"Abraham's Path"

Barbara Elliot, Ph.D., Among First in World to Walk “Abraham’s Path” in
the Middle East

In November 2006, a unique, inspiring event literally took its first major steps towards creating greater appreciation and understanding among the world religions shared by half the world's population:  Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  Only one Minnesotan, a professor from the University of Minnesota Medical School — Duluth Campus, was involved. 

Barbara Elliott, Ph.D. professor in the Family Medicine department joined a delegation of 20 scholars and leaders from ten countries who walked for the first time, along the Abraham Path — a route that retraces the footsteps of the prophet Abraham through the heart of the Middle East.  Elliott and her colleagues were part of the Abraham Path Initiative and their goal:  to build awareness, to study and inspire the idea of opening of a permanent route for tourism that follows Abraham's life through the Middle East, and to obtain advice about how to proceed.  All 20 shared the heritage of a common belief in the prophet Abraham:  they were part of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. 

The Abraham Path Initiative is an international affiliation of scholars, religious leaders, social entrepreneurs, and eco-tourism experts. Harvard University's Global Negotiation Project is the sponsor and auspice for the project.  Other project support and funding came from individuals, organizations, and foundations in Brazil, France, Holland, Italy, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Pakistan, the UK and the US.  Affirmations of support have come from, among others, Nobel Peace Prize winners Jimmy Carter and the Dalai Lama.

From a story printed in  The Harvard Crimson, William L. Ury, Director of the Global Negotiation Project at Harvard and Chairman of the Board of the Abraham Path Initiative, said that "bringing believers of the Middle East's major faiths together to pay homage to their common ancestor might contribute to greater understanding of the tensions between them.  '[The route] can be a catalyst for intercultural interaction on a large scale, so that people can understand the roots of the problem as well as the roots of civilization itself.'"

Read Dr. William Ury's letter on the close of the tour.  

About Dr. Elliott's Experience

Barbara Elliot, Ph.D. a medical school professor, is also a Kellogg National Leadership Fellow, and it was through Kellogg that she was invited to be among the first to travel Abraham's Path.   The W. K. Kellogg Foundation provides seed funding to leverage the expertise of people like Elliott to serve communities and catalyze change.  Elliott's research focuses on social justice issues in health care settings. Currently most of her research evaluates outcomes of access to health care for at-risk youth. In 2007 she was awarded the University of Minnesota's Outstanding Community Service Award. Read more...

"While the goals of the Abraham Path Initiative were not for medical research or educational purposes, it was amazing to me how often I encountered situations that brought me back to my work." reflected Elliott.  "I observed people doing the best they could to survive just like here: shoe shine boys in Damascus; women and families struggling with everyday living. There were smiles, tears, joy and sadness. The relationship to my work (access to health care, quality of life, and the health consequences of violence and poverty) was everywhere. The questions we face and struggle with here in our community and that I have researched for years, are universal concerns. The Abraham Path offered me another opportunity to see and experience our common humanity."

As Ruth Westra, DO, head of the department of Family Medicine in Duluth said, "Understanding other cultures is very important to medical students who will be encountering people from other countries everyday as doctors.  Barb's experience allows us to learn more without having to travel ourselves.  We are looking forward to hearing more about her experiences in our lecture halls."

The People and the Way

Elliott and fellow participants traveled on bus and foot through parts of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.  The actual path they followed was a path documented in the Qu'ran and Bible. They visited communities, mosques, sacred sites, shops, bazaars, and people in their homes.  After completing Abraham's route with a visit to Hebron/El Khalil where he is buried, they also visited Jerusalem and saw the Wailing Wall, Temple Mount, and the Holy Sepulcher. 

Along the route the group consulted with a wide range of leaders, including deputy prime ministers, ministers of tourism, governors, mayors and parliamentarians, university presidents and scholars; muftis, patriarchs, imams, bishops and rabbis; business leaders and of course the heads of many non-government organizations.    

Two experiences among many are "top of mind" for Elliott as she describes her experiences.  In Damascus, she and two other companions encountered a shoe shine boy and his brother.  One of the women who spoke Arabic asked the young boy to shine her shoes and then used the time to inquire more about his life.  "That was probably the first time this boy had ever shined the shoes of a woman," remembers Elliott.  "And this was probably going to be his life – surviving by shining shoes on the streets."   

Elliott remembers other special encounters with women and families and the experience of seeing and touching the manger in the Church of the Nativity just before the Christmas holiday.  Concerns for safety were top of mind in some locations, she said, but for the most part the group traveled without fear. 

In another special encounter, Elliott and companions were shopping in a bazaar examining a variety of Muslim prayer beads being sold by a vendor.  A man watching the group introduced himself and then joined their circle and proceeded to teach them how to "pray the beads."   Once satisfied they had learned, he left the group and went on his way.  "It was one of those chance encounters with a stranger," Elliott said, "that truly bonds people together in a very special experience that will be a lifetime memory."

What is Next for Dr. Elliott? 

Image descriptions:
top left:  Standing at a barricade in Hebron/El Khalil.  Barbara Elliott, PhD, Professor, University of Minnesota Medical School – Duluth Campus; Martha Gilliland, Ph.D., Director of Strategic Partnerships and Advancement and member of the leadership team of the Abraham Path Initiative; and Tyler Norris, President of Community Initiatives Inc. 

middle right:  The group hiking in the countryside in north central Syria, near the community of Ebla where there is an ancient archaeological site.

bottom left:  The group hiking in the desert in southwest Syria on their way to an Arabic-Christian monastery, MarMousa al Habashi (translation: the monastery of Moses near Habashi).