Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa (pronounced [ʃanˈɫɯuɾfa]; Arabic: الرها, romanized: alruha; Kurdish: Riha;[3] Armenian: Ուռհա, romanized: Uṙha; Syriac: ܐܘܪܗܝ, romanized: Ūrhāi and known in ancient times as Edessa), is a city with a population of over 2 million residents[4] in southeastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is a multiethnic city with a Turkish, Kurdish and Arab population. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features extremely-hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.
About 12 km (7 mi) northeast of the city is the famous Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe, the world’s oldest-known temple, which was founded in the 10th millennium BCE.[5] The area was part of a network of the first human settlements where the agricultural revolution took place. Because of its association with Jewish, Christian, and Islamic history, and a legend according to which it was the hometown of Abraham, Urfa is nicknamed as the “City of Prophets.”[1]