| For centuries, Muslims have flocked to Mecca, Jews have traveled to the Western Wall, and Christian pilgrims have followed the Stations of the Cross..
But this time they will have a common reason to walk together in the Middle East. It is called Abraham’s path. It is a path by which future tourists might follow the footsteps of Abraham—the father of monotheism who is claimed as an ancestor by Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Baha’i.
The Abraham Path would begin in Harran / Sanliurfa, Turkey—which many Biblical scholars believe to be the location where Abraham first heard the call to “go forth from your country,” as the Book of Genesis recounts—and would end 1,100 kilometers to the southeast, at Abraham’s tomb in the West Bank city of Hebron. Highlights include important religious sites such as the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Passing through Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories, pilgrims and tourists could travel the route on foot, by bus, or by car.
The aim of the Abraham Path Initiative is to inspire and assist the opening of a route for tourism and walking that retraces the footsteps of the Prophet Abraham.
The Abraham Path will link sites of historic and religious significance through the heart of the Middle East. Along this itinerary of outstanding natural beauty and cultural interest, travelers will visit some of the most revered sites in the world.
WHY ABRAHAM? Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and the Baha’i faith are all considered Abrahamic traditions, a classification that includes over half of the world’s actively religious population. Abraham, whose life is narrated in Genesis, is a central patriarch in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and is described as a prophet in the Qu’ran. Abraham is also thought to be an ancestor of Baha’u’llah, the nineteenth-century |
