Haran - Clickable Map of the Roman Empire - First Century AD

Haran
R-7 on the Map

Ancient Haran (Carrhae): (Modern Harran) Haran was located 600 miles northwest of Ur. It was on the caravan route between the east and the west. When Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees on his journey to the land of Canaan, Haran was the place where Abraham stayed until his father Terah died Gen. 11:31. The Bible also mentions that Haran was the home of Laban and where Jacob stayed for 14 years, Gen. 27:43; 28:10; and it was part of the Assyrian empire, 2 Kings 19:12; and that it was a trading city, Ezek. 27:23.

Carrae or Carrhae (Κάρραι). The Haran or Charran of the Scriptures; a city of Osrho�n� in Mesopotamia, where Crassus met his death after his defeat by the Parthians, B.C. 53. See Crassus. - Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers.

Gen. 11:31 - And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

Gen. 27:43 - Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

Gen. 28:10 - And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

2 Kgs. 19:12 -Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Thelasar?

Ezek. 27:23 - Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, [and] Chilmad, [were] thy merchants.

Haran is the name of three men and of a place in the Bible, and is also a Hindu name. It means 'life' in the Sanskrit language. Though usually spelled identically in English, the name is spelled differently in Hebrew when applied to the men than it is when applied to the place. Genesis records that a man named Haran (Hebrew: הָרָן) was born and died in Ur of the Chaldees. He was a son of Terah and brother of Nahor and Abram (the later Abraham). Haran was the father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. According to Genesis, sometime after Haran's death Terah set out with Abram, Abram's wife Sarai, and Lot towards Canaan, along the way settling in the place called Haran (also spelled Charan; Hebrew: חָרָן). After the death of Terah in Haran (also related in Acts 7:4), Abram, Sarai, and Lot continued on to (southern) Canaan, current-day Palestine. The city of Harran, in modern southern Turkey (32 km/20 mi southeast of Şanlıurfa, formerly Edessa) near the border with Syria, is believed to be the Haran of the Biblical accounts. Another Haran is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:46. He is a son of Caleb (great-grandson of Judah son of Jacob) and father of Gazez. A third individual, Haran son of Shimei, was a Levite who lived in King David's time and had some kind of important religious or political role. - Wikipedia

Haran CARRHAE
CARRHAE (Κάρραι, D. C. 37.5, 40.25; Strab. xvi. p.747 ; Ptol. 5.18.12; Steph. B. sub voce Ammian. 23.3; Plin. Nat. 5.24; Flor. 3.11; Eutrop. 6.15; Lucan 1.104; Kapat, Isid. Char.; HARAN or CHARRAN, O. T.; Κοραία ἡ ἐν Βατάνη LXX., Genes. 11.31, 24.10; J. AJ 1.16; Zonar. Annal. p. 14), a town in the NW. part of Mesopotamia, which derived its name, according to Stephanus, from a river Carrha in Syria, celebrated in ancient times for its Temple of Lunus or Luna (Anaitis, Spartian. Carac. 7; Ammian. 23.3; Herodian. iv.), and a colony said to have been founded by the Macedonians, and still more as the scene of the celebrated overthrow of Crassus by the Parthian general Suraena. (Strab., Dio Cass., Plut., ll. cc.) Ammianus states that Julian here secretly invested Procopius with the purple, in case that fate should befall him.
It has been generally supposed that Carrhae represents the place which in Sacred history is called Haran or Charran; a view which seems to be supported by the spelling of the name in Josephus, Zonaras, &c. (ll. cc.) It is also stated that the name still remains in the country, though the place is now deserted. (Niebuhr, vol. ii. p. 410; Pococke, vol. ii. p. 235.) Several coins exist, in which Carrhae is spoken of as a colony and a metropolis. They belong to the times of Alexander Severus and the Gordians. One of M. Aurelius is curious, as it bears the inscription Καρρηνων φιλορωμαιων. There appears to be some doubt about the correct name of the neighbourhood on which the town of Carrhae was situated. Stephanus (s. v. Βόγχαι) speaks of a river Cyrus, between which and the Euphrates this place stood. It is most likely that Carrha was the true name, and Cyrus the mistake of some transcriber of the MSS.  - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith, LLD, Ed.