Harran

Harran, also known as Carrhae, is a district of Şanlıurfa Province in the southeast of Turkey.

Traditional mud brick "beehive" houses in the village of Harran, Turkey.

Harran is an ancient city which was a major Mesopotamian commercial, cultural, and religious center. It is a valuable archaeological site. It is often identified as the place in which Abraham lived before he reached Canaan.

The city was the chief home of the Mesopotamian moon-god Sin, under the Babylonians and even into Roman times.

Carrhae is an ancient town on the site that doesn't exist anymore. It gave its name to the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC), fought between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire.

Harran's ruins are from Roman, Sabian, and Islamic times. T. E. Lawrence surveyed the site, and an Anglo-Turkish excavation was begun in 1951. Today, Harran is populated by Arabs.