Travel Stories - Turkey

"sianlurfa" ("Urfa") and "harran"



introduction


Via Kayseri I travel with the night bus to Sianlurfa (Urfa) in the southeast of Turkey. Looking at the map I see a large city of almost half a million inhabitants and it is scrupulously close to Syria where unfortunately I do not have the time to visit country. Before we enter the city I see a lot of people working on the land (it looks like they are busy with cotton) although the barren plain I see seems fruithless. Behind it are hills and some mountains but not that high. Everyone gets out at the bus station and I go looking for my big bag that comes out of the trunk full of dust. As often I am the only tourist and I already see the first pilgrims wandering around the station. I had already decided to walk to the center walking and it is striking how few "touts" are here. Because it is a busy pilgrim town I had expected a beautiful walk, along the "Karakoyun" river but nothing of that all - dusty roads, a river full of rubbish and it seems I’m walking straight through a cemetery. At the end of the road I reach the main road of the city - a chaotic wide street full of traffic, shops, noise, light and I did not expected this either. My intended hostel is is right around the corner . The loft that I get is cheap but not really "cozy" or atmospheric. I check in, take a shower and decide to take a nap because I did not sleep well in the bus tonight.


The miracle of "Abraham"


Completely fresh and fruity I get out of my bed and when I come outside the sun shines very bright and it is even busier in the streets than this morning when I arrived. I decide to walk to the touristic sights and try to figure out how to get there by foot. I think it’s best to see the biggest sight today and then take it easy afterwords and enjoy. "Golbasi" is located at the end of the street that runs to the south and must be about 1.5 kilometers away. On the street I see many old gray bearded males with typical Arabic clothes and women in total black robes make their way through the crowd. These are no longer the modern Turks I have seen elsewhere in the country but more conservative Arab and Kurdish men and women. Legend has it that Abraham (who is an important prophet for the Muslims) stayed here in the city to chase pagan Gods when the local Assyrian king "Nimrod" intervened and put Abraham at the stake. God would then have turned the fire into water and the burning coals in fish. Abraham would then fly through the air from the fort and land on a bed of roses. Knowing this, you come here on a site that symbolically represents this legend - there are two exactly rectangular rectangular water basins or ponds built with the most fattened carp I have ever seen. You can not touch them because otherwise the chances are that you will quickly become blind.  

 

If you want to touch a fish anyway you better take place at one of the many (outdoor) restaurants here that sell grilled fish. In addition to the two bins of water, a large rose garden has been laid out, next to a medressa and another mosque. The citadel is located on the hill. I first walk along the boulevard (if you like) which is part of the "Halilur Rahman Camii" mosque - the place where Abraham ended up after his lift. Made of light sandstone with domes and arches you feel the different atmosphere that hangs here. Not surprisingly, I read the story that this was just one of the Byzantine churches and built in the 13th century. Between the terraces where tea is mainly served, I walk to the beginning of the path leading to the citadel - it is hot and I read that there are only a few columns to see. The fortress you see now would have been built by Turks, but below it lies the foundations of previously built fortresses – built by the Byzantine and the Crusaders - everyone has been here and built a fortress on top of the other. The founder of the city, the Biblical king "Nimrod" would have deposited the first stones here.

Edessa / Urfa - history: 

The place called “Urfa”, the former “Edessa” has been inhabited since thousands of years; Hurrites fought side by side with the Egyptian pharaohs against the Hittites. In the local tradition the city is associated with patriarch Abraham. Legend tells us that he is born here in a cave. In the 3rd century BC. Alexander the Great conquers the city and establishes a military settlement and names it after Edessa, the capital of his native Macedonia. In 150 (under the rule of the Romans) Christianity is introduced and here one of the most important episcopal seats of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch would arise. It is assumed that the oldest Christians of Edessa were descendants of the primal church in Jerusalem. Edessa is sometimes called the city of the apostle Thomas. According to tradition, Thomas would have instructed to preach the Gospel. Also "the dress of Edessa" - the shroud of Jesus – would occur here ress with a picture of Christ on it. It went with the Crusades to Constantinople and then never seen again.

 

In the 3rd century the kingdom of Osroene was created in the place we call “Urfa” now. When King Abgar became a Christian in the 3rd century and many residents of the country followed his example, churches and monasteries rose everywhere. Edessa thus developed early into a center of theology. An important stimulus was formed by the Syrian Christians with their famous theological school with many renowned teachers, including Efrem the Syrian. Because the city was on the dividing line between the Persian and Roman empires, the city went from hand to hand and back again. In the 7th century the city came into the hands of the Arab Empire but in 1030-1031 Edessa was conquered by the Byzantines under the leadership of General Georgios Maniakes, she would remain Byzantine for more than 50 years until 1086-1087. In 1098 the city was occupied by the crusaders during the First Crusade under duke "Baldwin of Boulogne". In 1147 they were expelled by the Turkish Seljuks on which the Pope organized a second crusade. Then different rulers would come and go. In 1637 the Ottomans annexed the city to their empire and the city got its current name. In 1830 the city comes under the control of the Egyptian viceroy Mohammed Ali Pasha for a short time. The persecution of the Aramaic Christians in 1916 ensured that the Christian population of Şanlıurfa is now almost gone.

I decide to walk to the "Dergah" complex which is just a stone's throw away. Many mosques have been built here and signs point me to the famous cave where Abraham would be born. I walk past the great Ottoman mosque "Mevlid-i Halil Camii" where I almost have to fight to get past the groups of pilgrims who almost swoon, walk past in a trance. Luckily I took my sarong with me and I put it around my waist to pull over my shorts. I come to a beautifully decorated courtyard where you can wash your hands and feet (for moslims) and then a cave with bars in front of it. Of course a queue of people and I have to wait quietly for my turn to take a look at the dark cave. I am the only (Western) tourist. Patriarch Abraham would have lived here for the first seven years of his life in fear of his life. King "Nemrud" had seen in a vision that someone would be born who would cast him off the throne and for that reason all newly born were killed. It is, as I have experienced before, a strange sensation strengthened by the people walking around here. It is wonderful to walk around here - pilgrims sit in the park to lunch, the terraces are full and of course the atmosphere is good and the weather is very nice. You can not count the number of minarets here as well as the domes and arches. I find an internet cafe and do some shopping near the bazaar that I keep for tomorrow to visit. 



God of the Moon


Early in the morning I walk to the bus station where I got off yesterday and people immediately come to me and start to say names of destinations they are going in the hope that I recognize it. Almost every hour a dolmus (minibus) goes to "Harran" which is a few kilometers from the Syrian border. I find my bus and look out of the window. The landscape is barren and dry with lots of rocks and occasionally a prickly shrub. We drive past stone houses with large yards that are delimited by three layers of walls and sticks. There are chickens, dogs, goats in an enclosed garden and often I see also children who play in the mud or with the trash that is piled up there. This is a major difference with the West of Turkey. I get out into the new part of the approximately 7,000-counting old city of Harran and since I have just seen some ruins from the bus I walk back into that direction.  

 

The stories about Harran go very far back in time; so it is said that Adam and Eve went here after they were banished from Paradise. Even if this is not the truth, it turns out to be one of the oldest settlements still inhabited worldwide. The Bible book "Genesis" reports that Abraham lived here for a while around the year 1900 BC. and then went on to the promised land "Canaan". I arrive at an open plain with lots of stones where here and there a piece of wall or arch is still standing; the whole is surrounded by barbed wire. I have read that you have to buy a ticket here but there is no one and I walk on the ground not knowing what to expect. First go to the largest building that is still in reasonable condition - this must be the castle or "bald" that I have read. It is a crescent moon with rocks and stones and it is almost unbelievable that there is just such a building without anything or anyone. There is still a tower of the initial four that stood here and there must have been 150 rooms here. Under the foundations of this castle or fort are many other forts and temples such as those who built the crusaders when they came here. Below that the important temple of the Moon seems to have been situated. Since the year 800 BC. this was the center where the "God of the Moon" was worshiped. What a fantastic but also magical and strange sight is this. 


harran


I’ve read this morning that the Byzantine emperor Theodosius was responsible for  destroying the temple in the 4th century BC. here so I don’t know idea what is still standing here. I look at some ruins and arches and then walk to the "beehive" looking houses that stand behind the ruins. Children come running and ask pens, money and gifts. Women walk past in small groups, veiled and very shy, I assume not a lot of Western tourists make it up to here. One is waving and laughing while the others are scaring laughter. I walk past some houses where a number of peppers hang to dry and everything is built here of stone and dried manure. The famous "beehive houses" are nowadays often used as a storage shed or stable. This form of architecture dates back to the 3rd century BC. and would have been invented because of the lack of wood here and the presence of stones from the ruins. The houses would be cool in the summer and retain some heat in the winter. Here a man asks if I do not want to come in for a look - of course he wants to have money. I turn down the offer and hope to be able to go somewhere for free. Here is an old wooden cart with a horse in front of it - the women poke on the cart with a stick of dried shit and laugh at it. A container is so full that the garbage has fallen out and around it and children are calling from afar to this Western stranger. 

 

Harran was traditionally a center of Mesopotamian (now Iraq) culture, at the important trade crossroads of the road from Damascus to, among others, the city of Tire. After the treaty between Suppiluliuma I and Shattiwaza, Harran was laid ashore by a Hittite army under Piyashshili during the conquest of Hanilgalbat. Despite the remote position of the city, it played an important role in the time of the New Babylonian empire. In 53 BC. Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives, a member of the Roman triumvirate and rival of Julius Caesar, succumbed here in a failed attempt to subjugate the Parthians in the Battle of Carrhae, as the Romans called Harar.  

 

Later on I take the invitation of a pregnant lady to look into her house. First I come into her own little house where some yellowed pictures hang on the wall and I take place on a couch of clay where on top some rugs are put. I have read that people here have traditionally come through farming and smuggling and are quietly waiting for what they will offer me. Then she beckons me to come and see the beehive. Here, too, there are some cows, but I only have an eye for the architecture of this building. I can take a picture of her in the beehive but she wants some money for it as expected. I agree, but only because no one else sees it - before you know it, a horde of children is running after you. I thank the madam, put some coins in her hand and wave to her son, who is looking at me and my clothes like I’m coming from Mars. Finally I take a look at the "Aleppo" gate that still looks good and parts of the once 4 kilometer long city wall. There would also have been more than 150 towers built here - really a pity that there is so little left.



Cave of Job


Standing at the bus stop to go back, an old tractor passes overloaded by local youngsters. A young boy starts to scream at me and I wave back - they love it and it is a shame they go the "other" way otherwise I would have climbed. On the way I see the sign to the cave of "Job" - legend says that the devil wanted to teach the devoted and prosperous Job a lesson and to take all the wealth, his health and his family to see if he would betray his faith. He didn’t and Job retired to the cave that you can now visit. After seven years of waiting for God, God would give back his health and stuff in the form of a water source that he "drilled" by stamping his heel into the ground. The source would now be a pilgrimage site where many believers come to fetch their "holy" water. I decide to leave it and go back to Sianlurfa. 

 

Back in town I decide to go back to the hostel first to take a cold shower. I read some more in bed before I go back to the bazaar in the city. This one seems to have been built in the time of "Suleyman the Great" and there is (still) one that reminds you of old bygone times. You can buy sheepskins, copper kettles, pigeons, clothes and handmade shoes here and I decide to buy some new clothes. A little later I arrive at a very small square where tea is made for everyone sitting there with a golden tray on a gold chain - a group of men are sitting behind their sewing machine, neatly arranged in rows. Nearby is also an old caravanserai that would have sold silk and a multitude of mosques. I skip the old houses that would stand a little further and prepare for the next adventure tomorrow.



tips & advice (2004)


The major bus station of Sianlurfa or Urfa is located about one kilometer west of the city center.

 

Sianlurfa (Urfa) - Kahta: there is a minibus every hour from here (Urfa) to "Kahta". I have to pay about $ 3 in local currency and the trip takes about 1.5 hours.


  • Name: hotel "Dogu" (hotel Guven)

Address: Sarayonu Caddesi 131

Price: 10,000,000 (single)

Phone nr. : 215 1228

 

Content:

Located in the very busy (main) road “Sarayonu” is not the most modern hotel you can find. Also do not expect coziness or other tourists sitting together in a comunal room to chat. This is a hotel where you only have to sleep for a very advantageous price (of course with a bit of haggling) and for the rest you have to stay away. It is dusty (not filthy) and my room was in the middle of the building. Affordable because the front rooms must be terribly noisy with all the traffic passing by. Mine was dark because of the lack of windows and the walls are made of chipboard or something. There is an old bed, a decayed wooden cabinet and a coat rack. Fortunately, the light worked.


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