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.
To reach Gobleki Tepe one must hire a car and driver.
Shop around a little as the costs vary enormously.
It is the oldest temple yet discovered and is 5000 years older than Stonehenge.
A boardwalk has been built around the site, however a number of the columns have been covered with plastic and wood – according to our guide/driver…
you might think that there is not a lot to see, but look into the details and the date it was built, you can even see Mt. Nemrut from there, fantastic!
This place is very interesting. Because of history. As i learnt nemrut who king of place in many years ago, want to fire prophet ibrahim. Then nemrut collect all woods in this place and fired them. When he took ibrahim to fire, allah convert from fire and wood to water and fish.
We went in the late morning and had the site all to ourselves, quiet and wonderful, but as this site becomes better known, that will become more and more difficult. Also, and it is a good thing for the site, they are planning a roof covering to protect the stones and the surrounding ground from the elements. Good for the…
I was walking part of the Abraham's Path and amazed at the spectacular view from the top of the archeological site. The carvings and story are fascinating, a definite must see if you're in the region and have an interest in ancient history and natural beauty.
This historic site serves today as a nice park for both the locals and the tourists. The legend is that at the times even before Judaism, Prophet Abraham broke down all the idols people were worshipping (as he was against people worshipping the idols and he was believing in God even before Judaism) and put the axe he used into…
I visited this site with a group of 16 Americans in October 2012. After seeing this site I can say that no other ancient ruin will ever have the same wonder. When you think that this predates the Pyramids by 7000+ years it can't help but boggle the mind. The setting outside of Urfa in Eastern Turkey is not heavily…
Balikli Gol is wonderful with sunset, especially when it is Ramadan. Stay there for an hour, to watch the people feeding the fish, to see the children playing and to see the mosks with the wonderful light of the sunset.
This should of course be called Gobekli Tepe, which will be world famous in a few years. Go now whilst it is still uncommercialised. It is unique.
This settlement lies on a hill very close ( 18 km) to Sanliurfa and it can be reached only with a private vehicle. This is , at the moment , the oldest religious complex ever built by humans 11.500 yrs ago ! Somebody considers Gobekli Tepe as the legendary Garden of Eden , however this could certainly be considered the…