HARAN.
height 7 feet 3 inches, and thickness from 1 foot 4 inches to
2 feet.
The ruins of Haran (properly Charan) are about 20 miles
S.E. by S. from O'rfah, and consist of a bath, a castle, the
remains of a temple or church; and near them is the well of
Rebecca.
The royal river of Strabo, the Basilius, passes through the
ruins of Carrhse ; 1 and its banks in the neighbourhood have
become remarkable, in consequence of the victory gained
over the Romans by the Parthians.2 The desponding
Crassus, on discovering subsequently that. Surena, the Parthian
commander, had deceived him by entering into a treaty,
commenced his retreat towards the Zeugma of Commagene;
in which attempt the general, and about 30,000 Romans, met
that fate, which from henceforth will find a parallel in our
history.
The West Gate of Hâran, drawn by Lieut. Eden, R.N.
Haran, the resting-place of the patriarch on his journey
to Palestine, is called a city of the Sabeans,3 and it had a
sovereign as late as 1199 ; 4 but the scarcely less ancient city
of O'rfâh took, and still retains its place.
Strabo, lib. XVI., p. 747.
Langhorne’s Plutarch, Vol. III., pp. 313, 314, &c. London, 1774.
Ibn Haukal. MS. Translation of Mr. Rassam.
De Guignes, Histoire des Huns, Vol. I., p. 345.
i 2