Edessa—not, one hastens to warn, to be confused with Odessa—is the ancient name of modern Şanlıurfa, or simply Urfa. It was founded in 304 BC by one of the heirs who carved up Alexander the Great’s empire, Seleucus, progenitor of the Seleucid dynasty, and named after the capital of ancient Macedon.
Nabataeans in Mesopotamia
In 132 BC Edessa declared its independence from the crumbling Seleucid empire, and within five years was conquered by a Nabataean tribe called the Osroeni, who established on this territory the kingdom of Osroene. In AD 166 Rome installed itself here. The Roman history of Osroene is the history of attempts to survive the Roman–Parthian wars, during which power in the kingdom changed hands with all the elegance of a weathervane. In the end, in 244, the Romans contrived a peace with the Persians, ceding to them in exchange the whole of Mesopotamia, Edessa included.
Roman Ruins
Very nearly eighty years of Roman presence in Edessa did not pass without trace. A rock-cut necropolis of the Roman period survives in the centre of Urfa, and the archaeological museum displays excavated elements of decoration: mosaics and sculpture. Here, in particular, are figures thought to have adorned a nymphaeum—a Roman fountain.
These two fragments of its ornament depict a triton (a scrawny specimen, ribs fairly showing—that is what comes of living far from the sea) and a sphinx.
L’Histoire d’Amour
Do but look at this sensual kiss between Cupid (Amor) and Psyche, and at the weeping Psyche on the two other reliefs! This subject, hugely popular in European art, was first set down by Apuleius in his Metamorphoses.
The princess Psyche was so beautiful that people began to render her divine honours, forgetting Venus entirely. Venus grew jealous and required her son to inspire in Psyche a passion for the most hideous of men (rather reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, is it not?). Instead, Cupid fell in love with her himself, visiting her in the dark by night. Egged on by her envious sisters, Psyche resolved one night to see what her mysterious lover actually looked like; she lit an oil lamp and, struck by Cupid’s beauty, failed to keep hold of the vessel, spilling burning oil over the sleeping god. Scalded and affronted, Cupid flew away.
“Happily Ever After”—and I Do Mean Ever
Psyche attempted to drown herself, but the river carried her back to the bank, whereupon she set out in search of her beloved, hoping to beg his forgiveness. With the support of the kindlier Olympians she passed through no small number of ordeals devised by the malevolent Venus (they bear an astonishing resemblance to the labours of Heracles, the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, and a wicked stepmother’s persecution of Cinderella, all stirred together), and at last won recognition from Jupiter, who bestowed immortality upon her and blessed her marriage to Cupid.
