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191-470: The historical significance of Tayma is based on the existence there of an oasis, which helped it become a stopping point on commercial desert routes. An important event was the presence there of Nabonidus , the last Neo-Babylonian emperor , who took residence there in the mid- 6th century BC . Recent archaeological discoveries show that Tayma has been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age . In 2010 ,

382-783: A hieroglyphic inscription on Saudi soil. Based on this discovery, researchers have hypothesized that Tayma was part of an important land route between the Red Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula and the Nile . The oldest mention of the oasis city appears as "Tiamat" in Neo-Babylonian inscriptions dating as far back as the 8th century BC . The oasis developed into a prosperous city rich in wells and handsome buildings. Tiglath-pileser III received tribute from Tayma and Sennacherib (r. 705–681 BC) named one of Nineveh 's gates

573-456: A 'priest of Bêl '. A religious function could possibly explain Nabonidus's absence of mention in earlier documents. In her inscriptions, Adad-guppi claims to have introduced her son Nabonidus to king Nebuchadnezzar II and king Neriglissar, and that Nabonidus thereafter performed duties for them "day and night" and "regularly did whatever pleased them". As Nabonidus is considered to have been

764-438: A clear return to orthodoxy, fearing confrontation with the oligarchy and clergy. Inscriptions from the time after Nabonidus's return to Babylon suggest he was no longer hesitant to exalt Sîn, and that he began imposing a religious reform that went as far as to reject Marduk, who had been Babylon's undisputed supreme deity for at least six centuries. Several inscriptions attribute Marduk's traditional titles, for instance "king of

955-622: A conduit for cultural and scientific exchange between the Islamic and Christian worlds. For much of its history, al-Andalus existed in conflict with Christian kingdoms to the north. After the fall of the Umayyad caliphate, al-Andalus was fragmented into taifa states and principalities, some of which (such as the Taifa of Toledo , the Taifa of Zaragoza , the Taifa of Seville and the Taifa of Badajoz ) reached considerable territorial extent. After

1146-529: A conqueror, is open to interpretation. The end of Nabonidus's reign is sometimes alternatively dated to Babylon's fall to the Persians on 12 October, a day earlier than the last tablet dated to Nabonidus's reign, or to Cyrus's entry into the city, when Cyrus formally became king. Ancient accounts differ as to the fate of Nabonidus after the fall of Babylon. The 5th/4th-century BC Greek historian Xenophon wrote that Ugbaru (or ' Gobryas ') killed Nabonidus upon

1337-563: A crescent, a star and a winged disk (reminiscent of religious motifs in Babylonia). The reason for the Arabian campaign in the first place is not difficult to ascertain, as it probably represents the next step in the growing expansionism of Babylonia in the west. Babylonian forces had first come into contact with the Arabian kingdoms proper with the conquest of the Levant from Assyria, and

1528-478: A decade, not returning to Babylon until September or October of 543 or 542 BC. October 543 BC is the return date most supported by surviving Babylonian documentation. The purpose for this prolonged stay, effectively self-exile, in Tayma are unclear and debated, with no proposed explanation having universal support. The history of this period is poorly known and cannot be reconstructed in great detail, on account of

1719-649: A decisive victory over King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete on July 19, 711, Tariq, accompanied by his mawla , governor Musa ibn Nusayr of Ifriqiya , brought most of the Visigothic Kingdom under Muslim rule in a seven-year campaign. They crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Visigothic Septimania in southern France. Most of the Iberian peninsula became part of the expanding Umayyad Empire , under

1910-668: A detachment of some 10,000 Arab troops across the straits . The Arab governor of al-Andalus, joined by this force, crushed the Berber rebels in a series of ferocious battles in 742. However, a quarrel immediately erupted between the Syrian commanders and the Andalusi, the so-called "original Arabs" of the earlier contingents. The Syrians defeated them at the hard-fought Battle of Aqua Portora in August 742 but were too few to impose themselves on

2101-585: A different wife. Thus, Labashi-Marduk's rise to the throne might have signified a true break in the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar II and might as such have aroused opposition from the Babylonian populace. Although Berossus refers to Labashi-Marduk as a child, it is possible that he became king as an adult since commercial texts from two years earlier indicate that Labashi-Marduk was in charge of his own affairs at that time. Though Nabonidus in his inscriptions claims that he had few supporters and that he did not covet

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2292-521: A lack of sources. Entries in several royal chronicles for this period are completely, or nearly completely, missing. According to the Verse Account of Nabonidus , a biased document probably written in the reign of Cyrus the Great (who ultimately deposed Nabonidus), Nabonidus conducted extensive building work at Tayma, fortifying it with new walls, embellishing it with new buildings and constructing

2483-489: A learned man, one who knew how to write, and who quarreled with numerous priests and scholars, it is possible that he was a courtier at the royal court before he became king; however, no records of a prominent courtier by his name are known. Nabonidus rose to the throne in the aftermath of the collapse of the direct dynastic line of the Chaldean dynasty. After the brief reign of Neriglissar, a son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar II,

2674-571: A major influence on the intellectual life of medieval Europe. Muslims and non-Muslims often came from abroad to study at the libraries and universities of al-Andalus, and after the reconquest of Toledo, several translation institutions such as the Toledo School of Translators were established for translating books and texts from Arabic into Latin. The most noted figures in this being Gerard of Cremona and Michael Scot , who took these works to Italy. The transmission of ideas significantly affected

2865-417: A man of the king" (i.e. a prince), rather than "the son of the king", which in that case, would explain Nabonidus' references to his father as a prince, in his royal inscriptions. There is also another letter from some point between the early 590s BC and the 570s BC, wherein a Nabonidus is described as having requested the levies of a particular region to be raised. Whether this Nabonidus is the same person as

3056-457: A more objective account of Babylonian history, records the king as being absent from Babylon for years on end, and the resulting suspension of the New Year's festival, but does not pass any judgement on these events. In his history of Babylonia, Berossus presents Nabonidus as a usurper, which Nabonidus himself admitted to being, but reports nothing that could be construed as negative assessment of

3247-527: A name in their lists of kings, the Achaemenid Empire that succeeded the reign of Nabonidus in Babylonia viewed his rule as an example that should never be emulated. The Achaemenids did not consider Nabonidus's more traditional work, restoring temples etc., to be important, but emphasised in their historiography the points when Nabonidus went contrary to what was expected of a Babylonian king. Cyrus

3438-438: A new capital there, has no basis. Though Nabonidus could have been motivated to stay in Tayma for religious reasons, given that there were several prominent lunar deities in the region and Nabonidus was a devotee of the moon god Sîn, it seems unlikely that such a large endeavour would have been motivated solely by faith. Per Wiseman, any religious explanations for the prolonged stay at Tayma can be discarded as no sources mention

3629-533: A powerful and well-established state that had become one of the most powerful in the Mediterranean. Abd al Rahman was succeeded by Muhammad I of Córdoba , who according to legend had to wear women's clothing to sneak into the imperial palace and be crowned, since he was not the heir apparent. His reign marked a decline in the emirate, which was ended by Abd al-Rahman III . His reign was marked by multiple rebellions, which were dealt with poorly and weakened

3820-434: A prominent resident of that city, and possibly of Assyrian or Aramean origin. Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny speculated that Nabu-balatsu-iqbi could have been an Aramean chief. Stephen Herbert Langdon theorised that Nabu-balatsu-iqbi was a son of Esarhaddon ( r.   681–669 BC) and thus one of Ashurbanipal's brothers, but there is no concrete evidence for this relation. Per Nabonidus's own inscriptions and

4011-649: A punitive expedition against Seville that reached all the way to Tarifa at the southern tip of al-Andalus. In 1085, he annexed Toledo , a turning point which galvanized the remaining taifa leaders into seeking outside help. After the fall of Toledo, most of the major taifa rulers agreed to request the intervention of the Almoravids, a Berber empire based in Marrakesh that had conquered much of northwest Africa. The Almoravid leader, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin , led several campaigns into al-Andalus, initially in defense of

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4202-417: A reign of three months and contract tablets from Babylonia suggest that he might have ruled as briefly as just two months. It appears that there was a period of either confusion, after a discrete palace coup, or a brief civil war. Per contract tablets, Labashi-Marduk was still recognised as king at Uruk up until at least 19 June, and in the city of Sippar until at least 20 June. The earliest tablet dated to

4393-449: A royal palace similar to, but likely considerably smaller than, his royal palace at Babylon, essentially rebuilding the city in a Babylonian fashion. Modern archaeological excavations at Tayma has revealed that the city underwent considerable expansion during the 6th century, including the construction of an extensive irrigation system. Some motifs on some of the ruins point towards a clear Babylonian influence, such as an offering table with

4584-410: A son of Nabonidus and took the name Nebuchadnezzar IV . Arakha was actually the son of a man by the name of Haldita and was not a native Babylonian, but rather a Urartian ( Armenian ). No other Neo-Babylonian king has been characterised in as varied a manner as Nabonidus. Though some Classical authors forgot, or omitted, details of Nabonidus in their accounts of Babylonia, only preserving him as

4775-413: A son of Nebuchadnezzar II. However, it is unlikely that king Nabonidus would have failed to mention being a son of Nebuchadnezzar II. If they are the same person, and the document does not call him the son of the king, his office listed in the document, ša muḫḫi āli (an official in charge of a city) would mean that the date of Nabonidus's birth has to be pushed back further, to before 620 BC, to account for

4966-631: A threat to Babylon, or any other power at this time, and though Egypt was a potentially powerful adversary, dealing with the Egyptians through fortifying a city isolated deep in Arabia, rather than fortifying and garrisoning the Babylonian lands in Palestine, would have been an unlikely strategy. Due to the remote and inaccessible location of Tayma, an argument that Nabonidus intended to move the centre of gravity of his empire westwards, through constructing

5157-469: A troubled conscience and questioning if his accession was legitimate: The heart of Marduk, my lord, calmed down. Reverently I praised (him) and sought after his sanctuary with prayers and supplications. Thus I addressed (my) prayers to him, telling him what was in my heart: Let me indeed be a king who pleases your heart, I who, not knowing, had no thought of kingship for myself, when you, O lord of lords, have entrusted me with (a rulership) more important than

5348-416: A truce that would have allowed Abd al-Rahman to marry al-Fihri's daughter. After decisively defeating Yūsuf al-Fihri's army, Abd al-Rahman was able to conquer Córdoba, where he proclaimed himself emir in 756. The rest of Iberia was easily conquered, and Abd al-Rahman soon had control of all of Iberia. Abd al Rahman's rule was stable in the years after his conquest – he built major public works, most famously

5539-552: A wrapped cloak in his depictions, absent in those of other Neo-Babylonian kings but present in Assyrian art) and attempted to link himself to the Sargonid dynasty, there is "no evidence whatsoever that Nabonidus was related to the Sargonid dynasty". According to Beaulieu, that Adad-guppi did not explicitly claim any royal ancestors herself points to a humble origin. As inscriptions by female relatives of kings are relatively rare, it

5730-458: Is al-Zahrawi, who is considered by many to be "probably the greatest physician in the entire history of Western Islam." Around the year 1000 C.E, he wrote a book with a title that roughly translates to The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself ( Kitab al-tasrif li-man 'ajiza 'an al-ta'alif )—a comprehensive medical encyclopedia with the goal of summarizing all existing medical knowledge and eliminating

5921-483: Is characterised by some scholars as an unorthodox religious reformer and as the first archaeologist . The origins of Nabonidus, his connection to previous royalty, and subsequently what claim he had to the throne remain unclear, given that Nabonidus made no genealogical claims of kinship to previous kings. This suggests that he was neither related nor connected to the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonian rulers. However, he

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6112-445: Is from Uruk and is dated to 13 October, which is usually considered the end date of his reign. Shield-bearing Persian troops were assigned to guard the temples of Babylon, so that priests in safety could continue their services and rituals. On 29 or 30 October, Cyrus himself entered Babylon as its new king. He received the acclamation of the people, though whether it was as a liberator from oppression, as Cyrus presented himself, or as

6303-640: Is given the epithet "god of gods", the highest known epithet ever given to a Mesopotamian deity. Concrete evidence surrounding Nabonidus's religious ideas is relatively scarce and no surviving documents contain any theological foundations for the king's faith and beliefs. Not all historians share the view that Nabonidus was a religious reformer. According to Donald Wiseman , Nabonidus "did not seek to create any exclusive role for [Sîn] in Babylon". Wiseman characterises Nabonidus as deeply religious and in support of Marduk, as all other Babylonian kings. In addition to

6494-507: Is however probable, according to Wilfred G. Lambert , that Adad-guppi was of some high status. According to Herodotus, an official by the name Labynetus (the same name used for Nabonidus in ancient Greek sources) was present as a mediator and witness on behalf of Babylon at the negotiations conducted between the Median and Lydian kingdoms after the Battle of the Eclipse in 585 BC. It

6685-496: Is known to have had a prominent career of some kind before he became king. It is possible that he was connected to the Chaldean kings via marriage, possibly having married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar II ( r.   605–562 BC). Nabonidus's mother, Adad-guppi , was of Assyrian ancestry. His father, Nabu-balatsu-iqbi , of whom little is known, may also have been either Assyrian or Babylonian. Some historians have speculated that either Adad-guppi or Nabu-balatsu-iqbi were members of

6876-407: Is no evidence that Adad-guppi was a high-ranking priestess, as the only titles she claims in her inscriptions are "mother of Nabonidus" and "worshipper of Sîn, Ningal , Nusku and Sadarnunna ". Adad-guppi's association with Harran, and that she had likely married Nabu-balatsu-iqbi early in her life (as was the custom in ancient Mesopotamia), would mean that Nabu-balatsu-iqbi was most probably also

7067-438: Is noteworthy that the festival was suspended in Nabonidus's absence given that it was effectively an annual reinstatement of Marduk's authority and was conducted to ensure the well-being of Babylon. The threat of Cyrus loomed ever closer. Though the records are too fragmentary to tell with certainty, it appears that there was already a confrontation between Persian and Babylonian troops in the winter of 540/539 BC, near Uruk. After

7258-527: Is often assumed to have come from the major city Harran in northern Mesopotamia (where she later lived), and as having been of Assyrian ancestry. According to Canadian Assyriologist Paul-Alain Beaulieu , Nabonidus's later intense interest in Harran, a peripheral city of his empire, can only be explained if he and his mother had originated in Harran. The Dynastic Prophecy , a later document written after

7449-414: Is possible that this ambassador was the same person as the Nabonidus who later became Babylon's king. The name of Nabonidus is otherwise poorly attested in sources prior to his reign. A Nabonidus is listed as the head witnesses in a 597 BC legal document; however, it is unclear whether this is the same person as the later king, especially given that the text could be interpreted as referring to Nabonidus as

7640-437: Is probable that the chief orchestrator behind the conspiracy against Labashi-Marduk was Nabonidus's son, Belshazzar. Belshazzar was the chief beneficiary of the entire affair, as he became the designated heir to the throne, and also inherited the large private estates of Labashi-Marduk, becoming one of the richest and most prominent men in Babylonia overnight. Belshazzar could not have claimed the throne for himself while his father

7831-599: Is reattributed to Nebuchadnezzar II. The accusation of insanity is not found in any cuneiform sources. The Verse Account is highly critical of Nabonidus, especially his religious policies, and though it presents Cyrus the Great as a liberator rather than conqueror, it makes no direct claim that Nabonidus was insane. The Dynastic Prophecy and the Cyrus Cylinder offer similar accounts, criticising Nabonidus and his policies, but not characterising him as mad. Some Babylonian sources are more neutral. The Babylonian Chronicle ,

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8022-511: Is seen as the golden age of al-Andalus. Córdoba under the Caliphate, with a population of more than half a million, eventually overtook Constantinople as the largest and most prosperous city in Europe. Al-Andalus became a centre for the arts, medicine, science, music, literature and philosophy. The work of its most important philosophers and scientists, such as Abulcasis and Averroes , had

8213-799: Is typically assumed to indicate that Nabonidus was not closely connected to Babylonia's ruling dynasty (the Chaldean dynasty ). In his inscriptions, Nabonidus refers to those who preceded him as kings of Babylon, but he does not claim descent from any of them. In no inscription does Nabonidus elaborate on his father's origin and ethnicity, merely mentioning his name and writing that he was courageous, wise and devout. Curiously, no person named Nabu-balatsu-iqbi who can reasonably be identified as Nabonidus's father appears in documents prior to Nabonidus's reign, thus making his father's status and position unclear. The repeated references of Nabu-balatsu-iqbi as "prince" in Nabonidus's inscriptions suggests some sort of noble status and political importance. Nabonidus's mother

8404-762: The Reconquista , eventually shrinking to the south and finally to the Emirate of Granada . As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate , initiated by the Caliph al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba ( c.  750 –929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); the first taifa kingdoms (1009–1110); the Almoravid Empire (1085–1145);

8595-536: The Battle of Río Salado in 1340. After this, they ceased to play a major role. The subsequent internal turmoil within Castile, however, helped Nasrid Granada to enjoy a period of relative external peace and internal prosperity until the end of the 14th century, under the reigns of Yusuf I ( r.  1333–1354 ) and Muhammad V ( r.  1354–1359, 1362–1391 ). Important cultural figures, such as Ibn al-Khatib , Ibn Zamrak , and Ibn Khaldun all served in

8786-589: The Book of Foods ( Kitab al-Aghdhiya )—a manual on foods and regimen which contains guidelines for a healthy life; and the Kitab al-Taysir —a book written to act as a compendium to Ibn Rushd's Colliget . In Kitab al-Taysir he provides one of the earliest clinical descriptions of the scabies mite. Three of the most notable Andalusi astronomers were Ibn Tufail (d. 1185), Ibn Rushd (Averroes; d. 1198), and Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji (Alpetragius; d. 1204). All lived around

8977-536: The Cantabrian highlands, where they carved out a rump state, the Kingdom of Asturias . In the 720s, the al-Andalus governors launched several sa'ifa raids into Aquitaine but were decisively defeated by Duke Odo the Great of Aquitaine at the Battle of Toulouse (721) . However, after crushing Odo's Berber ally Uthman ibn Naissa on the eastern Pyrenees, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi led an expedition north across

9168-749: The Catholic Monarchs . The toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia. These coins, called dinars , were inscribed in both Latin and Arabic . The etymology of the name al-Andalus has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals ( vándalos in Spanish, vândalos in Portuguese). Since the 1980s, several alternative etymologies have challenged this tradition. In 1986, Joaquín Vallvé proposed that al-Andalus

9359-639: The County of Barcelona . During the eleventh century several centres of power existed among the taifas, and the political situation shifted rapidly. Before the rise of the Almoravids from Africa or the Christians from the north, the Abbadid -ruled Taifa of Seville succeeded in conquering a dozen lesser kingdoms, becoming the most powerful and renowned of the taifas, such that it could have laid claim to be

9550-804: The Land of Tema is named. According to Arab tradition, Tayma was inhabited by a Jewish community during the late classical period , but whether they were exiled Judeans or the Arab descendants of converts is unclear. The Jewish diaspora at the time of the Temple's destruction , according to Josephus , was in Parthia , Babylonia, Arabia, as well as some Jews beyond the Euphrates and in Adiabene . In Josephus' own words, he had informed "the remotest Arabians" about

9741-586: The Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia announced the discovery of the Pharaonic Tayma inscription by Ramesses III about 60 kilometers northwest of Tayma. It read "'The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, User-Maat-Ra, beloved of Amun' -- 'The Son of Ra, Lord of Crowns, Ramesses, ruler of Heliopolis' -- 'Beloved of the "Great Ruler of All Lands'". This was the first confirmed find of

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9932-658: The Mosque of Córdoba , and helped urbanize the emirate while defending it from invaders, including the quashing of numerous rebellions, and decisively repelling the invasion by Charlemagne (which would later inspire the epic, Chanson de Roland ). By far the most important of these invasions was the attempted reconquest by the Abbasid Caliphate . In 763 Caliph Al-Mansur of the Abbasids installed al-Ala ibn-Mugith as governor of Africa (whose title gave him dominion over

10123-594: The Neo-Babylonian Empire , ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenian Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Nabonidus was the last native ruler of ancient Mesopotamia , the end of his reign marking the end of thousands of years of Sumero - Akkadian states, kingdoms and empires . He was also the last independent king of Babylon . Regarded as one of the most vibrant and individualistic rulers of his time, Nabonidus

10314-720: The Rhône valley, reaching as far north as Burgundy . Charles Martel of the Franks, with the assistance of Liutprand of the Lombards , invaded Burgundy and Provence and expelled the raiders by 739. In 740, a Berber Revolt erupted in the Maghreb (North Africa). To put down the rebellion, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham dispatched a large Arab army, composed of regiments ( Junds ) of Bilad Ash-Sham , to North Africa. But

10505-543: The Sargonid dynasty , rulers of the Neo-Assyrian Empire until its fall in 609 BC. Nabonidus was, to his own apparent surprise, proclaimed king after the deposition and murder of Labashi-Marduk ( r.   556 BC) in a plot likely led by Nabonidus's son Belshazzar . Throughout his reign, inscriptions and later sources suggest that Nabonidus worked to increase the status of the moon god Sîn and decrease

10696-455: The taifa kingdoms. At the Battle of Sagrajas (or Battle of Zallaqa in Arabic), a Muslim army led by the Almoravids soundly defeated Alfonso VI. By 1090, however, Yusuf ibn Tashfin was disillusioned with the disunity of the taifa leaders and he returned on a campaign to conquer al-Andalus instead. Most of the taifas , except for Zaragoza, were annexed by 1094. Valencia, which had come under

10887-862: The taifas were generally too weak to defend themselves against repeated raids and demands for tribute from the Christian states to the north and west, which were known to the Muslims as "the Galician nations", and which had spread from their initial strongholds in Galicia , Asturias , Cantabria , the Basque country, and the Carolingian Marca Hispanica to become the Kingdoms of Navarre , León , Portugal , Castile and Aragon , and

11078-553: The "impiety of the Babylonians". Nabonidus probably only campaigned in the west after making sure that the Medes in the north were no longer a threat. Beaulieu believes it possible that Nabonidus had encouraged Cyrus the Great to rebel and wage war against the Medes, and had even allied with him, seeing as the beginning of Nabonidus's stay in Tayma coincides with the beginning of Cyrus's reign. Per, Beaulieu: "unless one assumes that

11269-476: The "last great queen" of the Babylonian Empire as Nitocris , but neither that name, nor any other name, is attested in contemporary Babylonian sources. Herodotus's description of Nitocris contains a wealth of legendary material making it difficult to determine whether he uses the name to refer to Nabonidus's wife or mother. William H. Shea proposed in 1982 that Nitocris may tentatively be identified as

11460-550: The 1260s. Only the region of Granada remained unconquered. From the mid 13th to the late 15th century, the only remaining domain of al-Andalus was the Emirate of Granada , the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula. The emirate was established by Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar in 1230 and was ruled by the Nasrid dynasty , the longest reigning dynasty in the history of al-Andalus. Although surrounded by Castilian lands,

11651-408: The 15th century in terms of population. The most visible legacy of the Nasrids is the Alhambra , their fortified palace complex, partly preserved today. The independent Nasrid kingdom was also a trade hub between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and was frequented especially by Genoese merchants. The Marinids intervened in the south of the Iberian Peninsula multiple times up until their defeat at

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11842-405: The Abbasid government in North Africa, and declared themselves a caliphate. Inspired by this action, Abd al Rahman joined the rebellion and declared himself caliph in 929. For nearly 100 years under the Córdoban Umayyad period, from the 9th century to the 10th, al-Andalus also extended its presence from Fraxinetum into the Alps with a series of organized raids. The period of the Caliphate

12033-447: The Arabs. The Berber soldiers accompanying Tariq were garrisoned in the centre and the north of the peninsula, as well as in the Pyrenees, while the Berber colonists who followed settled in all parts of the country – north, east, south and west. Visigothic lords who agreed to recognize Muslim suzerainty were allowed to retain their fiefs (notably, in Murcia, Galicia, and the Ebro valley). Resistant Visigoths took refuge in

12224-490: The Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal with universal rule. Sîn also replaced Marduk's role of calling rulers forth for kingship. One inscription states that Nabonidus had been destined for kingship by the deities Sîn and Ningal (Sîn's consort) in his mother's womb. The exaltation of Sîn reached its height after the rebuilding of the Ekhulkhul and Nabonidus's latest known text containing religious elements goes as far as to refer to Marduk's traditional dwellings in Babylon,

12415-424: The Babylonian clergy and oligarchy. Belshazzar acted as regent in Babylonia during this period, while Nabonidus continued to be recognised as the king. When Nabonidus returned to Babylonia in 543/542 BC, he escalated his religious efforts and rebuilt the Ekhulkhul, the temple dedicated to Sîn in the major northern city of Harran . Nabonidus's reign came to an abrupt end with the quick victory over his empire by Cyrus

12606-400: The Babylonian defeat at Opis as so decisive that further resistance was pointless. Evidently there was some confusion at the time given that a tablet from Sippar, dated to 11 October (the day after the city's fall) was still dated to the reign of Nabonidus. On 12 October, the Persian army, led by the governor Ugbaru, entered Babylon without a fight. The last tablet dated to Nabonidus's reign

12797-423: The Castilian kings. Along with this political status, its favorable geographic location, with the Sierra Nevada as a natural barrier, helped to prolong Nasrid rule. Granada also accommodated a large number of Muslim refugees fleeing the Reconquista or expelled from Christian-controlled territories, which grew the city and the emirate's population. The city even became one of the largest in Europe throughout

12988-402: The Christian advance captured new cities and fortresses until the last Nasrid ruler, Muhammad XII (known as Boabdil to the Christians), formally surrendered Granada to the Catholic Monarchs on 2 January 1492. By this time Muslims in Castile numbered half a million. After the fall, "100,000 had died or been enslaved, 200,000 emigrated, and 200,000 remained as the residual population. Many of

13179-409: The Christian capture of Toledo in 1085, the Almoravid empire intervened and repelled attacks on the region, then brought al-Andalus under direct Almoravid rule. For the next century and a half, al-Andalus became a province of the Muslim empires of the Almoravids and their successors, the Almohads , both based in Marrakesh . Ultimately, the northern Christian kingdoms overpowered the Muslim states to

13370-425: The Christian kingdoms expanded southward again. From 1146 onward, the Almohads intervened and took control of al-Andalus. One of Abd al-Mu'min's successors, Ya'qub al-Mansur , won a major victory over the Castilian Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos in 1195. In 1212, a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of Alfonso VIII defeated the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa . Almohad rule

13561-578: The Desert Gate, recording that "the gifts of the Sumu'anite and the Teymeite enter through it". It was rich and proud enough in the seventh century BC for Jeremiah to prophesy against it in Jeremiah 25:23 : " Dedan , Tema, and Buz, and all those who have their hair clipped". It was ruled then by a local Arab dynasty known as the Qedarites . The names of two 8th century BC queens, Šamši and Zabibe , are recorded. Emperor Nabonidus (ruled c. 556–539 BC) conquered Tayma, and for ten years of his reign retired there to worship and search for prophecies, entrusting

13752-507: The Elhulkhul temple, Nabonidus is also recorded in inscriptions as having conducted restoration work at temples in Babylon itself, Larsa, Sippar and Nippur. Wiseman attributes the opposition by religious official towards Nabonidus to that the king had introduced a new royal cash box in temples and sanctuaries, wherein some of the income of the temples was to be provided to the king, under the supervision of royal officials, and notes that Cyrus

13943-507: The Great in 539 BC. After the decisive battle of Opis , the Persians entered Babylon without a fight. Several sources state that Nabonidus was captured but spared, and possibly allowed leave to the region of Carmania . He may have been alive in exile as late as the reign of Darius the Great ( r.   522–486 BC). The origins of Nabonidus are obscure, with the scarce available details about him leaving much room for interpretation and speculation. In one of his inscriptions, Nabonidus states

14134-404: The Great in late 522 BC and was proclaimed as Babylon's king, took the name Nebuchadnezzar III and claimed to be a son of Nabonidus. Nidintu-Bêl's real father was a man named Mukīn-zēri from the local prominent Zazakku family. Less than a year after Nidintu-Bêl's defeat, Babylon rebelled against Darius again in 521 BC. This time, the leader was Arakha, who like Nidintu-Bêl proclaimed himself to be

14325-487: The Great justified his conquest of Babylon by presenting himself as a champion divinely ordained by Marduk and by writing accounts of Nabonidus's "heretical" acts. After the fall of Babylon, a legend of Nabonidus having been mad, on account of his religious policies, gradually formed, which would eventually find its way into Hellenistic and Jewish tradition. Some believe that in the Book of Daniel, Nabonidus's supposed madness

14516-492: The Great's later documents referring to Nabonidus as irreverent in regards to Marduk could be propaganda. Though Nabonidus uses uncharacteristically high epithets for Sîn in many inscriptions, Weiherhäuser and Novotny pointed out that a majority of these epithets are generally limited to inscriptions and texts that document work on the Ekhulkhul temple in Harran, Sîn's cultic centre. Thus, Weiherhäuser and Novotny do not consider

14707-643: The Islamic south. Between this frontier and its heartland in the south, the al-Andalus state had three large march territories ( thughur ): the Lower March (capital initially at Mérida , later Badajoz ), the Middle March (centred at Toledo), and the Upper March (centred at Zaragoza ). These disturbances and disorder also allowed the Franks, now under the leadership of Pepin the Short , to invade

14898-623: The Moriscos ). The last mass prosecution against Moriscos for crypto-Islamic practices occurred in Granada in 1727, with most of those convicted receiving relatively light sentences. The Morisco community including these final convicts kept their identity alive at least through the late eighteenth century. There was much scientific activity in Al-Andalus, especially in the fields of medicine , astronomy , mathematics , and agronomy . At

15089-601: The Muslim elite, including Muhammad XII, who had been given the area of the Alpujarras mountains as a principality, found life under Christian rule intolerable and passed over into North Africa." Under the conditions of the Capitulations of 1492, the Muslims in Granada were to be allowed to continue to practice their religion. Mass forced conversions of Muslims in 1499 led to a revolt that spread to Alpujarras and

15280-553: The Nasrid court during this period. In 1468, Isabella , the only child of Henry IV of Castile , married Ferdinand , the son of John II of Aragon , and by 1479 they were rulers of a united Castile and Aragon. This development meant that Granada could no longer exploit divisions between the two kingdoms and the new royal couple, also known as the Catholic Monarchs , were united in their intention to conquer it. The final war to conquer Granada began in earnest in 1482. Year by year,

15471-504: The New Year's festival, Nabonidus embarked on a short trip to southern Babylonia, visiting the cities of Kish , Larsa , Uruk and Ur . At Uruk, he conducted detailed reorganisations of the Eanna temple, making adjustments to the scheme of sacrificial offerings, and restored some offerings that had been interrupted under Neriglissar's reign. One inscription suggests that Nabonidus went on a second successful campaign to Cilicia in 555 BC, on

15662-463: The Persians a short distance north of Sippar, and removing the statue from Sippar could have been construed as Nabonidus not having faith in his own victory. Shortly after the last gods had entered Babylon, Cyrus invaded Babylonia. Despite Nabonidus's preparations, Babylonia fell to the Persians relatively quickly, the conflict lasting less than a month. It seems probable that the Persian invasion

15853-588: The Qinnasrin jund in Jaén . The Egypt jund was divided between Beja ( Alentejo ) in the west and Tudmir ( Murcia ) in the east. The arrival of the Syrians substantially increased the Arab element in the Iberian peninsula and helped strengthen the Muslim hold on the south. However, at the same time, unwilling to be governed, the Syrian junds carried on an existence of autonomous feudal anarchy, severely destabilizing

16044-768: The Umayyad Caliphs distracted by the challenge of the Abbasids in the east, the western provinces of the Maghreb and al-Andalus spun out of their control. From around 745, the Fihrids , an illustrious local Arab clan descended from Oqba ibn Nafi al-Fihri , seized power in the western provinces and ruled them almost as a private family empire of their own – Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri in Ifriqiya and Yūsuf al-Fihri in al-Andalus. The Fihrids welcomed

16235-706: The Umayyads in Damascus and were slaughtering members of that family, and then he spent four years in exile in North Africa, assessing the political situation in al-Andalus across the Straits of Gibraltar, before he landed at Almuñécar . News of his arrival spread across al-Andalus, and when word reached its governor, Yūsuf al-Fihri , he was not pleased. During this time, Abd al-Rahman and his supporters quickly conquered Málaga and then Seville , finally besieging

16426-471: The Umayyads, the sons and grandsons of caliphs, had a more legitimate claim to rule than the Fihrids themselves. Rebellious-minded local lords, disenchanted with the autocratic rule of the Fihrids, conspired with the arriving Umayyad exiles. In 755, the exiled Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I (also called al-Dākhil , the 'Immigrant') arrived on the coast of Spain. He had fled the Abbasids, who had overthrown

16617-405: The age necessary to hold that office. If the Nabonidus mentioned is not Nebuchadnezzar II's son, then the document does not name the father of this Nabonidus, which suggests that he was of high rank (fathers and grandfathers were otherwise usually mentioned for distinguishing purposes), and he could then conceivably be the same person as the later king. The wording could be interpreted as "the son of

16808-518: The authority of the governor of al-Andalus. A second significant consequence of the revolt was the expansion of the Kingdom of the Asturias , hitherto confined to enclaves in the Cantabrian highlands. After the rebellious Berber garrisons evacuated the northern frontier fortresses, the Christian king Alfonso I of Asturias set about immediately seizing the empty forts for himself, quickly adding

16999-574: The beginning of his reign that the date of the temple's destruction was a strange coincidence: it had been destroyed exactly 54 years before he became king. 54 years is three 18-year cycles, or a complete cycle of the moon . Though the Elhulkhul was not restored until after Nabonidus returned from a long period of staying in Tayma in Arabia , it is possible that construction work started considerably earlier and it appears to have been his goal since he assumed

17190-412: The benefits of the trade route, authority would have had to be enforced by a strong, local Babylonian force. However, stationing a Babylonian force at Tayma and leaving a governor in charge would have sufficed, the king would not have needed to stay in Arabia for ten years in order to pacify the region. Furthermore, beyond economical gains, the Tayma region was not of much strategic use. The Arabs were not

17381-426: The bureaucracy's loyalty towards him. Around this time several local Arab lords began to revolt, including one Kurayb ibn Khaldun, who was able to conquer Seville. Some loyalists tried to quell the rebellion, but without proper material support, their efforts were in vain. He declared that the next emir would be his grandson Abd al-Rahman III , ignoring the claims of his four living children. Abdullah died in 912, and

17572-407: The campaign was most likely intended to expand the Babylonian Empire westwards. Due to the many trade routes passing through Arabia, the region was incredibly wealthy and represented an appealing target. It is possible that the intention of conquering Tayma was to control these important trade routes that ran through the city (including the major trade route from Egypt to Babylon). To efficiently reap

17763-451: The capital of al-Andalus, Córdoba . Abd al-Rahman's army was exhausted after their conquest, meanwhile Governor Yūsuf al-Fihri had returned from quashing another rebellion with his army. The siege of Córdoba began, and noticing the starving state of Abd al-Rahman's army, al-Fihri began throwing lavish feasts every day as the siege went on, to tempt Abd al Rahman's supporters to defect to his side. However, Abd al-Rahman persisted, even rejecting

17954-528: The capture of Babylon, but it is possible that Xenophon meant Belshazzar, whose death at the fall of Babylon is also recorded in the Biblical Book of Daniel. Berossus wrote that Nabonidus surrendered to Cyrus at Borsippa after the fall of Babylon who dealt with him "in a gracious manner", sparing his life and allowing him to retire, or possibly appointing him to be a governor, in Carmania (approximately

18145-423: The celebration of the New Year's festival in 539 BC, Nabonidus had the statues of the gods of Uruk, Akkad, Kish, Marad and Khursagkalamma brought to the capital for safety, the conventional first step in anticipation of attacks from the north-east. This suggests that Nabonidus expected a Persian attack and was making preparations several months before it came. Though this was the conventional method to protect

18336-533: The city of Opis . The battle of Opis was a decisive Persian victory, inflicting heavy casualties on the Babylonians and forcing the Babylonian forces to retreat beyond the Median Wall. Shortly thereafter, on 10 October 539 BC, Sippar was taken by Cyrus without a fight and Nabonidus retreated to Babylon. Why Sippar surrendered without a fight is not clear. It is possible the authorities at Sippar were disgruntled with Nabonidus's religious policies or else viewed

18527-476: The city was governed by a Jewish prince. Benjamin was a Jew from al-Andalus who travelled to Persia and Arabia in the 12th century. In the summer of 1181, Raynald of Châtillon , Prince of Antioch and Lord of Oultrejordain , attacked a Muslim caravan near Tayma during a raid of the Red Sea area despite a truce between Saladin and Baldwin IV of Jerusalem . In Tayma, there is a desert climate. Most rain falls in

18718-420: The conquest of Babylonia by Alexander the Great centuries later, corroborates that Nabonidus would have originated in Harran, as it regards Nabonidus as the founder, and sole representative, of the "dynasty of Harran". According to Beaulieu, Adagoppe may have been Aramean, rather than Assyrian, as her name "seems to be Aramean". In Harran , Adad-guppi served as a priestess devoted to the moon god, Sîn . There

18909-537: The control of El Cid at the end of its taifa period , was eventually occupied in 1102, after El Cid's death. Zaragoza was annexed in 1110. Modern scholarship has sometimes admitted originality in North African architecture, but according to Yasser Tabbaa, historian of Islamic art and architecture, the Iberocentric viewpoint is anachronistic when considering the political and cultural environment during

19100-586: The deity Inanna was elevated to a prominent position in Uruk during the time of the Akkadian Empire , more than a thousand years prior, or how Marduk had originally been elevated in Babylonia under Nebuchadnezzar I ( r.   c. 1125–1104 BC). In contrast to these earlier successful exaltations, the attempt to elevate Sîn met with failure. This failure is because the exaltation of Sîn met with considerable opposition within Babylonia itself, and because

19291-574: The destruction. So, too, in pre-Islamic poetry , Tayma is often referred to as a fortified city belonging to the Jews, as an anonymous Arab poet wrote, "Unto God will I make my complaint heard, but not unto man; because I am a sojourner in Taymā, Taymā of the Jews!" As late as the 6th century AD, Tayma was the home of a wealthy Jew, Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya . Tayma and neighboring Khaybar were visited by Benjamin of Tudela sometime around 1170. He claimed that

19482-400: The divine statues in times of war (victorious enemies typically stole cultic statues), transport of statues in this fashion caused considerable disruption in the cults of the gods transported. For instance, the transport of the statue of Ishtar from Uruk to Babylon probably meant that offerings of food and drink had to be carried from Uruk to Babylon to give to the statue, to ensure that the cult

19673-509: The embalmed head of al-Ala ibn-Mugith, it is said Al Mansur exclaimed "Praise be to God who has put the sea between me and this devil!". Abd al Rahman I died in 788 after a lengthy and prosperous reign. He was succeeded by his son, Hisham I , who secured power by exiling his brother who had tried to rebel against him. Hisham enjoyed a stable reign of eight years and was succeeded by his son Al-Hakam I . The next few decades were relatively uneventful, with only occasional minor rebellions, and saw

19864-649: The emirate was wealthy through being tightly integrated in Mediterranean trade networks and enjoyed a period of considerable cultural and economic prosperity. Despite internal conflicts, the Nasrids of Granada were able to survive in part by playing the Christian kingdoms of the north against each other, while at other times soliciting aid from the Marinids , a new Berber dynasty ruling in North Africa from their capital in Fez . For much of its existence, Granada paid tribute to

20055-411: The emirate, most disastrously following the rebellion of Umar ibn Hafsun . When Muhammad died, he was succeeded by emir Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi whose power barely reached outside of the city of Córdoba. As Ibn Hafsun ravaged the south, Abdullah did almost nothing, and slowly became more and more isolated, barely speaking to anyone. Abdullah purged his administration of his brothers, which lessened

20246-557: The evidence strong enough to support the idea that Nabonidus fanatically promoted Sîn, and sought to fully replace Marduk, within Babylonia itself. It is unclear why Nabonidus returned to Babylon from Tayma. Potential explanations include fearing the growing power of Cyrus the Great or perhaps serious disagreements with Belshazzar on religion and the extent of his authority. Upon his return, he also swiftly began to seriously institute his intended religious reforms, perhaps expending so much effort because of his advanced age and wanting to see

20437-536: The explanation of Sippar and the other cities refusing to send their gods to Babylon seems unlikely. Zawadzki offered several possible explanations, including that Sippar wished to celebrate its traditional cultic rituals, which were close in time to the Persian invasion, and that there thus was not any time to transfer the statue to Babylon, or that perhaps Nabonidus himself had ordered the statue to remain in Sippar. Nabonidus might have ordered this since he intended to stop

20628-440: The fall of the Umayyads in the east, in 750, and sought to reach an understanding with the Abbasids , hoping they might be allowed to continue their autonomous existence. But when the Abbasids rejected the offer and demanded submission, the Fihrids declared independence and, probably out of spite, invited the deposed remnants of the Umayyad clan to take refuge in their dominions. It was a fateful decision that they soon regretted, for

20819-568: The following centuries, though certain fields and subjects thrived more depending on the period. Scholars often worked in many different and overlapping subjects, so it is difficult to place those discussed here into a single scientific field each. There were many notable surgeons, physicians, and medical scholars from al-Andalus including Ibn al-Baytar (d. 1248), Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Albucasis; d. 1013), Muhammad al-Shafrah (d. 1360), Abu Marwan 'Abd al-Malik ibn Habib (d. 853), and Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar; d. 1162). And of particular note

21010-405: The following: I am Nabonidus, the only son, who has nobody. In my mind there was no thought of kingship. Nabonidus's father was a man by the name Nabu-balatsu-iqbi , whom Nabonidus refers to in his inscriptions as a "learned counsellor", "wise prince", "perfect prince" and "heroic governor". That Nabu-balatsu-iqbi is not given a connection to any Babylonian king in Nabonidus's inscriptions, it

21201-628: The formation of the European Renaissance . The Caliphate of Córdoba also had extensive trade with other parts of the Mediterranean, including Christian parts. Trade goods included luxury items (silk, ceramics, gold), essential foodstuffs (grain, olive oil, wine), and containers (such as ceramics for storing perishables). In the tenth century, Amalfitans were already trading Fatimid and Byzantine silks in Córdoba. Later references to Amalfitan merchants were sometimes used to emphasize

21392-488: The future king is also unclear. The lack of confident mentions of Nabonidus in sources before his rise to the throne could suggest the possibility that Nabonidus was not his birth name, but an assumed regnal name, however the meaning of the name, i.e., "may Nabû be exalted", weakens that possibility. The Babylonian historian Berossus , active centuries later during the Hellenistic period , wrote that Nabonidus had been

21583-576: The gods" and "father and creator of the gods" to Sîn, for instance this inscription concerning building work at the Ebabbar temple in Larsa (not the same temple as the one of the same name at Sippar), attributes Marduk's traditional titles to Sîn: As for the Ebabbar, the temple of Šamaš at Larsa, because in distant days Sîn, the king of the gods, the lord of the gods and goddesses dwelling in heaven and

21774-570: The gods", a notably smaller array of titles than usual. In contrast Sîn is granted a large array of epithets, including some previously unheard of, with examples such as "shining god", "light of mankind", "exalted god" and "exalted lord". Nabonidus could hardly have moved to issue religious reforms early in his reign, especially as he had only taken the throne through usurpation. His early inscriptions are ostensibly orthodox, though point towards intentional restraint in glorifying Marduk and intentional disproportionate glorification of Sîn. Inscriptions from

21965-551: The great Umayyad army was crushed by the Berber rebels at the Battle of Bagdoura (in Morocco). Heartened by the victories of their North African brethren, the Berbers of al-Andalus quickly raised their own revolt. Berber garrisons in the north of the Iberian Peninsula mutinied, deposed their Arab commanders, and organized a large rebel army to march against the strongholds of Toledo, Córdoba, and Algeciras. In 741, Balj b. Bishr led

22156-428: The head of the pantheon, or omit him entirely, and they often contain disproportionate praise for Sîn. It seems probable that Nabonidus's devotion to Sîn steadily increased throughout his reign, as the epithets granted to Marduk and Sîn throughout his reign varied considerably. Even early in his reign, the epithets granted to Marduk were only the minimum, epithets such as "king of the gods", "lord of lords" and "leader of

22347-530: The important Book of the Medicine of the Arabs , Ibn Habib also wrote the Book on Stars ( Kirab fi l-nujim ). This book included important "teachings on the lunar mansions, the signs of the zodiac, [and] the division of the seasons." In these teachings, Ibn-Habib calculated the phases of the moon and dates of the annual solstices and equinoxes with relative accuracy. Another important astronomer from al-Andalus

22538-539: The inscriptions by Adad-guppi, wherein Nabonidus is called her "only son" several times, it can be confidently ascertained that Nabonidus was an only child. It is probable that Adad-guppi first came to Babylon as a prisoner after the Babylonians and Medes sacked Harran in 610 BC during the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire . By 610 BC, she was already 39 years old. Presumably, Nabonidus

22729-611: The invasion and conquest by the Persians put an end to the political means with which the exaltation could be completed. In addition to building inscriptions, the Verse Account of Nabonidus also alludes to attempts to establish Sîn as the foremost god of the Mesopotamian pantheon. The publication of the Verse Account in 1924 saw scholarly attention being given to other inscriptions and records concerning Nabonidus. Notably, many of his inscriptions fail to acknowledge Marduk as

22920-439: The king was totally devoid of strategic ability, it seems hard to believe that he would have engaged a significant part of the Babylonian army in a long campaign to Arabia without making sure that the northern and eastern borders of the empire would be secure, at least for a certain number of years". As the stay in Tayma continued, Cyrus the Great consolidated a vast empire under his rule. Belshazzar as regent became acutely aware of

23111-455: The king. As such, it is clear that contemporary views of Nabonidus were not completely negative. Had the Babylonians universally dismissed Nabonidus as an incompetent and impious heretic, it is also unlikely that two later Babylonian rebels would have claimed to be his sons. Cuneiform sources suggest that the Babylonians remembered Nabonidus as unorthodox and misguided, but not insane. Al-Andalus Al-Andalus ( Arabic : الأَنْدَلُس )

23302-477: The kingship of Babylon to his son, Belshazzar . Taymanitic inscriptions also mention that the people of Tayma fought wars with Dadān ( Lihyan ). Cuneiform inscriptions possibly dating from the 6th century BC have been recovered from Tayma. They are known as the Tayma stones . Tayma is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible . The biblical eponym is Tema , one of the sons of Ishmael , after whom

23493-456: The kingship reluctantly. Though a reluctance to accept royal power is often used as a form of royal propaganda, there are several inscriptions by Nabonidus, some dated more than a decade into his reign (at a point when he no longer needed to justify his rule with legitimacy) wherein he points out that he did not covet the throne. In one inscription, Nabonidus describes himself as visiting the sanctuaries of Marduk and Nabû in search for guidance, with

23684-845: The local priesthoods were disgusted by Nabonidus's attempt at religious reform and thus refused. Smith later proposed an alternative hypothesis, wherein he postulated that Sippar, Borsippa and Cutha were in the Babylonian heartland, protected by strong fortifications and the Median Wall (built under Nebuchadnezzar II to protect against attacks from the north), and as such would not have needed to send their statues to Babylon for protection, whereas more outlying cities such as Uruk were not as well-protected. This seems unlikely given that Kish and Khursagkalamma were closer to Babylon than Sippar was. Furthermore, Stefan Zawadzki demonstrated in 2012 that Sippar did send certain gods to Babylon, just not their main statue of their patron deity Shamash. This means that

23875-490: The medical uses of over 1400 plants and other types of medicine—and ibn Habib's Book of the Medicine of the Arabs ( Kitab tibb al-'arab )—a historical summary of Arabic medicine until the 9th century. Ibn Habib's work is significant because it is one of the oldest known writings in the field of prophetic medicine , which uses hadiths to create Islamic-based medicinal guidelines. His book is also significant because it uses principles of Galenic medicine , such as humorism and

24066-456: The modern Kerman Province in Iran), where Nabonidus lived out the rest of his life. The royal chronicle simply states that Nabonidus was captured in Babylon after retreating, leaving his subsequent fate unclear. The Dynastic Prophecy corroborates Berossus's account, by stating that Nabonidus was removed from his throne and settled "in another land". If Berossus is believed, Nabonidus lived into

24257-556: The mountains of Ronda ; after this uprising the capitulations were revoked. In 1502 the Catholic Monarchs decreed the forced conversion of all Muslims living under the rule of the Crown of Castile, although in the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia (both now part of Spain) the open practice of Islam was allowed until 1526. Descendants of the Muslims were subject to expulsions from Spain between 1609 and 1614 (see Expulsion of

24448-470: The name of al-Andalus . It was organized as a province subordinate to Ifriqiya , so, for the first few decades, the governors of al-Andalus were appointed by the emir of Kairouan , rather than the Caliph in Damascus . The regional capital was set at Córdoba , and the first influx of Muslim settlers was widely distributed. Following the Muslim conquest of Spain, al-Andalus, then at its greatest extent,

24639-576: The name of Nabonidus's wife and Belshazzar's mother. In her inscriptions, Adad-guppi also claimed that Nabonidus was from the dynastic line of Ashurbanipal ( r.   669–631 BC), king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire . According to her inscriptions, Adad-guppi was born in Ashurbanipal's twentieth year as king. At the time of her birth, Harran had been a major Assyrian stronghold and when the Neo-Assyrian Empire fell in 609 BC, Harran

24830-427: The need for students and practitioners to rely on multiple medical texts. The book is renowned for its chapter on surgery which included important illustrations of surgical instruments, as well as sections "on cauterization , on incisions, venesection and wounds, and on bone-setting." For hundreds of years after its publication it was one of the most widely used medical texts for students and medical practitioners and

25021-584: The northwestern provinces of Galicia and León to his fledgling kingdom. The Asturians evacuated the Christian populations from the towns and villages of the Galician-Leonese lowlands, creating an empty buffer zone in the Douro River valley (the " Desert of the Duero "). This newly emptied frontier remained roughly in place for the next few centuries as the boundary between the Christian north and

25212-424: The plotters, should rule. The reason for the coup against Labashi-Marduk is unknown. It is possible that despite Labashi-Marduk and his father being well-connected and wealthy, they were ultimately seen as commoners, lacking noble blood. Though Labashi-Marduk may have been the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar II through his mother, making him part of the royal bloodline, it is also possible he was the son of Neriglissar and

25403-430: The presence or construction of Babylonian temples, or a temple dedicated to Sîn, in the city. Beaulieu also points out that the Verse Account of Nabonidus, otherwise very focused on the king's religious beliefs, makes no mention of any religious activities at Tayma, which it surely would have done had the campaign and prolonged stay been religiously motivated. During Nabonidus's stay at Tayma, his son and heir Belshazzar

25594-437: The previous golden age of Córdoba. Fatimid Egypt was a supplier of many luxury goods, including elephant tusks, and raw or carved crystals. The Fatimids were traditionally thought to be the only supplier of such goods, and control over these trade routes would be a cause for conflict between the Umayyads and Fatimids. The Caliphate of Córdoba effectively collapsed during a ruinous civil war between 1009 and 1013, although it

25785-525: The province of al-Andalus). He planned to invade and destroy the Emirate of Córdoba, so in response Abd al Rahman fortified himself within the fortress of Carmona with a tenth as many soldiers as al-Ala ibn-Mugith. After a long siege, it appeared that Abd al Rahman would be defeated, but in a last stand Abd al Rahman with his outnumbered forces opened the gates of the fortress and charged at the resting Abbasid army, and decisively defeated them. After being sent

25976-791: The province. The quarrel was settled in 743 when Abū l-Khaṭṭār al-Ḥusām , the new governor of al-Andalus, assigned the Syrians to regimental fiefs across al-Andalus  – the Damascus jund was established in Elvira ( Granada ), the Jordan jund in Rayyu ( Málaga and Archidona ), the Jund Filastin in Medina-Sidonia and Jerez , the Emesa (Hims) jund in Seville and Niebla , and

26167-474: The reforms through before he died. The major project of Nabonidus's later reign was the completion of the building projects at the Ekhulkhul in Harran, with the temple rebuilt directly on top of its original foundation. Nabonidus himself considered the rebuilding of the temple to be the major achievement of his reign. Building work was also conducted in Ur, Larsa, Sippar and Akkad . Some evidence suggests that there

26358-415: The reign of Darius the Great ( r.   522–486 BC), outliving both Cyrus and Cyrus's son and successor Cambyses II , given that Berossus claims that "King Darius, however, took away a part of his province for himself". Given the age of his mother at the time of her death, it is not impossible that Nabonidus too would have lived for over a century. The fate of Belshazzar is unknown, given that none of

26549-558: The reign of Nabonidus at Sippar is from 26 June. However, a tablet written as early as 25 May from Nippur is dated to Nabonidus's reign and the last tablet dated to Labashi-Marduk's reign at Babylon itself is from 24 May. The earliest tablet dated to Nabonidus at Babylon itself is from 14 July. This evidence can be reconciled by positing that Nabonidus may have been recognised in the Babylonian heartland, including Nippur and Babylon, already on 25 May, whereas some outlying cities continued to recognise Labashi-Marduk (even though he quite possibly

26740-615: The restoration of the Ekhulkhul, and the city of Harran surrounding it, may also have been politically motivated. Since the downfall of Assyria, political hegemony in the Near East had been divided between Babylonia and the Medes, an issue that remained unresolved by the time of Nabonidus. As Nabonidus often refers to, and likens himself to, his predecessors Nebuchadnezzar II and Neriglissar, both conquerors and warriors, and several inscriptions allude to Nabonidus being preoccupied with military matters in his accession year, it seems that Nabonidus

26931-615: The rise of the emirate. In 822 Al Hakam died and was succeeded by Abd al-Rahman II , the first great emir of Córdoba. He rose to power with no opposition and sought to reform the emirate. He quickly reorganized the bureaucracy to be more efficient and built many mosques across the emirate. During his reign science and art flourished, as many scholars fled the Abbasid caliphate due to the disastrous Fourth Fitna . The scholar Abbas ibn Firnas made an attempt to fly, though accounts vary on his success. In 852 Abd al Rahman II died, leaving behind him

27122-494: The royal family) but it would also explain later historical traditions in which Nabonidus's son, Belshazzar , is described as Nebuchadnezzar II's descendant; as in the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible , where Belshazzar is referred to as Nebuchadnezzar II's (grand)son. The claim of Belshazzar being Nebuchadnezzar II's descendant however, could also alternatively derive from royal propaganda, rather than true genealogical information. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus names

27313-511: The rule of the Almoravid dynasty. The rise and fall of the Almoravids is sometimes seen as an expression of Ibn Khaldun 's asabiyyah paradigm. By 1147, the Almoravids were overthrown in North Africa by the Almohads , another Berber dynasty, under the leadership of Abd al-Mu'min . As Almoravid rule collapsed, another brief period of taifa kingdoms followed in al-Andalus, during which

27504-415: The rulerships which have been exerted in the past by other kings whom you have called. Lengthen my days, may my years become old, let me fulfill the function of the provider. It is thus possible that whereas Nabonidus was a prominent figure in the group of conspirators that deposed and killed Labashi-Marduk, he had no intention of assuming the throne himself but was convinced to by the other conspirators. It

27695-466: The same time and focused their astronomical works on critiquing and revising Ptolemaic astronomy and the problem of the equant in his astronomical model. Instead, they accepted Aristotle 's model and promoted the theory of homocentric spheres. Al-Bitruji is believed to have studied under Ibn Tufail and Bitruji's Book on Cosmology ( Kitab fi al-hay'a ) built on Ibn Tufail's work, as well as that of Ibn Rushd, Ibn Bajja, and Maimonides. The book's goal

27886-401: The same time, Andalusi scholars were also highly active in philosophy (see below), especially in the field of logic . The earliest evidence of such activities in al-Andalus dates to the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II ( r.  822–852 ), when developments were spurred by exposure to older works translated from, Greek, Persian and other languages. Scientific studies continued to be pursued in

28077-845: The second taifa period (1140–1203); the Almohad Caliphate (1147–1238); the third taifa period (1232–1287); and ultimately the Nasrid Emirate of Granada (1238–1492). Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres throughout the Mediterranean Basin , Europe, and the Islamic world. Achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus, including major advances in trigonometry ( Jabir ibn Aflah ), astronomy ( Al-Zarqali ), surgery ( Al-Zahrawi ), pharmacology ( Ibn Zuhr ), and agronomy ( Ibn Bassal and Abū l-Khayr al-Ishbīlī ). Al-Andalus became

28268-550: The site, under the auspices of the German Archaeological Institute , is ongoing. Clay tablets and stone inscriptions using Taymanitic script and language were found in ruins and around the oasis . Nearby Tayma was a Sabaean trading station, where Sabaean language inscriptions were found. Historically, Tayma is known for growing dates . The oasis also produced rock salt , which was distributed throughout Arabia . Tayma also mined alum , which

28459-513: The sources describe what happened to him. It is typically assumed that Belshazzar was killed by the Persians at Babylon when the city fell, on 12 October, though he may alternatively already have been killed at the battle of Opis , captured and executed, or exiled together with his father. Details on Nabonidus's family are scarce. He likely had a large family even prior to becoming king, seeing as his mother Adad-guppi in her inscriptions claims that she had great-great-grandchildren, and Nabonidus

28650-494: The south. In the 13th century, most of the south quickly fell under Christian rule, with Gharb al-Andalus , the Guadalquivir Valley and Eastern al-Andalus  [ es ] falling to Portuguese, Castilian, and Aragonese conquests. This left the Emirate of Granada, that was to become a tributary state of the Crown of Castile, as the remaining Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula, and was surrendered in 1492 to

28841-516: The status of Babylon's traditional national deity Marduk . While some have suggested that Nabonidus wished to go as far as to completely replace Marduk with Sîn as the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon , the extent to which Nabonidus's devotion to Sîn led to religious reforms is debated. Nabonidus was in self-imposed exile in Tayma , Arabia from 552 to 543/542 BC. The reason for this is unknown, though it might have been due to disagreements with

29032-544: The strategic strip of Septimania in 752, hoping to deprive al-Andalus of an easy launching pad for raids into Francia . After a lengthy siege, the last Arab stronghold, the citadel of Narbonne , finally fell to the Franks in 759 . Al-Andalus was sealed off at the Pyrenees. The third consequence of the Berber revolt was the collapse of the authority of the Damascus Caliphate over the western provinces. With

29223-487: The temples Esagila and Ezida, as the temples and dwellings of Sîn. Though it does not appear that the Esagila was ever "usurped" by Sîn, replacing Marduk in the temple by Sîn was a plan seriously considered by Nabonidus, who justified it by pointing out that there was lunar symbolism in temple through it being marked with a crescent symbol, which must have meant that it was originally intended for Sîn. In one inscription, Sîn

29414-445: The theory of four temperaments , as the basis of its medical recommendations. The ibn Zuhr family played a very important role in the production of Andalusi medical knowledge, as they produced five generations of medical experts, particularly in the fields of dietary sciences and medicaments . Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (d. 1162) is particularly notable, as he wrote the Book of Moderation ( Kitab al-Iqtisad )—a treatise on general therapy;

29605-400: The threat presented by Cyrus's growing Achaemenid Empire , as he is recorded as having expended resources at projects in Sippar and nearby defenses. Nabonidus has typically been characterised as attempting religious reforms in Babylonia, wishing to raise the moon god Sîn to the status of supreme deity and demoting the Babylonian national deity Marduk. The elevation of Sîn was similar to how

29796-472: The throne had been inherited in April 556 BC by Neriglissar's son Labashi-Marduk . Berossus erroneously wrote that Labashi-Marduk ruled for nine months (though this might be attributable to a scribal error) and stated that Labashi-Marduk's "evil ways" led to his friends plotting against him, eventually resulting in the "child king" being beaten to death. The plotters then agreed that Nabonnedos (Nabonidus), one of

29987-463: The throne himself, he must have been a leading figure in the conspiracy that led to the deposition and death of Labashi-Marduk. Nabonidus enjoyed consistent support from the Babylonian military throughout his reign and it is possible that the army played a role in his rise to the throne. Though Berossus claimed Labashi-Marduk ruled for nine months, the Uruk King List only gives Labashi-Marduk

30178-457: The throne passed to Abd al Rahman III. Through force of arms and diplomacy, he put down the rebellions that had disrupted his grandfather's reign, obliterating Ibn Hafsun and hunting down his sons. After this he led several sieges against the Christians, sacking the city of Pamplona , and restoring some prestige to the emirate. Meanwhile, across the sea the Fatimids had risen up in force, ousted

30369-554: The throne. Nabonidus's inscriptions also mention that the Medes threatened Harran, "surrounding" it, and it is possible that building work was postponed until later in his reign due to the threat of Median raiders disturbing the building efforts. According to his inscriptions Nabonidus had been ordered to restore the temple by both Marduk and Sîn in a dream, and the gods had assured him that the Medes would eventually be restored so that construction could begin without being threatened by raids. In addition to Nabonidus's own religious beliefs,

30560-476: The time Nabonidus spent in Tayma seem to suggest that the king returned to "orthodoxy" during this period, with inscriptions no longer glorifying Sîn to a disproportionate degree (the deity barely being mentioned) and instead giving Marduk more elaborate and appropriate epithets, such as "foremost of the gods", "lofty king of the gods", "lord of everything" and "king of heaven and the underworld". These inscriptions stand in sharp contrast to inscriptions by Nabonidus in

30751-407: The time of Adad-guppi's death, Nabonidus could not have been born later than c. 615 BC, however he could very well have been born earlier. It is possible as well that Nabonidus married one of Nebuchadnezzar II's daughters, a marriage which could potentially have been secured through his mother's influence. Not only would such a connection explain Nabonidus's rise to the throne (being connected to

30942-510: The true heir to the Caliphate of Córdoba. The taifas were vulnerable and divided but had immense wealth. During its prominence the Taifa of Seville produced technically complex lusterware and exerted significant influence on ceramic production across al-Andalus. In the 1080s, the taifa kingdoms began to face an existential threat from the Christian kingdoms to the north, as Alfonso VI of Castile escalated attacks against them. In 1083, he led

31133-409: The underworld, became angry with that city and temple, big heaps of sand accumulated over it and its chapel could not be seen anymore. Some inscriptions also point towards an attempt at historical revisionism, with the successes of Nebuchadnezzar II being attributed to in inscriptions not to Marduk, but to Sîn, and one inscription describing Sîn, rather than the Assyrian deity Ashur, as having entrusted

31324-418: The visit may have been political, given that Sippar recognised Labashi-Marduk as king just two weeks prior, nearly a month after Nabonidus had been proclaimed king. In the fall of 556 BC, Nabonidus led the Babylonian army on a campaign to Hume, eastern Cilicia , where Neriglissar had campaigned in 557 BC. That Nabonidus campaigned there so shortly after Neriglissar's campaign could suggest that Syria , which

31515-465: The way perhaps attacking the city Hama in Syria, but the record is fragmentary. Though Nabonidus made the traditional royal donations to the temples in Babylon, the major building effort of his reign, proclaimed as his intention shortly after he became king, was restoring the temple Ekhulkhul , the temple dedicated to Sîn in Harran, which had been destroyed by the Medes in 610 BC. Nabonidus noted at

31706-565: The western Pyrenees and defeated the Aquitanian duke, who in turn appealed to the Frankish leader Charles Martel for assistance, offering to place himself under Carolingian sovereignty. At the Battle of Poitiers in 732, the al-Andalus raiding army was defeated by Charles Martel and Al Ghafiqi was killed. In 734, the Andalusi launched raids to the east, capturing Avignon and Arles and overran much of Provence . In 737, they traveled up

31897-528: The winter. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is BWh. The average annual temperature in Tayma is 21.8 °C (71.2 °F). About 65 mm (2.56 in) of precipitation falls annually. The site was first investigated and mapped by Charles M. Doughty in 1877. The Tayma stele discovered by Charles Huber in 1883, now at the Louvre , lists the gods of Tayma in the 6th century BC: Ṣalm of Maḥram and Shingala-and-Ashira (or rather, Ashima). This Ashira may be Athirat/Asherah . Archeological investigation of

32088-406: The years after his return to Babylon, wherein Sîn is repeatedly exalted and Marduk is more or less ignored, with the exception of one inscriptions where he appears merely as Sîn's companion. It is possible that the return to orthodoxy during Nabonidus's time in Tayma was because Babylonia was under the regency of Belshazzar, who might have convinced Nabonidus to stay away from Babylonia and instituted

32279-558: Was Adad-guppi , born in c. 648/649 BC. Although once assumed to have been part of the Babylonian royal harem , no evidence exists to date that Adad-guppi was indeed the concubine of Nabonidus's predecessors. She was, however, influential at the royal Babylonian court, according to her own inscriptions claiming that she wielded influence with the kings Nabopolassar ( r.   626–605 BC), Nebuchadnezzar II ( r.   605–562 BC) and Neriglissar ( r.   560–556 BC). While no conclusive evidence currently exists, Adad-guppi

32470-437: Was Maslama al-Majriti (d. 1007), who played a role in translating and writing about Ptolemy's Planisphaerium and Almagest . He built on the work of older astronomers, like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi , whose astronomical tables he wrote a discussion on and subsequently improved. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Zarqali (d. 1087) had many influential astronomical successes, as shown by Copernicus 's recognition of him in his On

32661-406: Was "to overcome the physical difficulties inherent in the geometrical models of Ptolemy 's Almagest and to describe the cosmos in agreement with Aristotelian or Neoplatonic physics," which it succeeded in doing to an extent. Bitruji's book set a precedent of criticizing the Almagest in future works in the field of astronomy. Although Ibn Rushd originally trained and practiced as a jurist, he

32852-413: Was a corruption of the name Atlantis . Heinz Halm in 1989 derived the name from a Gothic term, *landahlauts , and in 2002, Georg Bossong suggested its derivation from a pre-Roman substrate. During the caliphate of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I , the commander Tariq ibn-Ziyad led an army of 7,000 that landed at Gibraltar on April 30, 711, ostensibly to intervene in a Visigothic civil war. After

33043-450: Was already born at this point, though his exact year of birth is yet unknown. In one of her inscriptions, Adad-guppi claims to have seen her descendants down to her great-great-grandchildren (i.e. Nabonidus's great-grandchildren) in her lifetime, totalling four generations of descendants. If the time between generations is estimated at approximately 20–25 years, and assuming that her great-great-grandchildren were approximately five years old by

33234-465: Was campaigning in Arabia, fighting against the king of Dadanu . By March or April, Nabonidus had defeated the king of Dadanu, and had captured other cities in Arabia, including the city of Tayma, which he had established as a provisionary seat for himself by the summer of 552 BC. Babylonian sources state that Nabonidus conquered Arabian lands as far south as Medina (called Yatribu at this time). After conquering Tayma, Nabonidus would stay there for about

33425-415: Was dead at the time on account of a possible palace coup) as king until June. By the end of June 556 BC, tablets dated to Nabonidus are known from across Babylonia. On account of his mother's age, and Nabonidus having had a long career in royal service before 556 BC, he must have been relatively old by the time he became king. It appears that Nabonidus had not intended to become king, and that he accepted

33616-413: Was diminished in prestige and in 1228 the Almohad caliph al-Ma'mun withdrew from al-Andalus altogether. In this political vacuum, a new wave of taifa kingdoms emerged, which were progressively conquered by Portugal, Castile, and Aragon. Córdoba was conquered in 1236 and Seville was conquered in 1248 . Some Muslim city-states, such as Murcia and Niebla , survived as vassal kingdoms of Castile until

33807-467: Was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to: modern Andalusia ; Castile and León ; Navarre , Aragon , and Catalonia ; Portugal and Galicia ; and the Languedoc-Roussillon area of Occitania . The small army Tariq led in the initial conquest consisted mostly of Berbers, while Musa's largely Arab force of over 12,000 soldiers was accompanied by a group of mawālī (Arabic, موالي), that is, non-Arab Muslims, who were clients of

33998-406: Was exposed to astronomy—possibly through Ibn Tufail—and became a renowned scientist in the field. His most popular work was his Summary of the Almagest , but he also published shorter works discussing Aristotle's planetary theories . Ibn Rushd published writings on philosophy, theology, and medicine throughout his life too, including commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina. In addition to writing

34189-448: Was famine in Babylonia during Nabonidus's later reign. Nabonidus appears to have attributed it to a sign of Sîn's wrath that the people were not responsive to the king's religious reforms, whereas the populace likely attributed it to Marduk's wrath with the king's heretical faith. The New Year's festival, suspended during the king's absence in Tayma, was celebrated in its traditional manner annually once again after Nabonidus returned. It

34380-445: Was not finally abolished until 1031 when al-Andalus broke up into a number of mostly independent mini-states and principalities called taifas . In 1013, invading Berbers sacked Córdoba , massacring its inhabitants, pillaging the city, and burning the palace complex to the ground. The largest of the taifas to emerge were Badajoz ( Batalyaws ), Toledo ( Ṭulayṭulah ), Zaragoza ( Saraqusta ), and Granada ( Ġarnāṭah ). After 1031,

34571-411: Was not interrupted. The gods of some cities close to Babylon, such as Cutha , Sippar and Borsippa , were not brought to the capital. The reason for this is not known, but speculative explanations have been proposed. Sidney Smith , who published the translation of the Nabonidus Cylinder , suggested in 1924 that Nabonidus could have summoned the statues of those cities to the capital as well, but that

34762-401: Was preceded by a revolt by a man by the name Ugbaru , who might have been the appointed Babylonian governor of the region of Gutium . Ugbaru revolted against Nabonidus, joined Cyrus, and was made the primary general in the Babylonian campaign. Depending on when it took place, Ugbaru's revolt may have been one of the factors that made Nabonidus return from Tayma. Cyrus's first move was to attack

34953-501: Was preparing to resolve the matter. In May 553 BC, Nabonidus departed to campaign in Arabia, initially to suppress a rebellion in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains . The Babylonians achieved victory relatively quickly, and Nabonidus still remained near the Anti-Lebanon Mountains in August, overseeing the transport of supplies back to Babylon. After a period of illness, Nabonidus then moved on Amurru and Edom and captured an otherwise unknown city. By December 553 BC or January 552 BC, Nabonidus

35144-418: Was presumably Adad-guppi's only child. Adad-guppi having great-great-grandchildren means that Nabonidus would have had great-grandchildren early in his reign, though the names, lineage, number and genders of these descendants are not mentioned. The known children of Nabonidus are: Some later Babylonians would lay claim to descent from Nabonidus. Nidintu-Bêl, who rebelled against the Achaemenid king Darius

35335-413: Was processed and used for the care of camels . [REDACTED] Media related to Tayma at Wikimedia Commons 27°37′47″N 38°32′38″E  /  27.62972°N 38.54389°E  / 27.62972; 38.54389 Nabonidus Nabonidus ( Babylonian cuneiform : [REDACTED]    Nabû-naʾid , meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of

35526-413: Was put in charge of ruling in Babylon as regent. It is possible that the prolonged stay in Tayma was the result of a political struggle with a faction, possibly led by his own son Belshazzar, opposing Nabonidus's reformist religious stance, and an agreement was reached to go into self-imposed exile while Belshazzar ruled as regent in Babylon. In his own inscriptions, Nabonidus attributes his stay at Tayma to

35717-425: Was still alive, but by placing his father on the throne, an old man (meaning that his reign could be expected to be transitional, only lasting a few years), Belshazzar thought the throne secured for himself in the future. The earliest recorded activity of Nabonidus as king was visiting the city of Sippar on 4 July 556 BC, where he donated three minas of gold in the city's temple, the Ebabbar temple. The purpose of

35908-423: Was the Muslim -ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula . The name describes the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most of the peninsula as well as Septimania under Umayyad rule. These boundaries changed constantly through a series of conquests Western historiography has traditionally characterized as

36099-425: Was the capital of its government in exile . On account of her claims in regards to Nabonidus being of Sargonid (Ashurbanipal's dynasty) ancestry, Stephanie Dalley in 2003 considered it "almost certain" that Adad-guppi was a daughter of Ashurbanipal. Michael B. Dick opposed Dalley's conviction in 2004, pointing out that even though Nabonidus did go to some length to revive some old Assyrian symbols (such as wearing

36290-485: Was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Castilian. This encyclopedia is also significant for its inclusion of al-Zahrawi's personal experiences as a surgeon, which provided important case studies for aspiring surgeons. This distinguishes it from other strictly factual medical works of the time, most notably Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine . Other important medical texts include al-Baytar's Comprehensive Book on Simple Drugs and Foodstuffs —an encyclopedia with descriptions of

36481-423: Was under Bablyonian suzerainty, was threatened by raiders from Cilicia, or could point towards Nabonidus, in general, being concerned about the security of the empire. This initial campaign was successful and prisoners, gifts and booty were brought back to Babylon to use in the annual New Year's festival . Babylonian records give the number of prisoners later distributed as temple slaves as 2,850. After celebrating

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