Suruç

Suruç is a rural district of Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey, on a plain near the Syrian border 46 km south-west of the city of Şanlıurfa.

The modern Turkish name “Suruç” is derived from Serugh (Syriac: ܣܪܘܓ, Sĕrûḡ, pronounced as if Sıruğ in Modern Turkish orthography, but present pronunciation influenced by Arabic: سروج‎, surūj, meaning “saddles”), the pre-Islamic name for the area. The name literally means “woven” or “latticed,” and either refers to weaving or saddle making, both of which are traditional in the district. Alternatively, the name is associated with Serug (Hebrew: שרוג‎, śərûḡ) the great-grandfather of the prophet Abraham (Genesis 11.20–23; I Chronicles 1.26; Luke 3.35).

In antiquity the Sumerians built a settlement in the area. The city was a centre of silk-making. They were succeeded by a number of other Mesopotamian civilisations. The Roman Emperor Constantine I brought the town under the control of the city of Edessa (modern day Şanlıurfa). One of the most famous residents of the district is its 6th century Syriac bishop and poet-theologian Jacob of Serugh. The town was surrendered to the Abbasid Arabs in 639. It was later controlled by Crusaders (in 1098), and Moslems again (in 1127). The city was then destroyed in the Mongol invasions, and in 1517 the area was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Selim I. Suruç was occupied in 1918 by British and in 1919 by French troops, but was freed by a local resistance struggle.

The main town of the district is also called Suruç. However, the older name for the town is Batnan or Batnae (Syriac: ܒܛܢܢ, Baṭnān; Greek: Βάτναι, Batnai; Latin: Batnae). Today Suruç is an agricultural district famous for pomegranates.

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