Situated on the very southernmost fringes of the formidable Toros (Taurus) Mountains -- with little more than low limestone spurs, clawing their way like broken fingers into the flat expanse of the Mesopotamian plain -- is the bustling bazaar city of Şanlıurfa.
Some 40 kilometers away to the south of it, just short of Turkey's border with Syria, the scattered remains of the ancient settlement of Harran shimmer in the heat of this vast, empty and austere landscape. Once a mighty walled city sitting astride the traditional trade routes crisscrossing Mesopotamia, it is now best known for the curious domed "beehive" houses rising above the tumbled ruins, which until quite recently were the homes of the Arabic-speaking villagers who occupy the site.
Mesopotamia is famed as the birthplace of civilization, the area where mankind first learned to cultivate crops and, later, live in cities. Stand on the remains of the citadel at Harran and gaze out to the south and you'll see a series of low but prominent "hills" rising above the flatness of the plain. These are tels (höyük in Turkish), or artificial mounds, comprising layer upon layer of the accumulated debris left by the rebuilding of a settlement on the same site -- many dating back to 5,000 B.C. and some much earlier.
Harran was clearly already a settlement of some importance when it was visited by the biblical figure of Abraham around 4,000 years ago. Revered by Muslims as a prophet, by Christians as a model of faith and Jews as a patriarch blessed by God, Abraham is a cornerstone of the monotheistic faiths. Appropriately enough given the continuation of nomadic pastoralism by the Arabs hereabouts to this very day, Abraham was a shepherd. En route from Ur of the Chaldeans (in modern Iraq) to the land of Canaan, he stopped off here. It must have been to his extended families' liking, as some of them, including his brother, stayed behind. Later, unable to find a wife for his son Isaac locally, he sent word to his distant relatives in Harran and they came up with Rebecca.
In the centuries following Abraham's departure to Canaan, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians held sway in Harran. In 53 B.C. the famous Roman general Crassus, at that time one of the Triumvirate ruling Rome along with Pompey and Caesar, met a very sticky end near Harran (or Carrhae, as it was known to the Romans). Anxious to prove his military muscle and line his pockets with plunder, Crassus, newly appointed governor of the wealthy Roman province of Syria, decided to try his luck against Rome's arch rivals to the east of their empire, the Parthians (a Persian dynasty). Despite superior numerical odds, Crassus and his legions were undone by a combination of punishingly hot weather and the Parthians' famous bowmen. Over 20,000 Romans died, one of the most catastrophic defeats in Rome's history. Crassus himself was captured and brought before the Parthian commander Surena. Appalled by Crassus' reputation for greed, Surena came up with a fitting reward for Crassus, who was killed by having molten gold poured down his throat.
Things didn't go much better for another notable Roman, this time the Emperor Caracalla. In A.D. 217, campaigning in the area against the Parthians, he decided to seek the blessings of the moon god Sin, whose temple is almost certainly beneath the medieval remains of the citadel in Harran. Struck down with a stomach bug (not an unusual occurrence in this area even today) en route from Şanlıurfa to Harran, he sought relief behind some wayside bushes. Caught with his trousers (or rather tunic) down, he was helpless to prevent a member of his Praetorian guard, angry that he had been overlooked for promotion, from cutting him down.
Of course trying to find the exact site of Crassus' defeat, let alone the bushes where Caracalla met such an embarrassing end, is nigh on impossible. Things improved for today's visitor with the arrival of the Arabs in the seventh century. They took control of the city from the Byzantines (despite the strengthening of the city walls by the Emperor Theodosius in the sixth century) and, under the Umayyad dynasty, Harran became, briefly, capital of the entire Islamic world. The remains of the massive Ulu Camii, built during the reign of Marwan II (744-50), still stand in splendid isolation in the middle of the old walled city. This, the first mosque ever built on what is now Turkish soil, is of typical Arab design (based on the Prophet Muhammad's house in Medina) with a large open courtyard centered on the şadırvan (ablutions fountain) and a large, rectangular prayer hall divided into four aisles. The layout of the mosque, which for the most part stands only to a few courses of stone high, is best seen from the dusty mound to the south. Currently being excavated by a team from Ankara, the buildings being unearthed from beneath the mound are thought to be from the palace of Marwan and his successors, and from the school of medicine for which Harran was famous. The monumental square minaret on the northeast corner of the courtyard, with its lower sections of well-cut stone blocks, the upper of brick, was taken for a church belfry by Lawrence of Arabia when passing by in 1909.
Destroyed by Mongols in 1260
Although the mosque was rebuilt by the Ayyubid dynasty (of whom the most famous member was that scourge of the Crusaders, Saladin) in the 12th century, Harran's glory days were over, and in 1260 it was destroyed by the Mongols. The settlement then entered a period of decline from which, with the turning on of the irrigation taps of the colossal Atatürk Dam in the mountains far to the north, it is only just beginning to emerge. Indeed, in the 19th century the place was only seasonally inhabited by wandering Bedouin tribes. When the British missionary Reverend Percy Badger came in 1843, he wrote: "On the projecting angles of this ruined edifice the Arabs have erected their conical huts with the bricks which are scattered about most plentifully in this enclosed space. Not far from the castle is a small eminence literally covered with several hundred of these quaint habitations, some of which consist of three cones, whilst others have no more than one. All are now deserted, the Arabs having taken to their tents to escape the vermin which infest them during this season."
The beehive-shaped houses survive in some quantity today, much to the delight of visiting photographers, but are now mainly used to house animals. A visit here is as much one to a village as to an ancient site, and ethnically Arab kids, ranging from the cute to the downright pesky, follow you around trying to sell wall hangings made from dry chickpeas, or to beg pens or money. It's a tourist trap, but the substantial collection of beehive houses set around a shady courtyard and known as the Harran Kültür Evleri offer a respite from the heat, dust and kids. Here you can examine the inside of one of the domed houses and marvel at its clever construction and cool interior, drink a refreshing Turkish çay or a tiny cup of the local specialty, mırra, a scented, bitter coffee. Owner Reşat, a tall and distinguished Arab, with a gold tooth and flowing Bedouin robes, is very welcoming.
It's worth exploring the citadel, in the southwest corner of the old walled city, with three of its four original polygonal towers still reasonably intact, though take care as there are several gaping holes in the upper floors of the structure. It's possible that under the masonry you see today, much of it dating only from the Mameluke period, there are the remains of a Sabian temple (a second is thought to lie under the mound behind the Ulu Camii). Sabianism, mentioned in the Quran, was the dominant religion in Harran from around 1,500 B.C. until A.D. 11th or 12th century. Accused of human sacrifice and orgiastic rites by some early Christian commentators, the Sabians worshipped the planets, especially the moon god Sin. They prayed three times each day -- at sunrise, noon and sunset, and used a different temple each day, one for each of seven celestial deities -- the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. No one is sure what happened to the Sabians, though some believe that the Mandaeans of today's Iraq derive from this once powerful faith.
Harran is one of those places that is far more than the sum of its parts, where you sense history as much as see it. Towards sundown the shadow cast by the minaret of the great mosque lengthens across the broken, earth-covered remnants of this once mighty settlement. The shattered walls and towers of the citadel wrap themselves in a dark mantle and the gangs of village kids, with sun-bleached hair and piercing green eyes, slip away home for their supper. The curves of the domed "beehive" houses are silhouetted dramatically against a vast orange-pink sky and, with nightfall quickening, the sky purples, then darkens and a blanket of stars emerges, blurrily coruscating against a soft, black Mesopotamian sky.
[QUICK TIPS]
How to get here
There are regular flights to Şanlıurfa from İstanbul and Ankara. Dolmuşes run to Harran from the terminal in Şanlıurfa and take around an hour, or hire a taxi.
Where to stay
There is plenty of accommodation in all categories in Şanlıurfa, but to make the most of Harran, stay at the air-conditioned Bazda Motel (Tel: [414] 441 2001) in the village just outside the western walls or, if you have a sleeping bag, the Harran Kültür Evleri.
Guides and reading matter
"The Rough Guide to Turkey," "Blue Guide Turkey" and "Lonely Planet Turkey," "The Nestorians and Their Rituals" by Reverend George Percy Badger.
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