Sanliurfa: Golbasi

We found the Golbasi sight, at the foot of Sanliurfa's citadel, parked there, and spent a few hours in the environs, the pools from which Abraham was saved from King Nimrod (Nemrut) and the cave of Abraham's birth. All this, needless to say, is holy ground for the Abrahamic religions, although some--Christians--appear to claim that the Ur (SanliURfa) where all this happened was the Sumerian Ur, some hundreds of miles south of here, at the bottom of Iraq. Quite a different story. We are going with the Muslim interpretation, attempting to navigate carefully between the Charybda of religion and the Scylla of tradition. Nevermind history.

Golbasi is a beautiful public park, below the citadel, adjoining the bazaar, and 
containing a variety of holy sites; the pool (um, reconstructed) in which, 
according to tradition, Abraham was saved from the wrath of Nimrod

Clothing is really different in southern Turkey, especially as 
one gets closer to Arab culture; the women all wore these

sparkling sequined dresses--sparklettes, we called them--and 
the men the "baggy" pants

Sparklettes posing in the Rose Garden; the one on the right had just removed her 
head-gear...

At a shop in Golbasi: if your eyes are the only thing that are going to show, 
make the most of it!

Entrance to the Cave of Abraham (where he was born), the Abraham Mosque, 
with the Citadel and its Roman columns in the background

Entrance to the Cave (men's: I had the camera and really wish I could have taken 
a picture of Vicki in the garb she wore to get in the women's side); we felt very 
privileged to be allowed in this place--no one said a word, no one raised an 
eyebrow, despite the fact we plainly are tourists, and most of the others are there 
on pilgrimage; everyone kissed the sign above the door; everyone collected a bit 
of  water from the spring; many prayed; Muslims, at least here in Turkey, are very 
generous with their sites

Abraham's Cave

Holy water