Balıklıgöl is in Şanlıurfa, known as the City of Prophets. When it comes to Şanlıurfa, Balıklıgöl comes to mind. The source of the lake is in the karstic origin water group. The sources consist of Eocene Period limestones. In historical sources, this lake was dedicated to Atargatis, the goddess of fertility in ancient times. When Atargatis had a child out of wedlock, she could not stand the pressure of society and threw herself into the sea. The water could not bear to kill her and she became a goddess, half fish, and half woman. Lakes and fish became sacred. But the most well-known myth belongs to Islamic mythology. 

The Reign of King Nimrod

Because of his devotion and faith in God, God calls Abraham Khalilim. Halilim means "my friend". The other name of Balıklıgöl is Halil-ür Rahman, which means Friend of Allah. King Nimrod lived in and around Şanlıurfa. This king, who oppressed his people, declared himself a god and ordered him to be worshipped. He had statues built for his people to worship him. Nemrut had a dream one night and had his dream interpreted by soothsayers. One of the priests said that one of his sons born that year would kill him. In this way, he says, idolatry will end and his reign will come to an end.

The Fate of Abraham

Hearing this, Nimrod had his soldiers slaughter all the male children born that year. One of his soldiers, Azer, brings his pregnant wife Nuna Hatun to a cave near Urfa Castle. She gives birth here and names the child Ibrahim. But the woman has to leave her child here because she is afraid of the king. When she comes to visit her child, she sees him being raised by gazelles. Soldiers find the child, who looks like a young boy even at 15 months old, in the forest. King Nimrod loves Abraham very much because he has no children and adopts him.

Seeing King Nimrod's cruelty to his people, Abraham begins to hate him. Finding the worship of idols meaningless, Abraham gradually develops a belief in God. He begins to share these ideas with the people. Meanwhile, Nimrod adopts a daughter named Zeliha. Zeliha also loves Abraham and adopts his ideas.

Abraham and King Nimrod Face to Face

Abraham smashes the idols with an axe while everyone is at the ceremony. He puts the axe around the neck of the biggest idol and leaves. The news spreads and Nimrod is furious. He cannot believe that an idol can do this. Abraham explains that the idols are just pieces of stone and that it is not right for him to force his people to believe in them. This conversation does not go well. Nimrod orders Abraham to be thrown into the fire and killed. Prophet Abraham is catapulted to the two pillars of today's Urfa Castle and thrown into the fire. But the moment he is thrown, the fire turns into water and the wood turns into fish. The fish have black spots on them. It is believed that these black spots are caused by the burning of the wood. Because of this situation, Zeliha's tears form a lake. This lake is called Ayn-ı Zeliha, which means Zeliha's tears.

The End of Nimrod

All these events enraged Nimrod even more. He does not stop denying God. According to the belief, Allah sends a fly with a broken wing. And this fly enters Nimrod's head through his ear. Nimrod's head hurts because of the fly, but no solution is found. Nemrut starts hitting his head with a wooden mallet to eliminate the pain. When the pain reaches an incredible level, he hits his head hard and ends his life in this way.

Having such a legend makes the lake even more popular. Even today, people consider the fish in the lake sacred. It is believed that if anyone touches the fish, they will die or something bad will happen to them. In addition to Islamic stories, Balıklıgöl has also been the guest of Jewish and Christian legends. Whether you believe the legends or not, Balıkgöl certainly has a magical atmosphere.