Place · Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia
Harran
Ancient names: Carrhae, Harran
A northern Mesopotamian center on the traditional route of Abraham's family toward Canaan.
36.8642°N 39.0319°E · representative coordinate · Pleiades 658457 ↗
Statements linked to this place
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According to the Bible, the Israelites did not begin as Canaanites but as outsiders: Abraham went with Sarah to Canaan, at God's command, from a region between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Even after settling they kept ties there: Abraham sends for a wife for Isaac in Mesopotamia, and Jacob finds Leah and Rachel there. Whether or not Abraham existed, the Bible registers a Near Eastern geography consistent with what is known from other sources. Mesopotamia hosted Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians, and Ur, an ancient city there, is probably the one named in Genesis 12 as Abraham's birthplace; Babylon is the Babel of Genesis 11.