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E-book Tayma II : Catalogue of the Inscriptions Discovered in the Saudi-German Excavations at TaymA 2004–2015

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Penilaian

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he town of Taym?? amid the deserts of North Arabia is famous for having been the residence of the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Nabonidus (556–539 BCE), for approximately ten years from 553 to 543 BCE.1 Despite its important position as a trading centre, situated within the network of caravan roads running from South Arabia to the north into the Levant and to the east into Babylonia (Eph?al 1982, map on p. 241), it was a highly unusual choice for a Babylonian king. The recent discoveries of cuneiform inscriptions at Taym?? testify to the famous historical episode when the oasis unexpectably became the residence of the Babylonian king Nabonidus. Even if he probably did not rebuild Taym?? “exactly like Babylon”, as the accusations of his Baby- lonian adverseries claimed, Nabonidus clearly set up a kind of royal base equipped with inscrip-tions befitting his status. Choosing Taym?? as a residence puzzled his contemporaries, and it keeps puzzling modern scholars today. Up to now no compelling reason could be found as to why it was necessary for a Babylonian monarch to stay there, and for so long. After all, the Taym?? period of ten years makes up more than half of Nabonidus’ 17-year reign. In order to take control of the trading roads of Arabia it would have been quite enough to send troops, perhaps led by the crown-prince Belshaz-ar or another trustworthy member of the royal family. There was absolutely no reason why the aged king himself – he must have been in his sixties – should have been roaming the desert. The Babylonians, in keeping with the standards of their times, explained the unconventional decisions of their last native king as a kind of frenzy. According to them, the king had deliberately turned his heart against the god Marduk and his holy city Babylon with malicious intent. As a punishment the Babylonians assumed, he was forsaken by the gods and handed over to madness. The count-less sacrileges committed by Nabonidus, especially his long stay at Taym??, which prevented him from taking part in the Babylonian New Year’s Festival, brought him into bitter opposition with the priesthood of Babylonia. In the course of these events Nabonidus finally lost his support in Babylonia and his throne to the Persian king Cyrus ?the Great’.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

930.1 SCH t

Penerbit

Berlin : Archaeopress Publishing., 2021

Deskripsi Fisik

273 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9781789698770

Klasifikasi

930.1

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Archaeology

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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