HARRAN

   Cityin the northern plains of Upper Mesopotamia, in presentday southeastern Turkey, near Urfa. It was an important tradecenter, at a crossing of routes, as implied by its name (KASKAL, harranu), which means simply “road.”

   The city was first mentioned in the cuneiform tablets found among the merchant archives at Kanesh from the 19th century B.C. The Assyrians, who called it Huzirina, incorporated Harran into their empire in the eighth century. After the destruction of Nineveh in 612, it became the last Assyrian capital. Two years later the Medes conquered and sacked the city. Harran was also famous as a religious site, the seat of the moon god Sin. His temple, the Ehulhul (“House of Rejoicing”), was rebuilt several times by various Assyrian monarchs and finally, with vast expense, by the Babylonian king Nabonidus. No archaeological evidence of the temple has been found so far.