The city of Urfa (Sanli Urfa), dates back to the second millennium B.C. when it may have been the capital of a Human state. It has been known variously as Orrhoé, Orhai, and Osrhoene. One of the early Christian communities developed here. Their language was not Greek but rather Syriac. According to the early church historian Eusebius, the first church in Edessa began when Jesus answered a plea for help from the king, Abgar. Thus the community claims to be pre-crucifixion in its origin.
According to tradition, Nimrod had Abraham immolated on a funeral pyre, but God turned the fire into water and the burning coals into fish.
In the second century A.D. a member of that community, Tatian, produced a Syriac “harmony” of the Gospels which was used in the church there. For fifty years Crusaders held the area in the twelfth century and built a citadel. Within the citadel are two columns on one of which there is a Syriac inscription.
These were part of the winter palace of King Abgar. A spring at the foot of the citadel feeds pools of fish sacred carp, according to Muslim tradition. This tradition also states that Abraham stopped here. No remains of any great antiquity are visible In the city although there is a thirteenth century square minaret and a seventeenth century Islamic religious school, the Adb-er Rahman medresesi.
The mosque built on the site where prophet Abraham is believed to have been born.
Not a tourist place, this is a pilgrimage site, which is only interesting if you are a pilgrim yourself.
The reviews before me were pretty detailed so I'm only adding new comments. Our guide explained that the temple is 14,000 years old, dating back to 12,000 BC. The site was first discovered by a shepherd. During our walk, our guide kept kneeling to pick up sharp stones from the ground. He showed us how these sharp rocks could cut…
Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known temple of the human civilization. The excavation is far from being over, only around 5% of the excavation is so far finalized. Therefore, going there on your own, without someone knowledgeable about this place or without background information might be disappointing. But with the guidance of basic information, you will for sure be mesmerized…
Like many places in this part of the world, the birthplace of Abraham is not dressed up for western tourists. It's the start of the Abrahamic pilgrimage. There's very little signage. You go into a courtyard and have to leave your shoes People come with their families, and when I was there, were having a picnic inside. Like any Muslim…