Harran University

After the conquest of Harran in 639, the Harran School continued its identity as a center of scientific research and a city of knowledge. A medical school, established in Harran by the Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, began providing education. Additionally, it is known that centers dedicated to philosophy, literature, and especially translation studies were also located in Harran. The year 744, when Harran became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, is an important date regarding the foundation of Harran University. During this period, the Grand Mosque, built for educational, administrative, and religious purposes, became the first structure that formed the basis of the university. In recent years, excavations carried out by the Archaeology Department of Harran University have uncovered some spaces within the Grand Mosque that were used for educational purposes. Harran's status as a capital was short-lived, but Harran University continued its scientific activities even after the end of the Umayyad Caliphate. Throughout the 8th and 9th centuries, Harran University served as a center that translated works on astronomy, philosophy, natural sciences, and medicine from Greek into Syriac and Arabic, transmitting the knowledge of the classical world to Arabic speakers. In this respect, Harran University can be considered the first multidisciplinary university in history. Many scholars in the fields of natural sciences, astronomy, and medicine were known to have originated from Harran. Among the notable figures of this period were Al-Battani, who calculated the distance from the Earth to the Moon, and Thabit ibn Qurra, who translated Greek classics and scientific works into Arabic and authored significant studies on mathematics and astronomy.