Nabonidus


Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning from 556–539 BC. He seized power in a coup, toppling King Labashi-Marduk. He also angered the priests and commoners of Babylon by neglecting the city’s chief god, Marduk, and elevating the moon god, Sin, to the highest status. Nabonidus left the capital for ten years to build and restore temples – mostly to Sin – leaving his son, Belshazzar, in charge. While leading excavations for the restoration effort, he initiated the world’s first known archaeological work.
Meanwhile, the Persian Achaemenid Empire to the east, led by Cyrus the Great, had been gaining strength. King Cyrus had become popular among the residents of Babylon by posing as the one who would restore Marduk to his rightful place in the city. As the Persians advanced to Babylon, Nabonidus returned. He was captured by the Persians in 539 BC and Babylon was occupied, thus ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Cyrus was welcomed into the city, where he performed the rites of Marduk. Nabonidus’ fate is uncertain, though it is believed he was exiled to Iran and allowed to occupy a government post.

Historiography

Modern perceptions of Nabonidus' reign have been heavily colored by accounts written well after his reign as king of Babylon, most notably by the Persians and the Greeks. As a result, Nabonidus has often been described in very negative terms in both modern and contemporaneous scholarship. However, an accumulation of evidence and a reassessment of existing material has caused opinions on Nabonidus and the events that happened during his reign to alter significantly in recent decades.

Biography

Ascent

Nabonidus' background is not clear. He said in his inscriptions that he was of unimportant origins. Similarly, his mother Addagoppe, who lived to an old age and may have been connected to the temple of the moon-god Sîn in Harran, does not mention her family background in her inscriptions. There are two arguments for an Assyrian background: repeated references in Nabonidus' royal propaganda and imagery to Ashurbanipal, the last great Neo-Assyrian king; and Nabonidus' originating from, and his special interest in Harran, an Assyrian city and the last stronghold of the Neo-Assyrians after the fall of Nineveh, their main capital. A few inscriptions name Nabonidus’ father, Nabu-balatsu-iqbi, satrap of Harran and descendant of Esarhaddon, though one brick inscription from Harran lists his name as “Naksu” in place of “Nabu”. Inscriptions title him as The Wise Prince and The Devotee of the Great Gods and Goddesses, however his family is never mentioned, leading to the assumption he died as a young man.
However, it has been pointed out that Nabonidus' royal propaganda was hardly different from his predecessors, while his Persian successor, Cyrus the Great, also referred to Ashurbanipal in the Cyrus cylinder. He certainly did not belong to the previous ruling dynasty, the Chaldeans, of whom Nebuchadnezzar II was the most famous member. He came to the throne in 556 BC by overthrowing the young king Labashi-Marduk.
. Note that Nabonidus is closest to the moon.

Reign

Nabonidus took an interest in Babylon's past, excavating ancient buildings and displaying his archeological discoveries in a museum. In most ancient accounts, he is depicted as a royal anomaly. Nabonidus is supposed to have worshipped the moon-god Sîn beyond all the other gods, to have paid special devotion to Sîn's temple in Harran, where his mother was a priestess, and to have neglected the Babylonian primary god, Marduk. He left the capital and travelled to conquer the desert oasis city of Tayma in north Arabia early in his reign, from which he only returned after ten years. In the meantime, his son Belshazzar ruled from Babylon.

Contributions

Nabonidus is known as the first archaeologist. Not only did he lead the first excavations which were to find the foundation deposits of the temples of Šamaš the sun god, the warrior goddess Anunitu, and the sanctuary that Naram-Sin built to the moon god, located in Harran, but he also had them restored to their former glory. He was also the first to date an archaeological artifact in his attempt to date Naram-Sin's temple during his search for it. Even though his estimate was inaccurate by about 1,500 years, it was still a very good one considering the lack of accurate dating technology at the time.

Religious policy

Although Nabonidus' personal preference for Sîn is clear, the strength of this preference divides scholars. While some claim that it is obvious from his inscriptions that he became almost henotheistic, others consider Nabonidus to have been similar to other Babylonian rulers, in that he respected the other cults and religions in his kingdom. His negative image could then be blamed on the Marduk priesthood, that resented Nabonidus' long absence from Babylon during his stay in Tayma, during which the important, Marduk-related New Year Festival could not take place, and his emphasis on Sîn. In any case, there is no sign of the civil unrest during his reign that would have been indicative of trouble.
Part of the propaganda issued by both the Marduk priesthood and Cyrus is the story of Nabonidus taking the most important cultic statues from southern Mesopotamia hostage in Babylon. This seems to be correct: a great number of contemporary inscriptions shows that these statues and their cultic personnel were indeed brought to Babylon just before the Persian attack:
However, modern scholarship has provided an explanation for this action. In Mesopotamia, gods were supposed to be housed inside their statues, from where they took care of their cities. But this only happened if they received the right kind of attention. So Nabonidus took special care of these statues and made sure that their cultic personnel had to come along with him. This was a long-standing tradition, too:
But this exposed him to criticism from his enemies, notably Cyrus. Cyrus was trying to show why he was a better king than Nabonidus had been, and took this as an example of Nabonidus' lack of fitness to rule. In the words of, again, Beaulieu:
And in the words of Cyrus himself, as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder, found in Babylon in 1879:
This is confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicles:

Nabonidus' stay in Tayma

It is not clear yet why Nabonidus stayed in Tayma for so long. One reason for going there, is that Tayma was an important oasis, from where lucrative Arabian trade routes could be controlled. The Assyrians before him had already attempted to do the same. However, why Nabonidus stayed for so long and why he returned when he did remain unresolved questions. It has been proposed that this was because he did not feel at home in Babylon, which was opposed to his emphasis on Sîn. Regarding his return, this may have had to do with the mounting threat of Cyrus and growing disagreements with Belshazzar, who was relieved of his command directly after Nabonidus had come back, along with a number of administrators. During his stay, Nabonidus adorned Tayma with a complex of royal buildings, most of which have come to light during recent excavations.

The Persian conquest of Babylonia

Different accounts of the fall of Babylon survive. According to the Cyrus Cylinder, the people opened their gates for Cyrus and greeted him as their liberator. Isaiah 40–55 prophesied that the Persians would carry off Babylonian women and cultic statues. Herodotus said that Cyrus defeated the Babylonians outside their city, after which a siege began. When this took too long, Cyrus diverted the Euphrates, so that his troops could march into the city through the river bed. Xenophon had a similar view, but he did not mention the battle. Finally, Berossus claimed that Cyrus beat the Babylonian army but, this time, Nabonidus was supposed to have fled to nearby Borsippa. There he hid, while Cyrus took Babylon and demolished its outer walls. When Cyrus turned towards Borsippa, Nabonidus soon surrendered.
As these accounts contradict each other,, oral traditions and conflicting records, they are quite confusing. The Nabonidus Chronicle is more helpful. This is a part of the Babylonian Chronicles, which are concise, factual accounts of historical events, and are therefore considered to be very reliable, although not very informative. Regarding the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, this text says:
Additionally, a building inscription has been found which mentions the restoration of the Enlil Gate of Babylon shortly after its capture. When Cyrus attempted to march into southern Mesopotamia, he was met by the Babylonians near Opis. In the ensuing battle, the Persians were victorious. This in turn led to the nearby city of Sippar surrendering without a fight, while Nabonidus fled with a small detachment of his force for refuge at Borsippa. In the meantime, the Babylonians had withdrawn south to establish a line of defense near the Euphrates that was intended to prevent Cyrus from advancing too far. However, Cyrus' forces did not challenge the Babylonian army. Rather, he sent a small force south along the Tigris to try to take the capital by surprise. This plan worked: the Persian troops reached Babylon undetected and caught it unawares, meeting only minor resistance near one of its gates. Thus, they were able to capture Babylon.
This left the Babylonian army in an untenable position, and it soon surrendered. Sometime thereafter Nabonidus returned from Borsippa, where he had retreated, and was captured at Babylon. Ugbaru, the commander of the Persian forces that had captured Babylon, had taken good care that his men should not plunder or otherwise harm the city. He had even made sure that the temple rites continued to be observed. Nonetheless, it still took Cyrus almost a month before he proceeded towards the city. As many Babylonian officials, as well as the Babylonian administrative system, stayed in place after the transition of power, it has been surmised that this time was spent on negotiations with representatives from the city; this is similar to what happened when the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II and later Alexander the Great took the city.

Death

The final fate of Nabonidus is uncertain. Cyrus was known to spare the lives of some kings he had defeated, for example, King Croesus of Lydia, who, after his defeat, was allowed to live at King Cyrus's court as an advisor. This is according to Herodotus, who also states that Croesus was first sentenced to death by burning and was only allowed to live after showing his wisdom. In the reference in the Nabonidus Chronicle to a campaign by Cyrus in 547 BC, during which a country was taken and its king killed, the text showing the name of the country is damaged, although it may be Urartu. Berossus and the ex eventu Dynastic Prophecy indicate he was spared by Cyrus after his surrender at Babylon, and allowed to retire and live out the rest of his life in Carmania.

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