Urmia

File:Lake urmia, salt crystals.jpg

Lake Urmia near Urmia.

Urmia or Orumieh (Persie: ارومیه‎; Armenie: Ուրմիա ;Azerbaijani: [اورمو / اورمیه – Urumiyə / Urmu] ; Kurdish: ورمێ – Wrmi‎; Syriac: ܐܘܪܡܝܐ), durin the majority o the Pahlavi Dynasty [1925–1979] cried Persie: رضائیه‎, Rezaiyeh), is a ceety in Northwastren Iran an the caipital o Wast Azerbaijan Province. The ceety lies on an altitude o 1,330 m abuin sea level on the Shahar Chay river (Ceety River). Urmia is the 10t maist populatit ceety in Iran wi a population o aboot 600,000. The population is predominantly Azerbaijani an Kurdish, wi significant Assyrian an Armenian minorities.

Urmia is situatit on a fertile plain cawed Urmia Plain, on wastren side o Lake Urmia; an eastren side o Turkis border an marginal range o muntains.

Urmia is the trade center for a fertile agricultural region whaur fruit (especially Apple an Grape) an Tobacco are grown. An important toun bi the 9t cent., Urmia wis seized bi the Seljuk Turks (1184), an later occupied a number o times bi the Ottoman Turks. Urmia wis the seat o the first U.S. Christian mission in Iran (1835). Aroond AD 1900, Christians made up mair than 40% o the ceety's population, housomeivver, maist o the Christians fled in 1918.

Etymology

The name Urmia is a compoond. The first element--"ur" staundin for 'ceety', is Sumerian. Ur per se, wis a principal Sumerian ceety. The seicont element, "mia" is Aramaic Syriac meanin "water." Hence Urmia simply means 'Watertoun"--a befittin name for a ceety situatit bi a lake an surroondit bi rivers, wad be the cradle o water.

History

The ceety o Urmia (Urmiyeh), in northwast o Iran, is considered ane o the auncient ceeties o the kintra an a Cradle o civilization.

The diggins in the ancient ruins aroond Urmia led tae the discovery o utensils, some o which date back tae some 2000 years B.C.

An aa research bi Professor Minorski shows that there hae been veelages in the Urmia plain some 2000 years B.C., wi their ceevilization unner the influence o Van naition.

In the auncient times, the wast bank o Urmia lake wis cried Gilzan, an in the nint century B.C. an independent government ruled there which later joined the Urartu or Mana empire; in the aicht century B.C., the aurie wis a vassal o the Asuzh government till it joined the Median Empire efter its formation.

Aw an aw, accordin tae historical documents, the wastren pairt o the Urmia Lake haes been a center o attention o the prehistoric naitions, the evidence o which are the numerous auncient hills in the aurie, such as Gouy Tapeh, 6 kilometers sootheast o the lake which competes wi the auldest hills o Mesopotamie, Asie the Minor, an the Iranian Plateau.

Many auld Islamic historians hae acknowledged Urmia as the birthplace o prophet Zoroaster.

The claim that the aurie wis the birthplace o Zoroaster, or even the burial site o ane or twa o the Zoroastrian priests who allegedly traveled tae Bethlehem for Christ’s birth indicate that the ceety haes been ane o the lairgest releegious an scientific centers o the auncient times.

Urmia, accordin tae some historians, is believed tae be the birthplace o the prophet Zarathustra, the foonder o Zoroastrianism. The Columbia Encyclopedia mentions that Urmia wis an important toun in the region durin the 9t century.

The Ottoman Turks made several incursions intae the ceety, but the Safavids wur suin able tae regain control ower the aurie. The first monarch o Iran's Qajar dynasty, Agha Muhammad Khan, wis crouned in Urmia in 1795. Due tae Urmia's relatively lairge Christian population growth bi the end o the 19t century, Urmia an aa became the seat o the first American Christian mission in Iran in 1835. Anither mission suin became operational in nearbi Tabriz as well. The Catholic Encyclopedia mentions Urmia as the seat o a Chaldean diocese.