Abraham Path


The Abraham Path is a cultural route connecting the storied places associated with Abraham’s ancient journey. Story, walking and hospitality are the cultural route’s central themes. The path focusses on the diverse communities living in the region that share a common heritage in Abraham/Ibrahim as an ancestor and that may identify his story as an important component of their cultural DNA. The path also demonstrates the power of walking: giving people perspective and remembering their origins; it’s a way to connect with others. The path is also a symbol of hospitality and kindness toward perfect strangers.
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~ The legend of Abraham ~

Abraham/Ibrahim is believed to have lived in the Bronze Age. He traveled with family and flocks throughout the Fertile Crescent, the Arabian peninsula, and the Nile Valley. His story has inspired myriad communities including Kurds, Muslim, Jews, Christians, Alevi, Bedouin, Fellahin, Samaritans, and countless across the world. The Abraham Path Initiative aims to build on this narrative of shared connection with its rich tradition of walking and hospitality to strangers.

History

The path was started in the first decade of the 21st century by the Abraham Path Initiative, a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, with a global network of partners. William Ury, negotiator and author of Getting to YES helped found the project at Harvard University's Program on Negotiation. Ury's TED Talk speaks about the beginnings of the path and the vision behind the Initiative. Ury says that every culture has an origin-story, and that the origin-story of the Middle East is about how a man and his family walked the Middle East about four thousand years ago. The Abraham Path Initiative is endorsed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and other international partners . The initiative is a non-profit, non-religious and non-political organization, whose mission is to support local partners in developing the Abraham Path as:

Overview of the current path

The main historical Abrahamic sites on the current Path are Urfa, Harran, Jerusalem, and Hebron.
Regions of the current path: