The museum contains remains of Şanlıurfa (known as Edessa in antiquity), Harran (another ancient city which lies 44 kilometres southeast of Şanlıurfa), and ruins found in the hydroelectric dam reservoirs of Atatürk Dam, Birecik Dam and Karkamış Dam.

The museum is on Haleplibahçe street, close to Balıklıgöl, a sacred pool. The museum opened in 2015, and replaced the former museum of Şanlıurfa on Çamlık street. With a closed area of 34,000 square metres, it is one of the biggest museums of in Turkey.

The museum consists of two major sections. To the north is the mosaic section and to the south is the archaeology section which is a three-storey building. In addition to exhibition halls there are offices, a museum lab, a library, restaurants, markets and a playground for kids.

In the ground and upper floor there are four exhibition halls. The first exhibition hall is reserved for Assyrian, Babylonian and Hittite artifacts. In the second and third halls, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age items such as stone tools, terracota ceramic tools, stamps, pithoi, necklaces, figurines, metallic tools, ornaments, and idols are exhibited.

One of the most important items is a 9500-year-old sculpture which is the oldest-known life-size human sculpture. In the ethnographic section, clothes, silver and bronze ornaments, handworks, doors with epitaph, examples of calligraphy, and hand written Korans are exhibited. In the yard, there are various archaeologic items.