Nabonidus Moves His Court to Tema

In the 6th century BC the last king of Babylon — Nabonidus — made the unprecedented decision to abandon his imperial capital and relocate his entire royal court to the remote Arabian oasis of Tema, where he remained for ten years (~553-543 BC). The reasons remain debated — devotion to the moon god Sin whose cult center was at nearby Harran, control of the lucrative incense and caravan routes, or simply estrangement from the Babylonian priesthood. During his absence Nabonidus left his son Belshazzar in charge of Babylon as co-regent, which explains why Belshazzar can only offer Daniel the position of "third ruler in the kingdom" in Daniel 5:16 — Nabonidus was still nominally the first king and Belshazzar the second. Nabonidus's building inscriptions discovered at Tema and Harran, alongside the Verse Account that mocks his Arabian residence, all confirm the historical setting that frames the night Babylon fell to the Persians.

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