RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Hanover Hardenbergr
potamia, situated in the valley of the Upper Balich, early celebrated as a seat of worship of the moongod. Its ruins, three English miles in circuit, lie a day's journey southeast of Urfa-Edessa. The etymology of the name is obscure; the Assyrian form of the word, Harranu, connects it with the word for road, and with its location on the caravan route between Syria and the East.
Sources for the pre-Assyrian history of North Mesopotamia unfortunately still lie buried in the mounds of the valleys of the Chabor and the Balich. Slight investigations by Layard along the Chabor brought to light some pre-Assyrian monuments. The course of Babylonian and Assyrian history shows that from prehistoric times North Mesopotamia was a region of great Babylonian-Semitic states; and Winckler places here the state of Kisshati, a region which gave one of the titles much used by Babylonian kings, of which region Haran was perhaps the capital and most important city. The " land of Haran " of the Assyrian inscriptions had great importance both for the commerce of Assyria and Babylonia and for the religious development of Assyria. The oldest reports of North Mesopotamia are in the Amarna Tablets (q.v.), and show the region as being at the time under the control of the Mitanni. The rule of the Mitanni was overthrown by Assyria 200 years later, when Shalmaneser I. assumed the title king of Kisshati. Tiglath-pileser I. hunted elephants in the land of Haran; Shalmaneser II. built a temple to Sin in the city. Later the district took part in the revolt against Assyria, and paid a heavy penalty therefor. After the downfall of Assyria the region came under Chaldean control, after devastation by the Umman- Manda, and Nabonidus rebuilt the city of Haran and the temple for the moon-god. In Christian times it was an important center of heathenism until the Middle Ages.
There are still indications in traces of roads of the importance of Haran for trade in early times, and Ezek. xxvii. 23 speaks of its commerce with Phenicia. Of its influence in religion over a large region there are monuments from near Aleppo and Senjirli.
According to the Old Testament, Haran in Aramnaharaim was the place of the theophany which directed Abraham to leave his country and kindred, of Eliezer's wooing of Rebekah for Isaac, of Jacob's fourteen years of servitude, and the place of departure of the migrations of the Terahites to Canaan. According to another tradition, Haran is merely the second point of departure, the original place being Ur of the Chaldees. The version in P, giving the derivation from Ur, is probably based on earlier reports in E, since not without cogent reasons would a narrator of that time derive the Hebrew origins from the land of their foes. The two traditions have a connection in so far as both cities were noted seats of the same cult, though in Ur the moon-god was called Nannar, in Haran, Sin. Laban is itself a poetical name for the deity of Haran, while Sarah recalls the Assyrian Sarratu, the consort of the moon-god, and Milcah, the name of the wife of Nahor, is reminiscent of the Assyrian malkatu, " princess," a title under which Ishtar was worshiped in Haran. A. Jeremias. V.— 10
Bibliography: D. A. Chwolson, Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, part i., St. Petersburg, 1856; J. Halevy, Melanges d'epigraphie, Paris, 1874; idem, in Revue semitique, 1894; E. Schrader, Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung, Giessen, 1878; idem, in KAT, pp. 29 sqq., et passim; R. Kittel, in Theologische Studien aus Wiirttemberg, 1886, pp. 193 sqq.; idem, Geschichte der Hebraer, pp. 135, Gotha, 1888, Eng. transl., London, 1895; Ainsworth, in PSBA, 1891, pp. 387 sqq.; A. Mez, Geschichte der Stadt Harran, Strasburg, 1892; H. Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, parts i.-ii., Leipsic, 1892; idem, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens, pp. 148 sqq., ib. 1892; A. H. Sayce, The Higher Criticism and the Monuments, London, 1894; H. F. Helmolt, Weltgeschichte, vol. iii., part 1, Leipsic, 1899; DB, ii. 301; EB, ii. 1961-63.
HARBAUGH, HENRY: German Reformed Church; b. near Waynesborough, Pa., Oct. 28, 1817; d. at Mercersburg, Pa., Dec. 28, 1867. After studying at Marshall College (1840-43), he held pastorates at Lewisburg, Pa. (1843-50), Lancaster (1850-60), and Lebanon (1860-63). From 1863 till his death he was professor of theology at the Mercersburg Seminary. He was a man of indefatigable industry, and a prominent exponent of the Mercersburg theology (q.v.). He edited the Guardian 1849-66, contributed to the Reformed Church Messenger 1861-67, edited the Mercersburg Review for some time before his death, compiled numerous almanacs for the board of publication of the German Reformed Church, and wrote a number of books. His more important works are: Heaven, or the Sainted Dead (Philadelphia, 1848); Heavenly Recognition (1851); The Heavenly Home (1853); Life of Michael Schlatter (1857); Fathers of the German Reformed Church in Europe and America (2 vols., 1857); Hymns and Chants (Lebanon, 1861), of which the best known is the hymn, Jesus, I live to thee; and the collection of poems written in " Pennsylvania German," called Harbaugh's Harfe (Philadelphia, 1870), which enjoyed a wide popularity.
Bibliography: Linn Harbaugh, Life of Rev. Henry Harbaugh, Philadelphia, 1900.
HARDENBERG, ALBERT RIZAEUS: German
Lutheran theologian; b. at Hardenberg (75 m. n.e.
of Amsterdam), Holland, 1510; d.
Early Life, at Emden (120 m. w. of Hamburg) May 18, 1574. His name was assumed from his birthplace; possibly the family name was Rizaus. At the age of seven he attended the school of the Brethren at Groningen, where Gesewin von Halen was his teacher (see Common Life, Brethren op the). There he must have learned the views of Wessel. In 1527 he went to the " red school " of the famous Aduard monastery, where he read diligently the classics, the Fathers, and, more than anything else, the Bible, and was also a close student of history. By 1530, when he entered the University at Louvain, he had become familiar with the writings of Wessel, and shrank from the quibbles of the scholastic theologians, though he had not consciously joined the Reformation. Although at Louvain the atmosphere was entirely against the Reformation, yet Hardenberg and his friends, through their private reading, became zealous advocates of the new ideas. When he had obtained his degree he left Louvain and turned his steps toward Italy, but, falling ill on the road, betook
Hardenberg- Hardt