Edessa
From the Catholic Encyclopedia A titular archiepiscopal see in that part of Mesopotamia formerly known as Osrhoene. The name under which Edessa figures in cuneiform inscriptions is unknown; the native name was Osroe, after some local satrap, this being the Armenian form for Chosroes; it became in Syriac Ourhoï, in Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name. Seleucus Nicator, when he rebuilt the town, 303 B. C., called it Edessa, in memory of the ancient capital ofMacedonia of similar name (now Vodena). Under Antiochus IV (175-164 B. C.) the town...
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