Carrhae

Toponymy

The ancient Assyrians called the city Huzirina. Ḫarrānu was Hellenised to Kárrhai (Κάῤῥαι) in the Hellenistic period. The Romans later Latinised the Greek name into Carrhae. Due to the prominence of both Harran and Carrhae in historical literary sources, some scholars use the compound name "Carrhae-Harran" for the ancient city. Under the Byzantine Empire, the city continued to be called Carrhae (Kάρραι) but was also sometimes referred to as Hellenopolis (Ἑλληνόπολις), "city of the pagan Greeks", in reference to the strong pagan traditions there.