Haran (Place)

Haran is a city of northern Mesopotamia. It is first mentioned in Genesis 11:31 as the destination of Terah, Abraham’s father, when he migrated from Ur. It was Terah’s home until his death. At age seventy-five, Abraham was commanded by God to move from Haran to a land that God had for him (12:1-4).
There were relatives who remained in Haran, however. It was to them that Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, fled in fear of Esau (Genesis 27:42-43). Jacob stayed in Haran many years while serving his Uncle Laban and acquiring Leah and Rachel as wives, as well as many sheep and goats, servants, camels, and donkeys (30:43).
This “city of Nahor” (Genesis 11:27-29; 24:10; 27:43) was established in the third millennium BC, and its location on a branch of the Euphrates soon made it an important commercial center. Perhaps the ancient trade route that linked Damascus, Nineveh, and Carchemish passed by Haran. Ezekiel mentions trade between Haran and Tyre (Ezekiel 27:23). Haran was an Aramean city and was famous for its worship of the lunar gods, Sin and Nikkal. This system was an offspring of the cult found in Sumerian Ur. Sin and his consort, Nikkal were revered not only here but throughout Canaan and even in Egypt. The cult persisted past New Testament times, its temple finally being destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century AD It is little wonder that God commanded Abraham to leave this seat of idolatry. Modern Harran preserves the ancient cuneiform spelling of the name (see KJV “Charran,” Acts 7:2, 4).

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