Near the start of his reign, most likely during his third regnal year (553), Nabonidus handed over the day-to-day management of the empire to his son Belshazzar and left Babylon, and, early in his fourth year as king (552), the Babylonian king took up residence in the Arabian oasis city Tēmā, an important caravan stop on the principal trade route linking Arabia to the Levant.[[45]] Exactly why Nabonidus decided to stay in Arabia for ten years is unknown,[[46]] but it may have been a combination of economic, political, religious, and strategic factors; many conjectures have been made about this period of Mesopotamian history, but none are entirely convincing.[[47]]
Little is known about Nabonidus' activities during this ten-year span of time. In his own words, he "walked the road between the cities Tēmā, Dadānu, Padakku, Ḫibrā, Yadīḫu, and (then) as far as Yatribu."[[48]] It is not entirely clear what that statement implies. According to the Verse Account, he set up a royal residence in Tēmā, from which he oversaw the administration of the region.[[49]] Archaeological and epigraphical evidence attest to Nabonidus' semi-permanent stay at Tēmā.[[50]] Belshazzar ruled Babylonia on Nabonidus' behalf, but, the Babylonian New Year's (akītu) festival could not be celebrated due to the king's absence.[[51]] For whatever reason, Nabonidus returned to Babylon, probably in his thirteenth (543) regnal year, and resumed direct control over Babylonia and its territorial holdings.[[52]]
45 As P.-A. Beaulieu (Nabonidus p. 169) has already pointed out, Nabonidus 47 (Ḫarrān Stele) "does not specifically say that Nabonidus lived ten years in Teima, but only that he 'wandered' ten years in Arabia." Therefore, the Verse Account is correct in stating that Nabonidus departed Babylon in 553 but is misleading since the text fails to report that the Babylonian army did not conquer Tēmā until his fourth year (552). Beaulieu (Nabonidus pp. 169 and 197), therefore, proposes that Nabonidus' sojourn started in his fourth year (552). H. Schaudig (Inschriften Nabonids pp. 18–19), however, suggests that it began already in his third year (553). M. Dandamayev (RLA 9/1–2 [1998] p. 8) and R. Da Riva (GMTR 4 p. 17) do not commit to a precise date and suggest that Nabonidus' sojourn could have begun anytime between his third (553) and sixth (550) regnal years and P. Michalowski (Studies Stolper p. 208) thinks that a departure between the third and the fifth is possible. For longer, more detailed studies of Nabonidus' stay in Arabia, see, for example, Beaulieu, Nabonidus pp. 149–185; and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids pp. 18–19.
46 According to Nabonidus 47 (Ḫarrān Stele) i 24–26a and ii 10b–11a, Nabonidus was in Arabia for ten years. According to a later Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus (Levine and Robertson, COS 1 pp. 285–286), he stayed in Tēmā for only seven years.
47 According to Nabonidus' own account from Ḫarrān (Nabonidus 47 [Ḫarrān Stele] i 14b–27a), he left Babylon because the citizens of Babylonia's most important cult centers, including Babylon, were impious (specifically, they had neglected the cults of the moon-god Sîn) and disease and famine broke out inside them as a result. These statements cannot be confirmed from other documentary evidence and, thus, should be taken with a grain of salt. Scholars have offered various suggestions, hypothesizing that the move was politically or strategically motivated, for religious reasons (linked with his purported preference for the god Sîn, which put him in opposition with the Marduk priesthood in Babylon), or on account of a conflict with his son Belshazzar. For a summary of the various proposals, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus pp. 178–185 (§3.2.3).
48 Nabonidus 47 (Ḫarrān Stele) i 24–26a.
49 Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 568 P1 ii 27´.
50 For example, see Eichmann, Schaudig, and Hausleiter, AAE 17 (2006) pp. 163–176; and Müller and al-Said, Neue Beiträge zur Semitistik pp. 105–122.
51 For details about Belshazzar's administration during his father's stay in Tēmā, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus pp. 185–202 (§3.3). The Nabonidus Chronicle (see pp. 25–27 below) records that no akītu-festivals were held in Babylon while Nabonidus was living in Tēmā.
52 Beaulieu, Nabonidus pp. 163–165 (§3.1.3); and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 20. Note that R. Da Riva (GMTR 4 p. 18) suggests that Nabonidus returned to Babylon in 541, his fifteenth regnal year. According to Nabonidus 47 ([Ḫarrān Stele] ii 13), Nabonidus returned to Babylon on the seventeenth day of the month Tašrītu (VII).
Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny
Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny, 'Nabonidus' Sojourn in Arabia', RIBo, Babylon 7: The Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [/ribo/babylon7/RINBE2Introduction/Nabonidus/Nabonidus'SojourninArabia/]