26.12.2023
5 Dakika
Şanlıurfa, one of Türkiye's most mystical cities and a major center for religious tourism, is commonly associated with the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham. Even though this information is not historically proven, millions of people place certain places in Şanlıurfa in the narrative of the Prophet Abraham's life and visit them as holy sites. Şanlıurfa, with its lakes Ayn-ı Zeliha and Halilulrahman, commonly known as Balıklıgöl, located southwest of the city center, stands out among the places associated with the life of Prophet Abraham and considered sacred. Many places, including the cave, which is considered the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, are associated with this story and attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
At the time when the Prophet Abraham lived, there was a tyrannical ruler who ruled the area around Şanlıurfa. This oppressive ruler, who is frequently mentioned in the stories from Mesopotamia, is none other than Nemrut. Nemrut, who calls himself a god, forces his people to worship the statues erected in the temples. Like many rulers, Nemrut has paranoid tendencies, and a nightmare at night unleashes an unimaginable wave of tyranny. Through the interpretation of his dream by his soothsayers, Nemrut learns that a boy born that year will kill him, destroy his idols and become ruler in his place. He then makes a terrifying decision: All male children born this year will be killed.
Azer, one of Nemrut's soldiers, learns this news before anyone else and secretly hides his pregnant wife, Nuna Hatun, in a cave. Today it is believed that this cave is the Cave of Mevlid-i Halilulrahman. After giving birth, Nuna Hatun, driven by Nemrut's fear, leaves her child in the cave and sets off. However, unable to bear it, she returns to the cave and witnesses the first miraculous moment in our story. The child is nursed by a deer. This child, who grows up in secret under the watchful eye of the deer, is none other than the prophet Abraham himself. It is said that the child, who grows at an extraordinary rate, appears to be 15 years old at the age of just 15 months and escapes being killed by Nemrut. As fate would have it, however, the prophet Abraham is one day captured by Nemrut's soldiers in the forest and, when he is presented to him, is adopted by Nemrut, who loves him dearly.
Prophet Abraham meets Zeliha, another adopted child in Nemrut's palace, who feels affection for him because he opposes Nemrut's tyranny and forces people to worship his idols. Prophet Abraham encourages the people to resist Nemrut's tyranny, but they are paralyzed by fear. The prophet Abraham, on the other hand, decides to take action himself.
On a day when an important ritual is to take place before the idols, the prophet Abraham smashes all the idols in the temple with an axe and hangs the ax around the neck of the largest idol. Nemrut, who is very angry and asks how an axe can do such a thing, receives the answer: "The idols are nothing more than ordinary statues, for they cannot even protect themselves and have been broken." Nemrut is confronted with such disobedience for the first time, and his anger becomes uncontrollable. He orders a great fire to be lit and orders the prophet Abraham to be thrown into it.
According to legend, the moment the prophet Abraham falls into the huge fire, the fire turns into water and the wood in it turns into fish. Anyone who visits Balıklıgöl in Şanlıurfa will notice black spots on the backs of the fish swimming in the lake. According to legend, these spots are the traces of the gigantic fire from which they emerged. Another lake, Ayn-ı Zeliha, is said to have been created from the tears of Zeliha, who thought she had lost the prophet Abraham.
Balıklıgöl, which is associated with the life of the Prophet Abraham, the Mevlid-i Halilulrahman Cave and Urfa Castle, is home to a fascinating city. It is probably no coincidence that this enchanting city has been associated in recent years with one of the oldest and most influential discoveries in religious history. To see Göbeklitepe, which is claimed to be one of the oldest temples in the world, you must also visit Şanlıurfa. You can find out more about Göbeklitepe in our article "The UNESCO Sites of Türkiye: Monument That Changed History, Göbeklitepe."
