The story of Abraham and King Nemrut

It has been determined that the history of Urfa dates back to the Paleolithic Ages between the dates of 500 and 8000 BC. Valuable historical objects have also been found in excavations from the Neolithic Ages between the dates of 7250 and 5500 BC, the Copper Age between the dates of 5500 and 3200 BC and the Early Bronze Age between the dates of 3200 and 1800 BC.  It is also thought that the city was established by Prophet Idris (Enoch in Bible) and the Prophet Noah after the flood.

The city of Şanlıurfa and its surrounding region has gone through many dominations including; Sumer, Akkadian, Hittites, Babylonia, Chaldea, Hurrians, Mitanni, Aram, Assyria, Medians and the Persian Empires.  Urfa was referred to as Ursu in Hittites' documents in 2000 BC and as Ru'ua in Assyrian documents.  Former names of the city before Şanlıurfa include; Ur, Ur of Kalde, Ur of Harran, Orhei, Orhay, Vurhai, Edessa, Diyar-ı Mudar, Ruha, Reha and Urfa.

Alexander the Great invaded Urfa on his Persian Conquest in 332 BC. This invasion was later overturned by Osroene (Edessa) Kingdom in 132 BC. The Osroene Kingdom period, which lasted until 250 AD, played a significant role in Christianity.  It is also known that Abgar V. of Edessa (Black Abgar) accepted Christianity as an official religion for his kingdom (one of the first kingdoms which did so), and then further corresponded with Jesus Christ for inviting and spreading the religion to the region.  In return Jesus Christ sent a letter to Abgar Ukomo and also a towel expressing his blessing for the city.  After wiping his face with the towel (The Medallion), a portrait of his face miraculously appeared on the towel.  This phenomenon helped make Urfa a present day holy land for Christians.  It's believed that the holy towel has been protecting city for years.  In 944 AD, eastern commander of the Byzantine Empire John Kourkouas invaded Urfa, obtained the towel and brought it back to Istanbul with a glorious ceremony.

After the acceptance of Christianity in its early years, Urfa accepted Islam in 639 AD.  Until the encirclement of Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan in 1077, when the land became an independent crusader state or the country of Edessa (1098-1144), Urfa has been a stage for many religious and political acts, Urfa was ruled by Zengi in 1444 and by Saladin in 1182.  After the two Mongol Invasions in 1240 and 1250, Urfa was ruined by Hulagu Khan.

Urfa was ruled by Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans in 1404, Safavids in 1514 and at last by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.  The British army invaded the city on March 24, 1919 and the French invaded on October 30, 1919.  After a strong defense by the citizens of Urfa, the French armies succeed on April 11, 1920.

Why is Şanlıurfa named the City of Prophets?

Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim)

Nemrut is a ruler who spreads terror and fear all around. One night he asks for an interpretation of his dream. King Nemrut had a dream, in which he loses his kingdom,

“This year a child will be born and he will destroy your heathen religion and kingdom...”

Upon this dream King Nemrut decided to kill every child born within that year.  Sara, pregnant to Prophet Abraham, hid her pregnancy and gave birth to Abraham in a cave secretly.  The cave where Prophet Abraham was born is inside the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque. So, Sara, mother of the Prophet Abraham, gives birth to her child in a cave, leaves him there and goes home. A gazelle nurses the baby. After awhile, soldiers find Abraham in the cave. Prophet Abraham lived in that cave for 7 years furtively.  Nemrut, who never had a child, decides to take care of Abraham.

After the age of 7, he was brought back to his father’s house and after growing up he had struggled against the heathen people.  He expressed his beliefs that their belief in the different gods was not correct; he repeatedly expressed there is only Allah who created the universe. 

Witnessing the horror of Nemrut forcing his people to worship statues, when everyone leaves for a ceremony, Abraham enters the area of statues in the palace and breaks all the statues with an axe, finally leaving the axe in the hands of the largest statue. During his trial, Abraham protests his innocence, saying ?You see the axe is in the hands of the big statue; probably he is the one who did it.? Furious, Nemrut shouts, ?How can a piece of stone take an axe and do this?? Abraham replies: If he is a real God, why can?t he do it?? Infuriated, Nemrut commands Abraham to be thrown into the fire.  Although Zeliha, daughter of Nemrut, begs for mercy, she can't convince her dad.

Wood is piled up in the area of Halil-ul Rahman Lake and the fire is set.  Nemrut soon after captured the prophet and threw him into the flames over the Castle of Urfa.  At that moment, Allah ordered that “All the flames! Be cool and safe for Abraham.”  The place where the Prophet Abraham fell into the fire becomes a lake and a rose garden and the woods become fishes.  Since that day the area in Urfa called Balıklı (Fishy) Lake is considered to be holy ground.

This large rectangular pool is known as Abadur Rahman Havuzu, and contains hundreds of 'sacred' carp. Legend has it that anyone who eats the fish will go blind. This has resulted in an over population of the fish , which are now believed to be cannibalistic.

The small lake located next to Balıklı Lake is called “Ayn-Zeliha”, or Zeliha's Eye, referring to Nemrut's daughter Zeliha, who cried for Abraham and whose tears then turned into a lake. 

The Halil-ür Rahman Mosque, built by Salahaddin Eyyubi's nephew Melik Eşref in the year 1211 and located right next to Balıklı Lake, serves as an architecturally and aesthetically pleasing companion to the natural beauty of the lake.

Islamic legend tells a similar story, but with the added twist, that the sadistic Nemrut catapults Abraham from a giant sling shot situated high on the citadel, into the burning fire. The sling is represented by the 2 corinthian columns at the entrance to the kale. 

When King Antioch decided to build a giant cemetery-monument complex surrounded by three tall statues during his reign 2000 years ago, the 30-degree weather conditions and limited construction time did not stand in the way of his ambitions. Antioch's architects and workers constructed and chiseled giant stone chunks into three large atriums or terraces facing east and west. Huge statues, reaching seven to eight meters high, were then built on these terraces. Antioch also commissioned a “Pantheon,” or a gallery for the gods, for himself and his close ones. He aimed to immortalize his kingdom as a nation of the gods on Nemrut's hill in the name of the god Zeus. It will come as no big surprise that over the centuries the statues crumbled, some disappeared outright, while others were damaged to such an extent as to be unrecognizable. The statues of the gods' heads are still there. For 2000 years they have been watching the meadows of Anatolia from the peaks of Nemrut Mountain.
 

Prophet Job (Eyyub)

As the story goes, Allah had taken all of the children and goods of Prophet Job and then gave him an illness to make prove his loyalty. Worms covered his entire body, as he laid a cave; during this Prophet Job never rebelled against Allah. He continued his devotion; waited patiently and thanked god.  Because of his patience Allah then gave him his goods and health back.  The cave in which the prophet suffered his illness and the well where he washed himself with the blessed water is currently open to visitors in the Eyyub Peygamber district in Urfa.  Prophet Job's tomb is also located in Eyyub Nebi Village about 20 kilometers outside Urfa.   Also on the skirts of the Viranşehir district is mausoleum of Prophet Job, his wife Rahme's tomb and the location where Prophet Eliseus died.

Prophet Eliseus ( Elyasa )

Prophet Eliseus sought to visit Prophet Job however he believed that he was far from Prophet Job was.  One day as he set out to take the journey to reach Prophet Job, the devil (Şeytan) appeared in front of  him, lied to him about the distance and told him that he still had a long journey to reach Prophet Job.  Eliseus was very old at that time and prayed to Allah to take his life away and so he did.   Today his tomb is located in Eyyubi Nebi village located in Şanlıurfa, it is  just 1 kilometer from the tomb of Prophet Job.

Prophet Shoaib ( Şuayb )

It is believed in that Prophet Shoaib was living in ancient city of Şuayb, located 85 km from eastern Urfa.  A cave-house in the ruins of this ancient city is open for visitors as his house.

Prophet Noad ( Nuh )

After the flood, its believed that Noah's Ark landed in Mount Cudi, located between Urfa and Ceylanpınar. ( Re'sulayn ) This mountain has a strange surface; which looks just like the waves of a  sea.  The mountain is located in the same place as the ancient cities Soğmatar and Şuayb.

Prophet Moses (Musa)

Prophet Moses' well and a sign of his staff is located in the ancient city of Soğmatar, currently the area of Soğmatar is known as Yağmurlu Village.

Prophet Lot (Lut)

Prophet Lot, the son of Harran, brother of Prophet Abraham, immigrated with his uncle Abraham to the Sodom, where he was assigned as a prophet.  He was born in Urfa and spent his childhood with Prophet Abraham.   Prophet Lot lived with Prophet Abraham in the Harran region.

Prophet Jacob (Yakup)

It is thought that he lived in a building called Deyr Yakup (The Throne of Nemrud) in the eastern of Urfa, about 10 kilometers outside the city. 

The Legend of Saint George

St. George

According to the Golden Legend the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called "Silene," in Libya; the Golden Legend  is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be imagined. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.

The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery.

It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is in some versions of the story called Sabra. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, decked out as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain.

The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance and gave it a grievous wound. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash. She and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them.

The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.

Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England.

La Moreneta - The Black Virgin Story

The mountain of Montserrat has always been a source of inspiration for myths and legends because her singular form, but maybe the most important and popular is the legend of the “Moreneta”, the Dark Maiden, the Virgin of Montserrat.

The word Montserrat, means "jagged or serrated mountain" in Catalan. The mountain is also called "La muntanya dels cent cims" (The mountain of 100 peaks) and is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock, popular with climbers. The summit of Montserrat is called Sant Jeroni (Saint Jerome) and stands at 1,236 meters (4,055 feet) above the valley floor. Montserrat, is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia, not so far from Barcelona.

Nestled between the peaks for centuries the famous Benedictine abbey Santa Maria de Montserrat. "Monestir de Montserrat" (Monastery of Montserrat) is the center of the Catalan faith. Charles V and his son King Philip II of Spain died holding blessed candles from Montserrat in their hands. The Monastery contains and protects "La Moreneta", named also the Black Virgin of Montserrat and her sanctuary. The mountains were associated in the Middle Ages with Parsifal's search for the Holy Grail in the legends of King Arthur, which was kept in a mountaintop castle called Montsalvat, even famous German composer Wagner set his opera "Parsifal" there...

According to legend La Moreneta was carved by St. Luke and brought to Montserrat by St. Peter in 50 AD, then hidden from the moors in the Santa Cova (holy cave) just down the mountain from the monastery. By the late 1100s, a new wooden sculpture of the miraculous image was made, and it is this Romanesque statue that pilgrims are familiar with today. In 1522, St. Ignatius of Loyola came in pilgrimage, and made the decision to abandon his former life as a warrior, leaving his sword as an offering to Our Lady of Montserrat and settling for some time in the nearby town of Manresa as he discerned his vacation and wrote his Spiritual Exercises. The old church was replaced with an enormous transitional late Gothic/Renaissance-style basilica in 1592, and this building stood until much of it was destroyed by the armies of a retreating Napoleon in 1811. Fortunately, the monks managed to hide the image of Our Lady of Montserrat so that it was not destroyed along with the rest of the abbey. In 1880, Our Lady of Montserrat was officially declared to be Patroness of Catalonia by Leo XIII. In more recent times, Pope John Paul II came to Montserrat on pilgrimage in 1982, to pray before the image of the Black Madonna...

On a rugged carved mountain not far from Barcelona lies one of the most popular destinations of the Catalan region and Spain: the statue of the Black Madonna. According to the legend, the statue was discovered in the year 880 by some shepherds who have seen a strange light on the sky and heard music coming from a cave in the mountain. From that moment on the statue remained on the Montserrat mountain becoming one of the most famous pilgrimage sights in Spain.

The statue became more and more famous after people started reporting miracles and attributing it mystical healing powers. In 1881 the Montserrat Madonna was crowned in accordance with Canon Law and proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII. Its fame still attracts flocks of pilgrims who come to the sacred mountain either to take part at the monks’ daily celebrations of Mass and recitations of the Liturgy of the Hours either to visit the Basilica, next to the monastery, to see La Moreneta.

Sacred Cave: this is where they evidently found La Moreneta. There's a replica there now.

The Holy Grotto (Santa Cova) were the statue was discovered by the shepherds  can  be visited by following the walking paths or taking the funicular.

Montserrat, Spain-Hike to Capella de Santa cova (Sacred Cave)

Another attraction point of the Monastery is the 50 member Escolania, one of the oldest and the most famous boys’ choir in Europe. The choir dates back from the 13th century. At 1 pm daily you can hear them sing "Salve Regina" and the "Virolai" (hymn of Montserrat) in the basilica.

There are many stories about the black Madonna and the mountain, who many believe to be magic and some say she guards the Holy Grail, but we can never deny that she will always be the symbol of joy and hope for millions of her worshippers.

The Legend of Montserrat:  The "Moreneta"

 A legend of year 1239 tells that, at dusk from a Saturday of year 880, a great light descended from the sky, and whose brilliance left ecstatics young shepherds that contemplated the event; formidable brilliance was accompanied of beautiful angelic melody as background music. Following Saturday the children returned to the same place of the event accompanied by their parents, and the moving vision was repeated; the same it happened four following Saturdays, when it accompanied the vice-chancellor of Olesa de Montserrat, and all together stated the same and surprising stellar wonder.

The bishop, who by those then was in Manresa, would not take in having the news of the happened thing in the mountain and this one did not doubt in raising its top to verify the facts with its own eyes; in the expedition a natural cavern was discovered: Santa Cova, in whose interior they found an image of Maria with the Boy in his lap, with the face and hands of black color.

Gotmar, the bishop of Vic, did not doubt in proposing that outside transferred to Manresa; but it was as soon as to remove it from the interior of the cave, when the image became so heavy that there was no form to move it of the ground; the interpretation for the bishop was easy: the will of the Virgin was to remain in that sacred place; reason why it endorsed the divine will and it decided to construct a chapel so that Maria was venerated in the mountain of Montserrat.

According to the legend, “the Moreneta” (the brunette),  was carved in wood burned by the effect of a ray, by the same San Lucas in Jerusalem and brought to Catalonia by San Pedro, later being deposited in the church of San Justo, to be venerated by Santa Eulalia and San Oleguer; the image, well-known like “the Jerosolimitana”, would be hidden at the beginning of century VIII because of the Muslim invasion, taking it to Montserrat, where it would be hidden in Santa Cova, remaining there hidden until the 880, year of the phenomena of the strange lights.

This is the legend but the truth is that many historians have done hypotheses about this subject, and the most accepted is that the Virgin was hidden in the cave by some monks to avoid that the Muslims found it and burned it. Some years after, some pastors saw a shooting star and they found the cave and the statuette. The bishop built a monastery and the rest of the story is a legend.

SAINT CUGAT STORY