Urfa - Birket Ibrahim

To the south of the medresesi in Urfa lies the Birket Ibrahim, Abraham's Pool or sometimes Halil Rahman Gölü. It is linked with other ponds in an adjoining park and fed by water from the so-called Spring of Roha at the foot of the citadel. A legend surrounds the "holy" fish which can be found in the pool and are fed by visitors. On his way from Ur to Canaan in the 18th/19th century B.C. when many nomadic tribes were heading west from Mesopotamia, Abraham stopped in Urfa. The cruel King Nimrod wanted to burn him at the stake because of his monotheistic beliefs, but God intervened to save him and a violent storm swept him and the embers into the air. He landed comparatively gently in a specially-created pool together with the ashes and glowing embers. These turned into holy carp whose descendants are now fed chick peas and lettuce leaves by visitors.