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Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
The Legend of the Sacred Pool
Carved into the base of the mountain is the legendary birthplace of Abraham. The legend tells that Nimrod, pagan king of Urfa, dreamt that a child born in his kingdom would bring an end to his rule. In a bloodthirsty move echoing Pharaoh and Herod, Nimrod ordered all male children born that year to be killed. Abraham’s mother hid in a cave to give birth to Abraham, who spent the first seven years of his life there.
Years later, Nimrod held a festival outside of Urfa, leaving the city unattended. With the city empty, Abraham descended on Nimrod’s idols and destroyed all but the largest one. Nimrod returned and became enraged when he saw the destroyed idols and asked Abraham who was responsible for the destruction. Abraham feigned ignorance and suggested that Nimrod pose the question to the largest statue, as it may have destroyed the others out of jealousy. Nimrod retorted that it was only a statue, and could do no such thing of its own power. Abraham replied: “You yourself have said it. If the statue is powerless over the other statues, what power can it have over you?”
Carved into the base of the mountain is the legendary birthplace of Abraham. The legend tells that Nimrod, pagan king of Urfa, dreamt that a child born in his kingdom would bring an end to his rule. In a bloodthirsty move echoing Pharaoh and Herod, Nimrod ordered all male children born that year to be killed. Abraham’s mother hid in a cave to give birth to Abraham, who spent the first seven years of his life there.
Years later, Nimrod held a festival outside of Urfa, leaving the city unattended. With the city empty, Abraham descended on Nimrod’s idols and destroyed all but the largest one. Nimrod returned and became enraged when he saw the destroyed idols and asked Abraham who was responsible for the destruction. Abraham feigned ignorance and suggested that Nimrod pose the question to the largest statue, as it may have destroyed the others out of jealousy. Nimrod retorted that it was only a statue, and could do no such thing of its own power. Abraham replied: “You yourself have said it. If the statue is powerless over the other statues, what power can it have over you?”
Infuriated, Nimrod prepared a great fire on the ground below. He made a catapult of the castle’s twin pillars, and from there cast Abraham to the ground. But God saved Abraham: where he landed, a spring gushed forth (the spring is currently inside the Halil ul-Rahman mosque), and the firewood was transformed into fish—the sacred carp that swim in the Fish Lakes today.
Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
The sacred carps.
The sacred carps.
Mevlid-i Halil Cave - Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
It is beieved that Abraham was born in this Cave.
Mevlid-i Halil Cave - Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
Balikli Göl - The Pool of Abraham - Urfa
The place where Abraham fell down when he was thrown into fire.
The Lake of Ayn Zeliha - Urfa
Named after Nimrod’s daughter who, depending on the version of the story, either jumped after Abraham (and her fire too, turned into water),
or whose tears over Abraham’s fate turned into the lake.
The coals of the raging inferno turned to fish, and their descendants still swim lackadaisically through the pools enjoying their sacred status.
Catching the fish is strictly forbidden, with dire warning that violators will go blind.
Another myth associated with the lake says that if you glimpse the one and only white fish in the pools, your wish comes true.
Karakuş Tumulus (Women's Monument Tomb) Located at Adiyaman-Kahta enterance in south-west of the National Park ,
the Monumental Tomb was built by Commagene's King Mithradates II and was dedicated to his mother Isas.
Because of the symbol of eagle on the top of the columns, it was named as Karakuş(Black Bird) Tumulus.
Cendere Koprüsü - Severan Bridge - Kahta - AdiyamanThe bridge was built by four Commagenean cities in honor of the Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus (193–211), his second wife Julia Domna and their sons Lucius Septimius Bassianus Caracalla and Publius Septimius Antoninius Geta as emanating from an inscription in Latin on the bridge.
Mount Nemrut - Kahta - Adiyaman
High mountain in Southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century BC.
In 62 BC, King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene built on the mountain top a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues (8–9 m or 26–30 ft high) of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, Armenian, and Iranian gods, such as Vahagn-Hercules, Aramazd-Zeus or Oromasdes (associated with the Iranian god Ahura Mazda), Bakht-Tyche, and Mihr-Apollo-Mithras. These statues were once seated, with names of each god inscribed on them. The heads of the statues have at some stage been removed from their bodies, and they are now scattered throughout the site.
In 1987, Mount Nemrut was made a World heritage side by UNESCO.
Mount Nemrut - Kahta - Adiyaman
Mount Nemrut - Kahta - Adiyaman
Mount Nemrut - Kahta - Adiyaman
Mount Nemrut - Kahta - Adiyaman
Sunset - Mount Nemrut - Kahta - Adiyaman
High Speed Explosions Photography
High speed, or "flash" photography is an art, widely used in scientific research, which also has a dedicated following among those wanting to "blow things apart" in the most elegant way possible. It's not easy to come up with a perfect shot... consider 1200ft/sec average speed of a bullet, plus a synchronizing laser, hi-tec flash setup and a fancy camera-work. The following is "the best of" gallery from a few masters of the genre.
Stefan, a.k.a. Fotofrog has a gorgeous set, where fruits and some vegetables get blown to smithereens, together with some tableware:
(images credit: Stefan - Fotofrog)
Crayons from Spyzter:
(image credit: Khuong)
Shattered glass lamp:
("Shattered Glass" by Raniel)
Peeled banana (and more from Jasper Nance)
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Antibacterial soap bar:
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Unfortunate? doll:
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Hot tomato:
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Bullet through a bottle:
(image credit: Johnny Lee)
"Pulsetronics" is UK company specializing in high-speed photography, mostly for science research. They also have a few artistic gems there:
Full Magnum Force:
(image credit: Arya Abidi)
Two spherical shock waves are visible on this "schlieren image" (an interferometric technique used to study the distribution of density gradients within a transparent medium). A serious weapon with considerable force, but nothing a good solid bottle of beer couldn't do:
(images credit: Stefan - Fotofrog)
Crayons from Spyzter:
(image credit: Khuong)
Shattered glass lamp:
("Shattered Glass" by Raniel)
Peeled banana (and more from Jasper Nance)
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Antibacterial soap bar:
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Unfortunate? doll:
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Hot tomato:
(image credit: Jasper Nance)
Bullet through a bottle:
(image credit: Johnny Lee)
"Pulsetronics" is UK company specializing in high-speed photography, mostly for science research. They also have a few artistic gems there:
Full Magnum Force:
(image credit: Arya Abidi)
Two spherical shock waves are visible on this "schlieren image" (an interferometric technique used to study the distribution of density gradients within a transparent medium). A serious weapon with considerable force, but nothing a good solid bottle of beer couldn't do: