Saturday, May 19

Road Map of Southeast Turkey

From Cappadocia we travel to Sanliurfa (ancient Urfa; renamed Edessa by Seleucus I Nicator in the fourth century BCE).  Urfa is known as the sacred "city of the Prophets" because of its traditional connection with Abraham and Job.  Edessa is famous as the capital of an early Christian dynasty, one of whose kings, Abgar I, is alleged to have carried on a correspondence with Jesus!

We'll do our best to make time for a stop in Antioch, home base of the Apostle Paul's missions, where today one of the finest Roman mosaic museums now resides.  Later we will get our first view of the Euphrates River as we cross into Mesopotamia and there will always be opportunities along the way for coffee, çay (tea) and playing frisbee with the station attendents.

Overnight: Sanliurfa