HARAN, otherwise CHARKE in Mesopotamia, a city celebrated for having been the place where Abraham first retreated after he left Ur (Gen. xi. 31, 32); and where Terah, Abraham's father, died and was buried. Thither it was likewise that Jacob retired to Laban when he fled from the indignation of his brother Esau (id. xxvii. 45. xxviii. 10, &c.). Lastly, at Haran or Charke in Mesopotamia, Crassus the Roman general was defeated and killed by the Parthians. Haran was situated between the Euphrates and the river Chebar, at a good distance from the place where these two rivers join.