Beehive’ Adobe Houses Of Ancient City Of Harran, Upper Mesopotamia

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.om - Harran was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia, situated at a crucial geographical crossroad between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. It had a strategic location at the border between the ancient Mesopotamian and Anatolian cultures.

En Sarouj (Hama). Image credit: upyernoz - CC BY 2.0

The city was famous for the temple of the Moon-god Sin and the defeat of the Roman general Crassus in 53 BC ("Battle of Carrhae"). Today, Harran is famous for its traditional 'beehive' adobe buildings that were cool inside and constructed entirely without wood. Their design has not been changed for at least 3,000 years. The history of the ancient Harran's "beehive" adobe houses goes back in time. Rich is also Harran's history.

The city was founded in an area occupied by two trade routes between Syria, Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia.  In this city, Abraham's father, Terah, settled down after leaving Ur. (Leviticus 11:31: the city was called Haran).

From the third millennium BC until medieval times, Harran (in Roman, Carrhae) was an important trade center located on the road from the Mediterranean Sea to the heart of Assyria. Abraham stayed there while on his voyage from Ur

Before the reign of Sennacherib (704–681 BC), the king of Assyria from 705 BC to 681 BC was mainly known for his military campaigns against Babylon and Judah; Harran rebelled against the mighty Assyrians.

Harran dome houses. Image credit: Acar54  - CC BY-SA 3.0

The Assyrians reconquered the city, as mentioned in 2 Kings 19:12 - "Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?  Isaiah 37:12. says that it was deprived of many privileges, which were later restored. The sanctuary of Ehulhul in Harran was later restored by Assyrian rulers like Shalmaneser III ("the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent").

He ruled Assyria (859–824 BC) and was known for his constant and successful campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, and the nations of Mesopotamia, Syria, and another prominent figure, Ashurbanipal (668-631 BC). The earliest records of Harran come from Ebla tablets (late 3rd millennium BC).

From these, it is known that an early king or mayor of Harran had married an Eblaite princess, Zugalum, who then became "queen of Harran," whose name was frequently mentioned in ancient documents. It appears that Harran remained a part of the regional Eblaite kingdom for some time.

Royal letters from the city of Mari in the middle of the Euphrates have confirmed that the area around the Balikh river remained occupied in c. the 19th century BC. A confederation of semi-nomadic tribes was especially active around the region near Harran then.

Harran is also mentioned as the provincial capital of the Assyrian empire (until the late seventh century BC). God Sin and his moon sanctuary were closely associated with Harran until the third century CE. But Sin was not the only god worshiped in this ancient city; there were others, such as the Syrian goddess Atargatis, god Sin's consort Ningal, and the Arabian goddess Allat ("Mrs. God").

 

Beehive homes in Harran, Turkey. Credit: Adobe Stock - Philipp Berezhnoy

Modern people mainly associate Harran with the city's dome-like structures known as “beehive houses.”  Wood is rare in the Harran region because of the area's dry climate. People built their houses with materials they could find easily, like adobe, brick, and stone.

The Harran conical houses served people for a very long time. They first appeared around 3000 years ago.

The beehive homes are wonderfully cool places in the desert heat. Their thick mud brick (adobe) walls effectively trap the cool and, at the same time, keep the sun out. Beehive homes have few windows.

The high domes collect the hot air, moving it away from the ground floor, keeping the interior around 75°F (24°C) while outside extremes range from 95°F (35°C) to 32°F (0°C). Each dome is built from approximately 1,400 adobe bricks. The nomadic lifestyle and the climatic conditions forced people to adopt a building form that could be constructed easily, like a tent, but perfectly resists heat and cold.

The door and window openings are few and small to minimize the sun's glare and the movement of hot and cold air day and night.

The roofs have a high heat capacity (the ability to store heat) to absorb the sun's rays during the day and slowly release it to the interior during the cool night. The roof slopes steeply to shed the occasional but heavy rains.
Julian Huxley, the traveler and author, described beehive homes as built of "unburnt mud or clay, with the floor slightly raised above the soil outside, spotlessly clean, with a recess for cooking and attractive decorations in bright tinsel paper on the walls. Though only a few yards in diameter, its high conical roof gave it a sense of space".
The beehive homes survived for thousands of years. They constitute a genius design of ancient people who knew how to build to resist the stresses of strong winds and withstand earthquakes, strong wind, storms, and heavy seasonal rains. It is the reason why these buildings are still in use today.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

Updated on February 4, 2024

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