01_VanSeters_copiaaaa_01_25 28/04/15 11:15 Pagina 17 DATING THE YAHWIST’S HISTORY: PRINCIPLES AND PERSPECTIVES 17 a. Nabonidus, Ur and Harran, Teima and Hebron Early in his monarchy Nabonidus forged a strong connection with Ur, which is reflected in the appointment of his daughter as the high-priestess of Sîn in Ur. Shortly after this he set forth with a large entourage, including a large military force, to reclaim Baby- lonian control of the west. Prior to this, the Medes had destroyed much of the Assyrians’ last major stronghold, the city of Harran, along with its Sîn temple of Eḫulḫul, and thus the Medes had con- trol of the whole northern region for several decades. With the rise of Cyrus, king of Anshan in Persia and his revolt against the Medes, along with the active support of Nabonidus and the Babylonians, however, the Medes soon lost control of the northern region of Har- ran, and it reverted to Babylonian control. It may be that work was begun on the restoration of the city and the temple foundations at this time, probably under Belshazzar, the son of Nabonidus, al- though the complete restoration of Eḫulḫul and the temple of Sîn was not accomplished until a later date, due to more pressing concerns, which largely involved the financial stability of the kingdom 26. While the Medes were at war with Cyrus, Nabonidus, early in his reign, proceeded with his forces to restore his control over the western region of the Babylonian empire. It is possible that he made a trip to Harran to begin its restoration at this time, but we lack any direct evidence of this. He did campaign in Syria and Lebanon to re-establish Babylonian hegemony, and then headed south to North- ern Arabia. Here he carried on an extensive military campaign be- cause the region was rich in valuable commodities and precious metals. The Assyrian kings before him had often done the same by conducting numerous campaigns in the region, but Nabonidus went a large step further. After capturing the oasis city of Teima he made it into a regional capital, and he remained there in residence for ten years 27. In his place in Babylon he had set up his son Belshazzar to govern that part of the empire in his absence. Teima also became an important centre for the worship of the god Sîn, just as it was in Ur and Harran. To those in Babylonia this seemingly strange be- 26 VAN SETERS, Prologue to History, 106-113, 239-241. 27 On the archaeological evidence for his presence there see R. EICHMANN – H. SCHAUDIG – A. HAUSLEITER, “Archaeology and Epigraphy at Tayma (Saudi-Arabia)”, Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 17 (2006) 163-176.