancient Greek: Ὀσροηνή) was an ancient kingdom and region in Upper Mesopotamia. The Kingdom of Osroene, also known as the "Kingdom of Edessa" (Classical Syriac: ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܐܘܪܗܝ / "Kingdom of Urhay"), according to the name of its capital city (now Şanlıurfa, Turkey), existed from the 2nd century BC, up to the 3rd century AD, and was ruled by the Abgarid dynasty. They were generally allied with the Parthians.

Edessa (/əˈdɛsə/; Ancient Greek: Ἔδεσσα, romanized: Édessa) 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 (r. 305–281 BC), 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.

The city was situated on the banks of the Daysan River (Ancient Greek: Σκίρτος; Latin: Scirtus; Turkish: Kara Koyun), a tributary of the Khabur, and was defended by Şanlıurfa Castle, the high central citadel.

The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire, under the command of Emperor Valerian, and the Sasanian Empire under Shapur I, in Edessa (now the Turkish city of Urfa) in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Sasanian forces; for the first time, a Roman emperor was taken prisoner.

Ayanlar Höyük is an archaeological site in the Southeastern Anatolia of Turkey. It is the remains of a settlement occupied during the early to mid Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. Located 30km west of Urfa, it was discovered in 2013. It is a large mound like Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe. The site visibly belongs to the Taş Tepeler culture, but remains to be excavated.

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  Stone vessels decorated with animal motif, Ayanlar Höyük (8800-7000 BCE)
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  Top and bottom grindstones from Ayanlar Höyük
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  Fragment of sculpture depicting the head of a leopard from Ayanlar Höyük

Armenian resistance included military, political, and humanitarian efforts to counter Ottoman forces and mitigate the Armenian genocide during the first World War. Early in World War I, the Ottoman Empire commenced efforts to eradicate Armenian culture and eliminate Armenian life, through acts of killing and death marches into uninhabitable deserts and mountain regions. The result was the homogenisation of the Ottoman Empire and elimination of 90% of the Armenian Ottoman population.

Those efforts were countered by Armenian attempts to mitigate the plight through the establishment of humanitarian networks. Those provided for basic needs like food and hiding places. Several armed uprisings attempted to resist deportation, namely the Defence of Van, and in Musa Dagh and Urfa. Still, violent resistance was rare and often not effective, compared to the humanitarian network which saved up to 200,000 Armenians from death. Local resistance movements were notably supported by a transnational network of help, namely the ABCFM, US Armenian relief committee, and missionaries.

The Daysan River (also spelt Daisan and known in Arabic as Al-Jullab or as Daysan) was the name of a perennial river that flowed through the city of Urfa (historically called Edessa and known in Arabic and Syriac as al-Ruha') in the Arabian Plate.

A combination of 25 streams, it ran through Urfa and Harran (ancient Carrhae) before joining the Balikh river (also spelt Belichas), one of the largest tributaries to the Euphrates, at ancient Dabanas (modern Dibni) in Raqqa in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion. Today it runs dry before reaching the Balikh, and numerous dried-up wells in the old city of Harran suggest that the water table may have been significantly higher in the past.

The Fortifications of Diyarbakır are a set of fortifications enclosing the historical district of Sur in Diyarbakır, Turkey. They consist of an inner fortress, the citadel, and an outer ring of city walls.

The main gates of the city are: Dağ (Mountain) Gate, Urfa Gate, Mardin Gate, and Yeni (New) Gate. The walls come from the old Roman city of Amida and were constructed in their present form in the mid-fourth century AD by the emperor Constantius II. According to Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, the fortifications and powerful walls of Amid-Diyarbakir were built in the middle of 6th century BC under Armenian King Tigranes of and during the Yervanduni (Orontid dynasty). They are the widest and longest complete defensive walls in the world after only the Great Wall of China (the Theodosian Walls for example are longer in length, but are not continuous).