Sanliurfa is like stepping into the Bible

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Arriving in Sanliurfa’s dusty bus station a pansiyon owner whisked me away and drove me to the old part of town where a conglomeration of cream limestone houses clung to the hillside.

Sanliurfa (Sanli Urfa, Urfa) lies in the land known as The Fertile Crescent encircled by the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The guidebook boasts of bazaars, historical houses and caravanserais (hotels from Silk Road days). Instead, it’s an open-air museum portraying the origin of where civilisation spread to the world, conjuring religious childhood stories.

This was my second visit to Turkey but my first time in the east. It’s very different to its western counterpart, more isolated, third worldish with less travellers. Even the language is different with more Kurdish and Arabic, less English. The temperature also differs - mega-hot!

Despite it being early morning, the heat was already 50degC. Wanting to explore I set off for the castle on Damlacik Hill in the Golbasi and Dergah areas, the site of a well known biblical “happening”.

Fortunately, there was an underground tunnel ascending steps to the castle or Throne of Nimrod. Dazzled by sunlight, it felt like walking into a scene from the Old Testament - a group of black-clad pilgrims prayed, sheltered under two Corinthian columns on the spot where Nemrut supposedly shot firebrands at Abraham. It is said that Abraham was born here, in what was the ancient city of Ur or Edessa before moving south to Harran. The 2^nd or 3^rd century castle is the oldest building in Sanliurfa, but all that remain are the Harran and Bey Gates, Mahmutoglu Tower and walls, surrounded by a moat.

Descending to the Golbasi gardens, I donned my headscarf and entered Abraham’s birthplace, now a place of pilgrimage. With separate entrances for men and women, the cool small cave was welcome, but the noisy babies and women collecting “holy” water spoilt it. Outside in the courtyard flocks of pigeons didn’t appear to disturb the praying elderly men.

Nearby is the beautiful Mevlid-i Halil Mosque sheltered under tall trees, surrounded by a garden of pampered scented roses split by a meandering waterway full of sacred carp. Legend goes that anyone catching or damaging the carp will go blind. There are so many fish that they flop and twist in the water, some scarred from jostling for space.

Two large groups of women clad in black chador, sat on the ground under trees eating breakfast spread on a cloth. Pilgrims flock to Sanliurfa from all over the Middle East because the town is highly sacred, known as Peygamberler Sehri (City of Prophets) because Abraham, Job, Jethro and Elijah lived here. Other pilgrims were feeding carp in two large rectangular pools.

Enjoying the tranquil coolness of one of the cay bahcesis (tea gardens), I read up on the legend of Abraham and Golbasi. Abraham was born at a time when King Nimrod decreed that all babies be killed. Brought up in secrecy and when he was older, Abraham destroyed false idols and fought those who prayed to pagan gods. Nimrod took offence to this and sent Abraham to the castle and had him thrown onto a funeral pyre. God turned the flames into water, the burning wood into fish and Abraham was flung below where he landed in a bed of roses. The picturesque Golbasi is a symbolic recreation of this legend.

Next-door are the bazaar and two ancient caravanserais filled with men who were smoking, drinking cay and playing tavla - similar to backgammon and sounding like small-arms fire. In the bazaar, it wasn’t long before I was lost in the maze of cobbled, narrow, winding lanes, sheltering from the intolerable sun under overhung balconies. Bent old men wearing salvar (baggy pants) and women with tattooed faces, wearing traditional sky-blue scarves flecked with silver, jostled through the crush of overburdened stalls. The enticing smell of freshly baked simit (sesame-covered bread rings) tempted me to stay. A passing boy gave me a rose and then disappeared into a schoolyard. This is the Turkey I love.

Next day, fellow traveller Amelie, an American student of archaeology at Ankara University, and myself were offered a tour of Gobekli. On a hill with the golden Mesopotamia Plains stretched below, Gobekli is thought to be the workplace of an ancient idol-maker and was built during 9,000 years ago. We were fascinated by finished and unfinished human and animal figures carved on 2½m high rocks and wondered where the makers found such enormous stones from this semi-desert.

Another ancient site is Harran, nudging the Syrian border 48km south of Sanliurfa and famous for its beehive-shaped houses. Harran is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth, mentioned in Genesis and where Abraham lived in 1900BC. Surrounded by city walls is the sprawling 8^th century, richly decorated archaeological ruins of one of the largest and oldest Islamic universities. The tall, square minaret of the Ulu Camii is the oldest mosque in Anatolia.

Nearby are impressive ruins of a three-storey high castle, surrounded by beehive houses. It was fun exploring the castle’s huge halls with high domed ceilings illuminated by slit windows and climbing the ramparts to enjoy fantastic views of what was a desert until the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP) came along. This mammoth hydroelectric and irrigation scheme carries water from the Ataturk dam transforming Harran into one of the most fertile areas in Turkey.

Later, on the pansiyon roof, I enjoyed the panorama of the old town and the ezan (Muslim call to prayer) while enjoying an illicit cold Efes (beer) - alcohol is forbidden in close proximity to holy areas, such as mosques. Later as the sun set, the castle was floodlit, a magnificent sight.

Southeastern Anatolia is the essence of the Middle East, the Turkish people have an unrivalled reputation for hospitality, the cuisine is to die for and travel is safe. And while costs are rising, Turkey remains one of the world’s bargain-basement destinations. What better reasons do you need to visit this fascinating country?

GETTING THERE:

Turkish Airlines flies to Sanliurfa daily from Ankara and twice weekly from Istanbul. There are regular buses from all major cities.