On today’s agenda was time to explore the Beehive houses of Harran followed by a free afternoon back in Urfa. The Day began with the best buffet breakfast in all of Eastern Turkey. At least five kinds of olives, yoghurt, hot food, and more. (The little things are so important on the long road traveled…)

On the bus by 8:30a for the 50km/31 mile ride to Harran minus two group members who had been dreadfully sick all night. We’re talking barfing sick. Unfortunately, ex-Marine and I have both been there, done it, too many times to count. This made me begin to scrutinize food in earnest along with not wanting to eat for the next several days. Oz said IF our group continued in this manner, we could set a new record for the least amount of people ill on an Eastern Turkey trip. Urfa has a reputation for being the place this happens to most frequently. Ugghhhrrr. Do not want to develop the Turkish variety of tourista.

Passing through new Harran, a young man, Ahmet, joined us on the bus for the short distance to the ruined Great Mosque, Ulu Cami for views and explanations…View image.

Harran is one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots dating back to the Early Bronze Age 3000 B.C.  A major commercial, cultural, and religious center inhabited by: the Assyrians; Carrhae under the Roman Empire; Hellenopolis in the Early Christian period; and Harran in the Islamic period. As a matter of fact, pieces of Roman stone were used in building Ulu Cami, the Great Mosque in the 8th century and we could pick out some of the detail.

Located in a prime and strategic location, Harran connected Assyria to Anatolia controlling this point on the ancient Silk Road. The most impressive ruin is that of Ulu Cami (Great Mosque) dating back to the Omayad period in the 8th century A.D. This mosque was a center of worship and study in the Islamic world and the oldest university in the world. Harran was a center for translating works of astronomy, philosophy, natural sciences and medicine from Greek to Syriac to Arabic and many noted scholars lived in Harran.

A vast site, it was almost impossible to really imagine how large the mosque area was with only the minaret…View image, arch and portions of the walls still standing…View image. Worshippers would have walked through the arch behind me in the photo below up to the area in which I was now standing. Quite a distance.

There was no time to walk among the ruins and explore. Down to a Beehive house complex where Ahmet’s family lived.