Editing Harran (section)

=== Later history (1271–present) ===
[[File:Harran 19th century.png|thumb|19th-century photograph of Harran|left]]
Harran was regained from the Mongols by the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] later in the 1270s.{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=32}} The Mamluks repaired the castle at some point, most likely in the 1330s or 1340s,{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=219}} and it became the seat of a local military governor,{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=32}} but there was otherwise little effort spent on trying to revive the city.{{Sfn|Bosworth|2003|pp=13–14}} By this point Harran was no longer on any of the major trade routes.{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=219}} A small village-sized settlement sprung up at the site, probably in the immediate vicinity of the castle.{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=32}} The space within Harran's city walls gradually filled up with dirt and sand through natural means. Over the centuries, few structures remained above the soil; the castle survived owing to its position on a hill and its continued usage. The remnants of the mosque were also kept clear due to its religious and historical significance.{{Sfn|Frew|1999}}

Under the [[Ottoman Empire]], which captured the region in the early 16th century, Harran was the capital of a [[nahiyah]] (a local administrative unit composed of a group of villages).{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=32}} The demolished Harran University was repaired under the Ottoman sultan [[Selim I]] ({{Reign|1512|1520}}) though it again declined in importance after his reign.{{sfn|Özdeniz|Bekleyen|Gönül|Gönül|1998|p=478}} The Ottomans continued to use the castle, and also built a new smaller mosque in the southern part of the city, but Harran gradually declined over the course of Ottoman rule and was eventually entirely abandoned as a permanent settlement.{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=32}}
[[File:Harran Ovası 25.09.2001 GAP-Bewässerungsoase.jpg|thumb|Part of the old town of Harran in 2001]]
Harran has over the last five hundred years mainly been used as a temporary settlement by local nomadic societies.{{sfn|Özdeniz|Bekleyen|Gönül|Gönül|1998|p=478}} One of the major semi-nomadic tribes that have continuously lived in and around Harran since the Middle Ages and still today are the ''Nmēr'',{{efn|''Nmēr'' is a dialectal form of ''Numair''.{{sfn|Rice|1952|p=83}}}} descendants of the medieval Numayrid lords of the city.{{Sfn|Rice|1952|p=83}} By the 1840s, Harran had once more become a semi-permanent village settlement, although the inhabitants spent the summer months encamped outside the village to avoid vermin in their houses.{{Sfn|Sinclair|1990|p=32}} By the middle of the 20th century, Harran comprised about a hundred houses, inhabited by semi-settled nomadic Arabs, most of whom still did not stay at the site for the duration of the entire year. The city's ancient water systems had long fallen into disrepair and Harran in the 20th century had only a single source of drinking water, Jacob's Well, about {{convert|1.6|km|mi|abbr=off}} west of its walls. Although six wells were still operational within the ancient walls they only produced [[brackish water]] and were thus only useful for providing water to animals. The water at Harran had perhaps been contaminated from seeping [[saltpeter]] from its ancient ruins.{{Sfn|Lloyd|Brice|Gadd|1951|p=|pp=82–83}}

Since the middle of the 20th century, Harran has re-transitioned into a permanently inhabited settlement due to local advancements in irrigation and agriculture.{{sfn|Özdeniz|Bekleyen|Gönül|Gönül|1998|p=478}} Particularly important in this development was the Turkish [[Southeastern Anatolia Project]], launched in the 1970s, which through irrigation efforts transformed the formerly dry desert plains surrounding Harran into productive agricultural fields.{{Sfn|Yiğiter|Yirmibeşoğlu|2011|p=148–149}} Harran received its own plan for future development in 1992.{{Sfn|Yiğiter|Yirmibeşoğlu|2011|p=150}} The ruins of the ancient city were placed on the [[Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey]] in 2000.{{Sfn|unesco.org}} Accelerated economic and demographic growth in Harran is expected to in the future once more transform Harran into an important local center.{{Sfn|Yiğiter|Yirmibeşoğlu|2011|p=148–149}} Economic issues caused by the [[Syrian civil war]] across the nearby Syrian border has recently caused many Harranian families to migrate elsewhere for work, such as to the cities [[Urfa]] (ancient Edessa), [[Adıyaman]] and [[Gaziantep]].{{Sfn|Changoiwala|2019}}