Şanlıurfa

CHAPTER VI.

In the line of country stretching from Tarsus eastwards to Urfa there is a series of stations of the American Mission Board.

Travelling as we did in the direction of this line, we made these stations our stages, and hired horses and men afresh at each place.

at tarsus we camped in the playground of the mission school run by dr christie on the evening of our arrival out of the taurus mountains we were eating off spotless cloths with knives and forks and were singing onward christian soldiers with a hundred armenian and greek students the plunge out of rough travelling into these oases of civilisation is very sudden and the contrast gives a full meaning to the advantages and disadvantages of both forms of existence the missionaries are the embodiment of hospitality they know also what the discomforts of our journey have been for they have gone through much the same experience themselves in order to arrive at their present homes and so we find hot baths awaiting us and fresh supplies of hairpins buttons are sewn on and the clothes sent to the wash we are started off on the road again clean and tidy and with a linen bag full of home-made white bread which will see us through many days We also carry with us thoughts of the splendid work which is being done by them and of the hardship and danger many of them have gone through in carrying out this work of education among these Eastern Christians.

were going on like that for ever we stumbled suddenly out of our stony track on to it where it ends abruptly in the middle of nowhere the native does not walk on it much he prefers the soft places at the margin where the caravans also shunning it still make wobbly tracks at one place where it passes through a deep gully

the bank has been made up to make a more level run but even here as we rode over it we noticed an old man and a boy driving

a couple of mules slowly crawling up the narrow path down below which marked the line of the original road We could see Urfa some little way ahead of us, and wondered whether the missionaries would have heard of our arrival through their friends at Intab, for the post travelled quicker than we did.

It had passed us days ago, borne at a gallop by two mounted men.

CHAPTER VI.

In the line of country stretching from Tarsus eastwards to Urfa, there is a series of stations of the American Mission Board.

Travelling as we did in the direction of this line, we made these stations our stages, and hired horses and men afresh at each place.

At Tarsus we camped in the playground of the mission school run by Dr. Christie.

stealthily on the other side of the canvas a hard broad high road runs ostentatiously some miles out of erfa on the side which we were approaching from the town it looks as if it were going on like that for ever we

stumbled suddenly out of our stony track on to it where it ends abruptly in the middle of nowhere the native does not walk on it much he prefers the soft places at the margin where the caravans also shunning it still make wobbly tracks at one

place where it passes through a deep gully the bank has been made up to make a more level run but even here as we rode over it we noticed an old man and a boy driving a couple of mules slowly crawling up the narrow path down below which marked the line of the original road We could see Urfa some little way ahead of us, and wondered whether the missionaries would have heard of our arrival through their friends at Intab, for the post travelled quicker than we did.

It had passed us days ago, borne at a gallop by two mounted men.

I was leaving there and remembering the story of Adam and Eve first manifesting on the plains of Haran, which is very nearby Gobekli Tepe.

And as we were driving back to Sanliurfa, I was doom-scrolling on X, and here comes this blow-up with the anthropic guy saying, AI is going to wipe us all out by 2030.

And as we're driving along the road, here's this beautiful Kurdish family with their children walking along the side of the road, and I'm thinking, Well, who's going to tell them? And I realized just the fragility of this moment that we're in right now and also the importance of everyone using their voice to make sure that we are steering the good ship of humanity to the shore that we're actually seeking.

And I've heard you say that there's never been a time in history where we've seen this convergence of prophecies manifesting.

And you go to countries like Turkey, Erdian, for all his faults, has invested heavily in promoting the civilization of Anatolia.

You go to small cities like Gaziantep or to Urfa, and they have brand new spanking museums with modern television screens and beautifully lit cases.

Go to India, they have brand new airports everywhere.

But the museums are crappy 1950s things that are falling apart and badly lit, and the strip lights haven't been changed for 30 years, and it all looks a mess.

Read by Paul Welford.

Royal Progress In the line of country stretching from Tarsus eastwards to Urfa there is a series of stations of the American Mission Board.

Travelling as we did in the direction of this line, we made these stations our stages, and hired horses and men afresh at each place.

At Tarsus we camped in the playground of the mission school run by Dr. Christie.

We pick our belongings ruefully out of the little trickling streams of thick liquid and make a meager meal by soaking bits of native bread in what remains.

Then we get to bed as best we can, and all night long the wind howls and the tent flaps and the dogs sniff stealthily on the other side of the canvas.

A hard, broad, high road runs ostentatiously some miles out of Urfa on the side which we were approaching.

From the town, it looks as if it were going on like that forever.

Mm.

But we have to pass through Şanlıurfa to get to Zerzevan Castle.

So we're gonna spend a couple-

Yeah

Royal Progress.

In the line of country stretching from Tarsus eastwards to Urfa, there is a series of stations of the American Mission Board.

Traveling as we did in the direction of this line, we made these stations our stages, and hired horses and men afresh at each place.

At Tarsus we camped in the playground of the mission school run by Dr. Christie.

We pick our belongings ruefully out of the little trickling streams of thick liquid, and make a meagre meal by soaking bits of native bread in what remains.

Then we get to bed as best we can, and all night long the wind howls and the tent flaps and the dogs sniff stealthily on the other side of the canvas.

A hard, broad, high road runs ostentatiously some miles out of Urfa on the side which we were approaching.

From the town it looks as if it were going on like that forever.

Can it be that the day is not far distant when this one will join hands with its brother through the barrier we have crossed and tearing through these silent plains and the rugged fastness of these great hills, destroy the mystery over which they have so long kept their sacred guard? End of chapter 5 Chapter 6 of By Desert Ways to Baghdad by Louisa Jebb Wilkins This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Read by Paul Welford Royal Progress In the line of country stretching from Tarsus eastwards to Urfa, there is a series of stations of the American Mission Board.

Travelling as we did in the direction of this line, we made these stations our stages and hired horses and men afresh at each place.

At Tarsus we camped in the playground of the mission school run by Dr. Christie.

We pick our belongings ruefully out of the little trickling streams of thick liquid and make a meager meal by soaking bits of native bread in what remains.

Then we get to bed as best we can, and all night long, the wind howls and the tent flaps and the dogs sniff stealthily on the other side of the canvas.

A hard, broad, high road runs ostentatiously some miles out of Urfa on the side which we were approaching.

From the town, it looks as if it were going on like that forever.