Harran is situated at an important geographical crossroad, both between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and at the border between the ancient Mesopotamian and Anatolian cultures. The earliest known settlements in the region surrounding Harran date to 10000–8000 BC and settlements in its close vicinity are known to have existed by 6000 BC.[1] The region initially shifted between the control of the Sumerians and Hittites before being occupied by ancient Semitic-speaking people around 2750 BC.[2] The earliest written records concerning Harran suggest that the city itself was founded c. 2500[3]–2000 BC[4][5] as a merchant outpost by traders from the Sumerian city of Ur.[4][5]

Harran was from early on associated with the Mesopotamian moon-god Nanna (later known as Sin)[4] and soon became regarded as a sacred city of the moon.[6][7] The Ekhulkhul ("Temple of Rejoicing"),[8] Harran's great moon temple, was already present in the city by c. 2000 BC.[9] Sin was a major deity in Ur, which also housed his main temple,[10] but Harran's devotion to the moon can perhaps also be explained by its geography and climate. According to Donald Frew, the sun was a natural enemy in the hot and desolate landscape surrounding Harran whereas the night (and thus the moon) were more comforting.[4] The sun-god Shamash is however also thought to have had a temple in Harran. Another prominent deity in the city was Sin's son Nusku, the god of light.[11]

Although next to nothing is known of the architecture and layout of Harran prior to the Middle Ages,[12] the city is believed to have been designed according to a vaguely moon-shaped plan[6] since Medieval sources allude to this. What kind of moon shape is meant by the sources is not clear.[13]

The religious authorities of Harran, speaking on behalf of Sin, were considered suitable guarantors and signatories in political treaties. Already c. 2000 BC, a peace treaty was sealed in the Ekhulkhul between Mari and the Banu Yamina, an Amorite tribe. Further treaties signed that invoke Sin of Harran include a 14th-century BC treaty between Šuppiluliuma I of the Hittites and Shattiwaza of Mitanni, and an 8th-century BC treaty between the Assyrian king Ashur-nirari V and Mati'ilu of Arpad.[9]

Harran grew into a major Mesopotamian cultural, commercial and religious center.[3] In addition to its religious importance, Harran was also important due to its strategic placement on an intersection of trade routes.[14] Because Harran had an abundance of goods that passed through its region, it often became a target for raids.[15] In the 19th century BC, the lands surrounding Harran were occupied by confederations of semi-nomadic tribes.[5] In the following century the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I (r. 1808–1776 BC) is recorded to have launched an expedition to conquer the region around Harran and secure the trade routes there from hostile forces.[15] After the fall of Shamshi-Adad I's kingdom in the early 18th century BC, Harran was an independent city-state for a time; archives from Mari from the time of Zimri-Lim (r. 1775–1761) record that Harran in his time was ruled by a king named Asdi-Takim.[16] Harran was later incorporated into the Mitanni kingdom in the 16th century BC.[16]

Harran was conquered from Mitanni by the Assyrian king Adad-nirari I (r. 1305–1274 BC).[4][17] The city would not be firmly incorporated into Middle Assyrian Empire until the 1100s BC,[18] before which it was often occupied by Arameans.[11] Under Assyria, Harran grew into a fortified provincial capital second in importance only to the capital of Assur itself. In the 10th century, Harran was one of the few cities, along with Assur, to be exempt from needing to pay tribute to the Assyrian king[19] and in the 9th and 8th centuries BC, Harran was made the seat of the turtanu, the Assyrian commander-in-chief.[17]

Since Harran was the sacred city of the moon-god, many Mesopotamian kings travelled there to receive the blessing and confirmation of their rule from the city's religious officials and in turn renovated and expanded Harran and its temples.[4] The Ekhulkhul was renovated twice in the Neo-Assyrian period by the kings Shalmaneser III (r. 859–824 BC) and Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC).[7] Prophecies made by prophets and oracles of the moon cult of Harran were held in high regard; in the 670s BC the Harranians correctly prophesied that Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC) would conquer Egypt and Sasi, a usurper proclaimed king by the Oracle of Nusku from Harran, managed to rally widespread support in the empire before he was defeated. The reign of Esarhaddon in particular marked the rise of the Ekhulkhul into one of the most prominent religious sanctuaries in the ancient Near East, a position it would retain for centuries.[20]

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was defeated in the late seventh century BC by the newly established Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Medes. The Assyrian capital of Nineveh fell in 612 BC but the remnants of the Assyrian army, led by Crown Prince Aššur-uballiṭ II, rallied at Harran.[21] Harran is therefore typically regarded as the short-lived final capital of ancient Assyria.[22][23] Aššur-uballiṭ II underwent a coronation ceremony at Harran, being invested with rulership by Sin.[21] After a long siege lasting from the winter of 610 BC to early 609 BC, Harran was captured by the Babylonians and Medes, ending the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[24] The Ekhulkhul was destroyed by the Medes at this time[25] and was neglected for many years[26] but was eventually restored by the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus (r. 556–539 BC),[7] who was from Harran.[27] The city itself was also significantly revitalised in Nabonidus's reign.[28]

After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, Harran was successively under the control of the Achaemenid (539–330 BC), Macedonian (330–312 BC) and Seleucid (312–132 BC) empires.[4][29] Under the Seleucids, Harran largely functioned as a military colony[29] and from the time of the Macedonian conquest onwards, many Greeks settled in Harran. Under the centuries of Hellenic control, Harran gradually underwent some Hellenization of its culture.[30][a] After the collapse of the Seleucid Empire, Harran became part of the Kingdom of Osroene in 132 BC,[29] ruled by the Nabatean Arab Abgarid dynasty[31] and most frequently a vassal state of the Parthian Empire.[29] Abgarid rule may have encouraged the local moon cult; the moon was important in both the ancient Bedouin and Nabatean Arab religions.[26]

From the first century BC until the end of antiquity, Harran was typically located near or on the border of the Roman (later Byzantine) and Parthian (later Sasanian) empires. Harran frequently changed hands between the two empires but was in practice often more or less independent.[4] In 53 BC, the city was the site of the Battle of Carrhae between the Romans and Parthians, in which the Parthian general Surena defeated and killed the Roman triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus,[2] one of the worst military defeats in Roman history.[4] Osroene (and thus also Harran) first came under Roman control as a result of the wars of Lucius Verus and Avidius Cassius in 162–166 AD. Harran gained colonial status under Emperor Septimius Severus in 195.[29] Sources from Roman times describe Harran as a fortified garrison town.[29][32] In 217, the Roman emperor Caracalla was murdered in Harran while visiting the temple of Sin.[29][32] Harran, along with the nearby cities of Nisibis and Hatra, were captured by the Sasanian king Ardashir I in 238–240 but was swiftly retaken by Emperor Gordian III.[33] Later in 296, Harran was also the site of a battle where the future emperor Galerius suffered a crushing defeat against the Sasanian king Narseh.[34] In the writings of Ammianus Marcellinus (359), it is noted that the walls of Harran were in poor condition. This issue was not rectified until repairs conducted in the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565).[35]

From the time of the Christianization of Mesopotamia and Syria until long into the Middle Ages, Harran developed a rivalry with the nearby city of Edessa due to the cities having polarised attitudes concerning Christianity. Whereas Edessa adopted the new religion very early, Harran remained a pagan stronghold for centuries[26] and became the largest center of pagan cults in eastern Syria.[36] Harran was still overwhelmingly pagan in the 4th century, to the degree that the bishop appointed to Harran in 361 refused to reside in the city and instead lived in Edessa.[26] Despite its paganism, Harran was a site of interest to Christians since the city is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the town where Abraham and his family stopped on their way from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan.[18]

The last pagan Roman emperor, Julian (r. 361–363) intentionally avoided the Christian Edessa[36][26] and instead stopped at Harran in 363 to consult the oracles of the moon temple on his upcoming Persian campaign.[37] Although it is known that Sin was still worshipped at Harran in this time[30] Julian is curiously stated to have consulted the female moon deity Luna.[32] The oracles warned the emperor of impending disaster but Julian proceeded anyway and was killed in the war. Harran was the only city in the Roman Empire to declare citywide mourning after Julian's death.[4] Later sources indicate that the deities worshipped by the pagans of Harran in late antiquity included Sin, Bat-Nikkal (consort of Sin; a different name from his ancient consort Ningal),[30] the "lord with his dogs" (identified as a localised version of the god Nergal), Tar'atha (identified with the Syrian goddess Atargatis), Gadlat (an Arabian goddess), and perhaps Shamash.[26] Though Sin had in the past been the only major deity in Harran, he was by this point only the most important of several different ancient gods.[18]

The pagans of Harran became an issue in the increasingly Christianised late Roman Empire. As late as the early 5th century, the theologian Theodoret wrote that Harran was "a barbarous place, full of the thorns of paganism".[26] At the Second Council of Ephesus (449), the Bishop of Harran, Stephen, was accused of accepting bribes from pagans to let them practice their rituals in peace.[36] Harran was briefly captured by the Sasanian king Khosrow I in 549, who exempted the city from paying the tribute he demanded from Edessa on account of Harran not being Christian like his enemies but rather a stronghold of the "old religion".[26] The endurance of paganism at Harran in the Christian late Roman Empire is likely only explainable through the pagans there offering regular bribes to church officials and civil administrators in the region.[36] In 590, Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) ordered the Bishop of Harran, Stephen, to persecute the pagans of Harran. Many who refused to convert to Christianity, including the governor Acindynus, were executed.[37] By this time, the Christians and pagans of Harran lived in separate quarters of the city.[35]

Maurice's persecution of the pagans of Harran had little effect on the strength of the pagan community and Harran remained a largely pagan city.[38] When the armies of the Rashidun Caliphate, led by the general Iyad ibn Ghanm, besieged Harran in the winter of 639–640 it was the pagans of the city who negotiated its peaceful surrender.[37] Ibn Ghanm is recorded to have given the pagans of Harran a new moon temple after the capture of the city.[39] Harran under Islamic rule became one of the most important settlements in the Diyar Mudar district.[6] In 657, Caliph Ali asked the Harranians to aid him against Mu'awiya I, the first Umayyad caliph, but the Harranians instead sided with Mu'awiya at the Battle of Siffin in the same year. In response, it is said that Ali enacted a brutal massacre in Harran, exterminating most of the inhabitants.[37]

Under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), Harran was renovated[6] and prospered once more.[37] In 717, Caliph Umar II founded the first Muslim university at Harran, bringing many scholars from other cities in the caliphate (including Alexandria) and installing them in Harran.[4] Harran was made the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate under its last caliph, Marwan II, from 744 to 750.[3][40] The reason for Marwan moving his court to Harran is not known,[41] but might be either to better monitor the troublesome eastern provinces of the caliphate[6] or due to the anti-Christian sentiment of the city's pagan population,[42] who had never been disloyal to the Umayyads.[41] The move of the capital to Harran caused some outrage; the Banu Kalb tribe saw it as an abandonment of Syria and under Yazid ibn Khalid al-Qasri besieged the former capital of Damascus before being suppressed.[43] Harran did not continue to function as a capital under the succeeding Abbasid Caliphate, though the city enjoyed some special privileges. When Al-Mansur (r. 754–775) ordered the destruction of the walls of all cities in northern Mesopotamia, Harran was a notable exception.[42]

The Harran University[b] underwent its golden age in the 8th century, particularly under the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809).[3][c] Many prominent scholars of this time were educated at the university in subjects such as mathematics, philosophy, medicine and astrology. The university was also an important site for translations of documents from Syriac and Greek into Arabic[3] and Harran flourished as a center of science and learning. Al-Rashid furthermore supplied Harran with a new water supply, constructing a canal from the Balikh River.[6] At some point, Neoplatonism was introduced to Harranian intellectuals, though the precise timing is not clear. It might have been brought to Harran by the scholar Thābit ibn Qurra in the late 9th century, who could have learnt Neoplatonism in Baghdad. Alternatively, Neoplatonism might have been brought to Harran as early as the 6th century by Neoplatonists such as Simplicius of Cilicia, who fled persecution in the Byzantine Empire.[44]

The local Harranian religion continued to develop as a blend of ancient Mesopotamian religion and Neoplatonism[35] and Harran remained notorious for its strong pagan traditions long into the Islamic period.[6] The city retained a highly heterogenous population that practiced many different religions. Some adopted syncretistic faiths tolerable by the Muslims, others continued to honor the old deities of ancient Mesopotamia and Syria, and some primarily worshipped the stars and planets.[45][d] The Harranian pagans considered themselves the heirs of ancient star-worshipping civilizations such as Babylonia, Greece, India, Persia and Egypt.[46] In addition to pagans, Harran was also home to Muslims, Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Zoroastrians, Manicheans, and other groups.[47]

In 830, Harun al-Rashid's son Al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) arrived at Harran with an army on his way to raid in the Byzantine Empire[18] and intended to destroy the city due to its large pagan population. Al-Ma'mun asked the populace if they were Muslims, Christians or Jews ("people of the book" protected under Islamic law). Unable to claim that they were, the people of Harran instead claimed that they were "Sabians", a mysterious religious group also protected according to the Quran but who no one at the time knew who they were.[4] Upon being inquired who their prophet was, the Harranians claimed that their prophet was the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus.[48] There were many Islamic writers who saw through the claims of Harranians and still considered them to be pagans and not Sabians, and thus lacking any special right to toleration or protection.[49] In 933, the Harranian pagans were ordered through a decree to convert to Islam, but a visitor to the city in the following year found that there were still pagan religious leaders operating a remaining public temple. Toleration of the pagans at Harran appears to have been renewed in the late 10th century.[50]

The power of the Abbasid Caliphate and its vassals in the region around Harran (the Hamdanid dynasty) declined at the end of the 10th century. A new local Arab dynasty emerged during this time, the Numayrid dynasty, who ruled a small realm with Harran as its capital from 990 to 1081.[41] The toleration of paganism at Harran was at last revoked for the final time under the Numayrids in the 11th century and the last moon temples were closed and destroyed. The precise date when this happened and the events surrounding it are unknown, perhaps coinciding with the city falling under the control of the Fatimid Caliphate[50] in 1038 through the submission of the Numayrid ruler Shabīb ibn Waththāb,[51] or with a failed rebellion in 1083.[50] In 1059,[41] the Harran Castle, presumably constructed in Byzantine times,[52] was rebuilt and strengthened by the Numayrid ruler Manīʿ ibn Shabīb.[41] By the 1180s, Harran was fully devoted to Islam with little to no traces of its former moon cult.[50][e]

In the late 11th and early 12th century, political control in northern Mesopotamia and Syria was fragmented. Harran was an important city to the various local Muslim rulers as a counterweight to the nearby crusader states. Numayrid control of Harran came to an end in 1081 when the city was captured by the Uqaylid dynasty. It was then under the control of various Turkish princes; first Jikirmish of Mosul (1102–1106), then the Artuqids of Mardin (1106–1127) and then the Zengid dynasty, which captured Harran under Imad al-Din Zengi in 1127.[53]

In the 12th century, Harran at times fell under the influence of the County of Edessa, a short-lived crusader state. There is no record of the crusaders ever conquering Harran but the Harran Castle preserves remnants of a Christian chapel with distinct crusader architecture, perhaps suggesting a peaceful crusader presence. The growth of Edessa under Christian rule contributed to the decline of Harran. Edessa is higher up the water table than Harran and as more wells were constructed in Edessa, those in Harran gradually dried up.[4] Harran was in the 12th century still renowned for its ancient origins; a now lost work by Hammad al-Harrani made the claim that Harran had been the first city founded after the great flood.[54]

Despite the threat of water scarcity, Harran continued to be an important town under the rule of the Ayyubid Sultanate, which followed the Zengids.[55] Saladin (r. 1174–1193) at some point enlarged Harran's Grand Mosque [tr][6] and thereafter granted Harran to his brother Al-Adil I (later sultan 1200–1218). Al-Adil later gave Harran to his son Al-Kamil (later sultan 1218–1238). Harran was then under the rule of Al-Kamil's brother Al-Ashraf Musa 1202–1228/1229, after whose death the city steadily declined in importance.[f] Harran was captured by Khwarazmians in 1237, driven from their homeland following the fall of the Khwarazmian Empire, but the castle was retained and fortified by the Ayyubid ruler As-Salih Ayyub though he soon had to give it up to broker a deal with the Khwarazmians for military aid against Badr al-Din Lu'lu' of Mosul. Harran was later regained from the Khwarazmians by the Ayyubids in 1240 by An-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo.[56]

Harran was captured by the Mongol Empire under Hulagu Khan in 1259[56] or 1260[6][55] through the peaceful surrender of its governor.[56] The Harran Castle, as was traditional placed under a different governor, continued to resist for some time until one of the towers were breached.[56] Under the Mongols, Harran continued to flourish for a few years as a major urban center.[2] Mongol control of Harran was immediately contested by the Sultanate of Rum[2] and the Mamluk Sultanate.[55] The Mongols decided to abandon Harran in 1271,[4][57] deporting the population to the nearby cities of Mardin[57] and Mosul.[55] Accounts differ concerning the reason for the abandonment and the state in which the city was left. One account states that the city had been damaged in a battle against the Turks in the year prior, motivating the abandonment,[2] whereas another states that the Mongols themselves caused the damage during the abandonment.[55] The Mongols are also variously stated to either have simply walled up the gates but otherwise left what remained intact[4] or to have pillaged the city for building materials before burning down the remnants.[55] One major reason for the abandonment was likely the decreasing water supply. It was impossible to sustain the population size of Harran with its water storage systems in disrepair and its wells no longer producing enough water.[58] Another possible reason for the abandonment was the difficulty to retain and defend Harran and the little strategic value offered by the city in return.[56]

Harran was regained from the Mongols by the Mamluk Sultanate later in the 1270s.[55] The Mamluks repaired the castle at some point, most likely in the 1330s or 1340s,[59] and it became the seat of a local military governor,[55] but there was otherwise little effort spent on trying to revive the city.[6] By this point Harran was no longer on any of the major trade routes.[59] A small village-sized settlement sprung up at the site, probably in the immediate vicinity of the castle.[55] The space within Harran's city walls gradually filled up with dirt and sand through natural means. Over the centuries, few structures remained above the soil; the castle survived owing to its position on a hill and its continued usage. The remnants of the mosque were also kept clear due to its religious and historical significance.[4]

Under the Ottoman Empire, which captured the region in the early 16th century, Harran was the capital of a nahiyah (a local administrative unit composed of a group of villages).[55] The demolished Harran University was repaired under the Ottoman sultan Selim I (r. 1512–1520) though it again declined in importance after his reign.[3] The Ottomans continued to use the castle, and also built a new smaller mosque in the southern part of the city, but Harran gradually declined over the course of Ottoman rule and was eventually entirely abandoned as a permanent settlement.[55]

Harran has over the last five hundred years mainly been used as a temporary settlement by local nomadic societies.[3] One of the major semi-nomadic tribes that have continuously lived in and around Harran since the Middle Ages and still today are the Nmēr,[g] descendants of the medieval Numayrid lords of the city.[60] By the 1840s, Harran had once more become a semi-permanent village settlement, although the inhabitants spent the summer months encamped outside the village to avoid vermin in their houses.[55] By the middle of the 20th century, Harran comprised about a hundred houses, inhabited by semi-settled nomadic Arabs, most of whom still did not stay at the site for the duration of the entire year. The city's ancient water systems had long fallen into disrepair and Harran in the 20th century had only a single source of drinking water, Jacob's Well, about 1.6 kilometres (0.99 miles) west of its walls. Although six wells were still operational within the ancient walls they only produced brackish water and were thus only useful for providing water to animals. The water at Harran had perhaps been contaminated from seeping saltpeter from its ancient ruins.[61]

Since the middle of the 20th century, Harran has re-transitioned into a permanently inhabited settlement due to local advancements in irrigation and agriculture.[3] Particularly important in this development was the Turkish Southeastern Anatolia Project, launched in the 1970s, which through irrigation efforts transformed the formerly dry desert plains surrounding Harran into productive agricultural fields.[62] Harran received its own plan for future development in 1992.[63] The ruins of the ancient city were placed on the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey in 2000.[64] Accelerated economic and demographic growth in Harran is expected to in the future once more transform Harran into an important local center.[62] Economic issues caused by the Syrian civil war across the nearby Syrian border has recently caused many Harranian families to migrate elsewhere for work, such as to the cities Urfa (ancient Edessa), Adıyaman and Gaziantep.[65]

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