Arab. arch. epig.

2006: 17: 163–176 (2006)

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Archaeology and epigraphy at Tayma (Saudi

Arabia)
Archaeological excavations by a Saudi-Arabian-German cooperation in the Ricardo Eichmann1,
oasis of Tayma revealed stratified from the 2nd and 1st millennia BC until the Hanspeter Schaudig2 and
Islamic period at a site marked by its specific environmentel setting. Political Arnulf Hausleiter1
1
and cultural contacts of regional and supra-regional scale are attested by Deutsches Archaeologisches
archaeological and epigraphic sources from the centre of the city and its Institut Orient-Abteilung,
surrounding walls: pottery and sculpture as well as Aramaic and Taymanitic Berlin 2Seminar für Sprachen
inscriptions. A newly discovered stele with a Mesopotamian royal und Kulturen des Vorderen
representation and a Babylonian cuneiform text is attributed to the last Orients — Assyriologie, Hei-
Babylonian king Nabonidus who took residence in Tayma for ten years of his delberg
region.
Dr. Arnulf Hausleiter, Deutsches
Keywords: northwest Arabia, Tayma, Babylonia, Nabonidus, Lihyan, Archaeologisches Institut Orient-Ab-
Nabataeans teilung: DFG-Projekt Tayma, Pod-
bielskiallee 69–71, D–14195 Berlin,
Germany
e-mail: arh@orient.dainst.de

Stratigraphic research at Tayma by Ricardo
Eichmann
The archaeological project undertaken at Tayma (1)
since 2004 is a joint venture between the Oriental
Department of the German Archaeological Institute,
the Saudi Arabian Department of Antiquities and
the Department of Archaeology and Epigraphy at
King Saud University in Riyadh (2). Its aim is to
reconstruct the history of the ancient oasis of Tayma
(3), which according to ancient textual evidence
played an important role as a caravan city in
antiquity (4). Fundamental to the reconstruction
are the stratigraphic evidence and the relative and
absolute dating of stratigraphic units.
Serious archaeological exploration of the site
began in the late 1970s, when an American team
carried out surveys and soundings on behalf of the
Saudi Department of Antiquities (5). They were
followed by several Saudi Arabian groups, excavat-
ing at different areas within ancient Tayma, includ-
ing huge burial grounds to the south of the town.
Tayma is located in a desert steppe zone 220 km
southeast of Tabuk, some 300 km southwest of
Dumat al-Jandal and 150 km northeast of al-’Ula,
being approximately 800 m above sea level. It was
occupied at least as early as the middle of the third
millennium BC and must have been well known in
the ancient Near East, particularly in the Levant and
Mesopotamia, for its flourishing economy.
The wealth of the people of Tayma and other
caravan cities came largely from trade with incense,
spices and other goods that were collected in South
Arabia and exported to the north (6). Incense was a
highly sought-after commodity required in large
quantities for the temples of the Mediterranean and
Near Eastern world. In return, prestigious objects
were brought from these regions to the Arabian
Peninsula.
It is obvious that the caravans ran the risk of being
waylaid, as is described in a cuneiform text. The
governor of Mari and Suhu on the middle Euphrates
during the first half of the eighth century BC praises

163
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.
himself for having taken a caravan from the people
of Tayma and Saba. He got away with 200 camels,
purple-coloured wool, alabaster, iron and ‘‘every-
thing one could wish for’’ (7).
Another individual interested in the profits that
could be made from the caravan trade was Nabo-
nidus, last king of the Babylonians in the middle of
the sixth century BC (8). According to ancient
sources, Nabonidus left Babylon with his troops in
order to take and control the caravan cities in the
northwest of modern Saudi Arabia. At Tayma, he
killed the king, built a palace and stayed there for a
period of ten years. After apparently recovering
from a serious sickness, he returned only to be
defeated three years later by Cyrus, king of the
Persians.
Tayma appeared to be involved in the ancient
Near Eastern political developments. Babylonian
influence on the caravan cities was substantial and
this is evident in inscriptions found in the desert
outside Tayma. In recent years two Taymanitic
inscriptions have been found mentioning the Baby-
lonian king, as well as royal Mesopotamian icono-
graphy such as royal horsemen and a symbol
representing the Babylonian god Nabû (9). As other
names are mentioned in the same context we can
conclude that mercenaries from the southwest of
modern Turkey and people from Dumat al-Jandal,
Fig. 1.
Tayma and its immediate surroundings (aerial photograph from the 1950s). The course of its perimeter walls is partly reconstructed.
164
which is situated on the desert route to Babylon,
formed part of Nabonidus’s troops.
Taking into account all the historical evidence, we
can ascertain that Tayma was home to many
foreigners as early as the beginning of the second
millennium BC. This early date is represented and
supported by Levantine bronze weapons found at
Tayma by Saudi colleagues in 2003. The epigraphic
evidence at Tayma that allows us to reconstruct
direct connections to the Levant, Mesopotamia and
South Arabia indicates the presence of foreigners in
the first millennium BC. This is also true for later
periods, particularly when the town was a caravan
stop on the pilgrim road to Mecca.
In spite of its location in the desert, Tayma was a
flourishing oasis. In the tenth century AD it was
known as a town with many palm groves, wonderful
gardens and numerous wells supplying not only
households but also animals and fields (10). The
region of Tayma is characterised by a sloping terrain
with a mountainous region up to 1400 m high in the
southwest and a desert steppe zone 800 m high in the
northeast. The town is located on the border of a
topographic depression to the northeast that once
formed a large lake approximately 10 km2 (Fig. 1).
According to the radiocarbon dates of snails, which
were found abundantly in the former lake, water must
still have been available there around 4500 BC (11).

At that time and later, cattle-breeding nomads
populated the steppes of Tayma. Petroglyphs of the
so-called Jubba style give us an idea of how those
people regarded themselves (Fig. 2) (12). They wore
a characteristic headdress and a short kilt, and used
a bow and other objects, which could be identified as
sickles, boomerangs or clappers.
Other artefacts that can be identified as belonging
to that population are probably flint tools such as
single and multiple drills, which were used for the
manufacture of disc-shaped carnelian beads. To my
knowledge, the same type of tool is known from
other sites in the north of Saudi Arabia and further
north, for instance from Chalcolithic layers at
Tülintepe and Arslantepe in southeastern Turkey
dated to the fifth and fourth millennia BC (13).
Today, the lake of Tayma is almost dried out and
forms a sebkha or salt lake. Only after a heavy
rainfall, which occurs rarely in the region, narrow
Fig. 2.
Petroglyphs with the representation of humans (Jubba style;
Neolithic) from the desert southwest of Tayma.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY AT TAYMA
pools can be formed, filled with up to a few
centimetres of water (14).
In the early second millennium BC the palm
groves and a large part of the sebkha were encircled
by a 14 km-long city wall. In the south, there is a
10 m-high settlement mound that was once pro-
tected by another, irregular circular wall. On the
exterior wall large additional compounds are
attached (15). These compounds were probably used
for agriculture and as cemeteries.
In the desert steppes of the Arabian Peninsula
rainfall occurs episodically and suddenly. Only a
few hours of rain are sometimes enough to fill river-
like wadis and pools, where the water may remain
for several months (16). In such regions, the ground-
water level can be reached at a depth of only a few
metres below the surface. In Tayma, water is
available at 1 to 2 m in the sebkha and about 4 m in
the palm groves, as becomes clear after a look inside
the so-called Hadaj well, which is undoubtedly an
ancient construction that may have existed as early
as the first millennium BC. This well has a diameter
of 18 m and is regarded in Saudi Arabia as the
largest well on the Arabian Peninsula.
Under such conditions, it becomes clear that
Tayma attracted people in antiquity. The water
resources guaranteed their survival throughout the
year and enabled them to establish a permanent
settlement.
Excavations carried out in the area of the settle-
ment mound provide us with information relating to
the defensive system of Tayma (Fig. 3). The settle-
ment mound itself was dominated in the middle of
the first millennium BC by a large representative
building (Fig. 4). A palace for Nabonidus, however,
has not yet been found (17). Nevertheless, we have
brought to light several interesting structures and
artefacts, which are helpful in attempting to recon-
struct local and regional history.
The latest date the external mud-brick city wall
could have been constructed is the late second
millennium. It grew up over the millennia to be a
10 m-high construction consisting of at least four
stages that can be distinguished by different con-
structional features, including the dimensions, build-
ing materials and methods of construction. The lower
part of the construction was buried by wind-blown
sand up to a height of 8 m before a large rectangular
room was attached to the wall from outside. This was
165
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.
Fig. 3.
Tayma: central part of the site (contour map with the location of excavation areas 2005).
built in the twelfth century BC according to C14
dating. This room, which was in use until the ninth
century BC, contained a series of small fireplaces (18).
Painted pottery related to a lower floor level inside the
room is of a decorative style, including birds with
circular eyes. Such finds have also been recorded in
the southern Levant where they can be related to the
twentieth Dynasty of the Egyptian New Kingdom or
to the twelfth century (19).
The interior city wall appears to have been erected
in the middle of the first millennium BC. It is
basically a shell construction consisting of stone
masonry and stone fillings. At an early stage of this
building operation, a ditch was dug, which is 11 m
wide and according to geomagnetic prospection
more than 500 m long. It was apparently 6 m deep
and probably filled to a depth of 1 or 2 m with
groundwater (Fig. 5). According to archaeological
and cuneiform evidence, such a defensive system
was well known in the first half of the first
millennium BC. The same governor of Suhu and
166
Mari, whose interception of the caravan in the eighth
century BC has already been mentioned, is known
for having enlarged the city wall of a town founded
by his father. He dug a ditch around the town and
filled it with water (20).
Such a defensive construction in the middle of the
desert must have been a spectacular sight at that
time and have underlined the wealth of the caravan
city. It would be tempting to attribute the ditch to
the reign of Nabonidus, who might have imitated a
Babylonian way of life at Tayma, but unfortunately
we are not yet able to narrow its construction date to
within a ten-year period.
The city wall level was followed by another level
representing a settlement that consists of enclosures
of irregular shapes and houses of three or more
rooms. According to C14 dating these constructions
can be attributed to the eighth century AD. One
building was excavated; more than fifteen other
constructions are visible in aerial photographs of the
area.

Fig. 4.
Exposed structures in the northern part of the central mound of Tayma 2005: residential units and a large representative building.
Fig. 5.
Geomagnetic prospection of the central mound of Tayma.
Further to the east, the ruins rise up to a 10 m-high
mound, which is composed of a series of layers
representing different building levels. The upper
5 m contain the remains of at least three successive
building levels, which can be attributed through
evidence from C14 dates and pottery types, to
ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY AT TAYMA
between a post-thirteenth-twelfth-century BC date
to the post-third century AD. A deep sounding
provided a mid-third-millennium BC C14 date,
indicating a long occupation history at Tayma. The
buildings of the latest level were abandoned and
their ruins filled up with debris in the eighth century
AD or later. In the eighteenth/nineteenth centuries
AD visitors left graffiti with their names on which
are still visible on parts of the walls.
Of special interest is a 22 · 27.5 m large building
with a trapezoid-shaped ground plan, which has
exceptionally thick and deeply founded walls
(Fig. 6). Although it is heavily destroyed, several
phases of internal changes, reconstructions and
additions can be distinguished. Bases of pillars are
still in place but unfortunately the floors have almost
all been removed in antiquity. According to finds
from the building’s deposits and fillings, this
construction may possibly have had a religious
function.
The most exceptional find from this infill is a
fragment of a royal stele (see Figs 11–13) that can be
attributed to Nabonidus, King of Babylon. On the
heavily eroded stone remains of carving are still
visible. They comprise the figure of a royal person-
167
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.
Fig. 6.
A large representative building on top of the central mound of
Tayma.
ality as well as symbols representing a moon, sun
and star, which are very typical of Nabonidus’s
royal iconography (see the contribution by
A. Hausleiter, below). In addition, there is a
rectangular panel with a cuneiform inscription (see
the contribution by H. Schaudig, below) (21). As far
as I know, this could be the first cuneiform evidence
known from Saudi Arabia.
Trade with the Red Sea is indicated by marine
shells, which might have been used, in common
with other sites, as raw material for the production
of rings, beads and pendants. They point to possible
contacts between Tayma and other towns located
further west or southwest.
A strong relationship with the Lihyanite Kingdom
of the fifth to the third century BC, whose centre was
located at al-’Ula, is indicated by fragments of larger
than life-size human statues wearing a kilt and a
scarf. The reconstructed height of this statue is
approximately 2.7 m. A similar statue from al-’Ula,
recently excavated more or less complete with
inscription, allows us to surmise that such statues
represent a king, or at the very least, a royal figure
(22).
An Aramaic inscription of the same period found
in the debris of the interior city wall that runs
parallel to the ditch mentions a king named Law-
dhan (23), under whom the governor of Tayma, a
certain Natir-’El, probably built a passageway. Built
structures, which may belong to such a construction,
have been identified only 15 m away from the find-
spot of the inscription beneath the surface.
168
Contacts with the Nabataean empire in the first
centuries BC and AD are indicated by architectural
parts such as a capital representing a type that is
well known from the tomb facades of Mada’in Saleh.
It is possible that these capitals once adorned the
entrance to the representative building during a later
phase of construction (24).
An orthostat with carvings on all four sides
representing human figures was an exceptional find,
excavated from the lower construction of the interior
city wall. On three sides the representations have
been erased, but it is still possible to see standing
figures depicted on the narrow sides, and on the
broader side a seated person with a child with an
Aramaic inscription beneath. The intact relief (Fig. 7)
represents a standing male figure in a frontal view
with long hair and a short kilt with fringes. He wears
a dagger and a quiver. A long bow is visible next to
his left side. This representation appears to be
unique and no parallels have yet been found.
The function of the orthostat, dating from the
second half of the first millennium BC, is still
unclear. As it was found in the defensive construc-
tion, the image could represent either a guard or a
warrior.
If we consider textual evidence from the early
Islamic period, it could possibly represent a god.
Hisham Ibn-al-Kalbi, a scholar of the early Abbasid
period who had access to oral traditions from
bedouins, described pre-Islamic idols in his book
‘‘Kitab al-Asnam’’. One of these idols is described as
representing wadd, the god of Dumat al-Jandal (25).
Interestingly and with similarities to our relief, the
god wears a bow, quiver and dagger (and a spear
that is not represented in our relief).
In addition to these finds, large quantities of
pottery fragments were found, and the fabrics
studied and carefully classified. Painted pottery
sherds, well known from the cemeteries of Tayma,
were found in the lower levels of the central ruins.
After fifteen months of research in Tayma we are
now able to describe some aspects of its chronology
and history. To sum up briefly, the site was most
probably visited by nomads in the fifth to third
millennia BC and already populated in the middle of
the third millennium BC at the latest. In the early
second millennium people from the northern Levant
migrated both here, and to Egypt (26). In the late
second millennium pottery types link Tayma to the

Fig. 7.
Relief (c. fifth century BC) from the foundation of the interior city
wall.
southern Levant. This period has been determined
by excavations on the 10 m-high exterior city wall.
In the central area, the upper 5 m of the stratigraphic
sequence, however, represent mainly the first
millennium BC and the first centuries AD. During
this period Tayma was in contact with the Assyrians,
Babylonians and Sabaeans, as evidenced partly by
written sources from Tayma itself. After the Baby-
lonian intermezzo, a North Arabian political dom-
inance followed (Lihyanite and Nabataean
kingdoms) that lasted until the first century AD.
Later activities occurred, according to C14 dates, in
the third and following centuries AD (27): at this
time the representative building was reused by
people who no longer respected the ancient cultural
ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY AT TAYMA
heritage. They smashed the monumental statue
representing a king and destroyed architectural
decorations belonging to the representative build-
ing. Later, at the earliest in the Abbasid period, the
central ruins were completely buried and remained
so until disturbed by visitors, treasure hunters and
archaeologists.
A stele of king Nabonidus from Tayma by
Hanspeter Schaudig
The city of Tayma amid the deserts of North Arabia
is well known for being the residence of the last king
of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Nabonidus, for
approximately ten years (28). Despite its important
position as a trading centre, situated within the
network of caravan roads running from South
Arabia to the north into the Levant and to the east
into Babylonia (29), it was an unusual choice for a
Babylonian king. Certainly his long stay in Tayma
had an impact on his rule, since it prevented him
from taking part in the Babylonian New Year’s
Festival and brought him into bitter opposition with
the priesthood of Babylonia. In the course of these
events Nabonidus finally lost his support in Baby-
lonia and his throne to the Persian king Cyrus ‘‘the
Great’’.
It was therefore not inconceivable that something
of his period of residence would be discovered, and
a monument to that king at Tayma was found in the
course of the second season at the site in 2004. In
fact, the king’s name and titles are not preserved on
the piece, but the overall execution of the imagery
(see A. Hausleiter, below), the distinctiveness of the
script, and the historical circumstances leave no
doubt that this stele should be assigned to the Neo-
Babylonian king Nabonidus.
The piece is a fragment of a royal stele with a
sculptured rounded top, which probably had a long
cuneiform inscription on the front, only a short part
of which is evident on the fragment (Figs 8, 12 and
13). The back and the sides have not been inscribed.
It is made from light brown and rather soft
sandstone. The surface of the monument is heavily
worn due to the softness of the stone.
An unusual feature for a monument of Naboni-
dus is the arrangement of the inscription, which
has been set on a raised block into the scene of the
tympanon. A comparable arrangement can be seen
169
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.
Fig. 8.
Sketch of the Tayma stele and a hypothetical reconstruction (TA
488) (drawing by T. Rickards after H. Schaudig).
on the rock-relief of Nabonidus from Sela’ in
Jordan (Fig. 9) (30), but the closest parallel is in
fact found on the King’s Road stele of Sennacherib
from Nineveh (Fig. 10) (31). As in the case of the
stele of Sennacherib, in the area below the
tympanon the inscription of the Tayma stele would
have almost certainly continued, covering the
whole of the front side.
Only a small part of the original inscription
remains (Fig. 11). The beginning with the king’s
name and introduction is completely lost. About
fifteen lines of cuneiform script are preserved and
even they are not legible throughout, since the
surface of the monument is heavily worn. The
characters exhibit the lapidary script of Neo-Baby-
lonian cuneiform, well known from the inscriptions
of Nabonidus from Harran in Turkey or from his
rock relief from Sela’ in Jordan.
170
In lines 15–19 the topic is on ‘‘choice stones’’ and
‘‘precious stones’’ in large numbers. The text gives
talents, minas and possibly even kurru ‘‘kor’’, a large
measure of capacity (180 litres in Neo-Babylonian
times). Explicitly named are pappardilû-stone, carne-
lian and lapis-lazuli. The material measured in kurru
is possibly gišnugallu/ašnugallu ‘‘alabaster’’, a rather
cheap stone. The mention of these items placed
within what seems to be a single large votive
inscription almost seems to be replicating the actual
layers of pearls of stone, metal and shell which were
placed below the foundations of Neo-Assyrian and
Neo-Babylonian temples (32). A description of booty
or of a treasury is of course by no means excluded
(33).
In line 20 we learn that something was revealed
to the king (wadû D), almost certainly by the
gods. In consequence, he apparently ‘‘restored (a
temple, cult or deity) splendidly to its/his place’’
(line 21).
Line 22 is the best-preserved line of the text and
gives three pieces of information: firstly, he made
something most befitting (uš!alik). Secondly, he
fashioned a censer (nignakku) of pure gold. And
thirdly, at the end of the line, he turns his attention
to the dwelling of Marduk and Zarpanitu, urging to
take some action, the details of which are lost in
another break at the beginning of the next line. The
dwelling of Marduk would of course be Esangil, so
the setting of this part clearly is in Babylon.
The last two lines give the names of Tašm!etu,
Nan!aya, and after a long break the name of
B!elt!iya, in connection with a cultic structure,
possibly E[b]ara<dur>gar[ra], the temple of Ištar
at Nippur.
Thus, as far as the text is preserved, it presents a
typical Neo-Babylonian votive inscription. It deals
with several offerings made of precious stones and
gold, dedicated to Babylonian deities such as Mar-
duk, Nabû, Tašm!etu and Nan!aya. The text has no
known parallels. In style and content, however, it is
similar to the so-called ‘‘Babylon Stele’’ of Nabonidus
(34). One may surmise that in the new stele’s lower
part, now lost, the text shifted its emphasis from the
king’s pious deeds in Babylonia to a narrative of the
very events that led him from Babylonia to Tayma. It
is possible that the text once closed with Nabonidus’s
favourite topic: the restoration of the cult of the moon-
god Sı̂n in his temple of Ehulhul at Harran.

Fig. 9.
Rock-relief of Nabonidus from Sela’ (Jordan).
Fig. 10.
Sennacherib, King’s Road stele, Nineveh.
This is, of course, only speculation, until the lower
parts of the stele are discovered, which we hope
will happen during the continuing excavations at
Tayma.
On the iconography of the stele of king Nabo-
nidus from Tayma by Arnulf Hausleiter
In its original shape the new sandstone stele TA 488
from Tayma may have had a height of 1.3 to 1.4 m
ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY AT TAYMA
(including a reconstructed projecting end which
would have to be inserted into a base (see Fig. 8),
similar to a slightly smaller but completely pre-
served example from Uruk-Warka (35). The pre-
served rounded upper end of the Tayma-fragment is
0.59 m wide, 0.51 m high and has a depth of 0.1–
0.12 m.
Only one side of the stele has been worked, and
this has both an image and an inscription.
Unfortunately post-depositional processes and the
weak consistency of the raw material, presumably a
local sandstone (36), have resulted in a relatively
poor state of preservation. It is uncertain whether
the slightly convex and irregular surface (going
backwards as the height of the monument in-
creases) is the shape of the original stone or was
done by design. The principal elements of the
composition, however, can be clearly identified.
The area bearing the image is not the conventional
semicircle, which would be limited by a single
standing line running from left to right (as on both
the Harran stelae (37)) but it roughly follows the
shape of an inclined L. The standing line (i.e. the
upper end of the elevated lower remaining part of
the stele) ends in front of the figure and extends to
a rectangle of 22.9 (height) · 29.6 (top width) to 32
171
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.
cm (bottom width). On this panel a Neo-Babylonian
cuneiform inscription has been engraved (see
H. Schaudig, above). Since it can be assumed that
the inscription was carved from the top to the
bottom of the stele (and not vice versa), the overall
design must have been planned before carving
began. Similar arrangements of a non-symmetric
distribution of inscriptions have been observed
elsewhere (39), but it occurs here for the first time
on a stele of this king (40).
What can be recognised of the iconographic
representation shows clear parallels with the royal
iconography of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus
(556–539 BC) (41). The profile of the king is standing
on the left looking to the right, and from the top
centre to the right three symbols are depicted
(Figs 12–13). Of these only the sun disk (centre)
and the star (right) show traces of their detailed
rendering, the moon crescent [and disk?] (left) is
only preserved in its outline. These three astral
172
symbols occur regularly together with representa-
tions of king Nabonidus (42).
The king-figure wears a long garment of which
very little is preserved. The contour line of parts of
the front, the back and the long trailing element of
the headdress can still be identified (Fig. 13). Traces
of the shoes or details of the garment are not
preserved. The same goes for the staff, which is
considered characteristic of the iconography of this
king (43). Although nothing of his face is recogni-
sable, there are traces of the headdress, again with
similarities to the other known representations of
Nabonidus (see especially the royal ‘‘cap’’) (44).
Some remains of the beard and the hair may be
partly preserved but they cannot be clearly dis-
tinguished from the unevenly worn sandstone. The
same applies to the right arm (or elbow), which
may possibly be identified as well as some traces of
the left arm. In sum, the type of representation is
clear, paralleling known representations of Assyr-
 ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY AT TAYMA

ian and Babylonian kings of the first millennium

BC in front of and venerating divine symbols (45).
The discussion of iconographic and antiquarian
details is, however, restricted by the poor state of
preservation.
The fragment of the stele was found in the stone
debris outside the large representative building at
the northern part of the mound of Tayma, named
Qraya (46). The presence of an Arabic inscribed
stone (TA 989) in a deposit lower than the stele
indicates that at a date after the seventh/eighth
centuries AD considerable amounts of material must
have been moved in this part of the site. Although
the archaeological context does not offer direct
evidence for the former location of the stele, it can
be suggested that it once stood within a public
building, which housed either administration or cult
Fig. 11. activities of Babylonian-occupied Tayma. It can be
Copy of the inscription of the Tayma stele (TA 488) (H. expected that similar to Syro-Mesopotamian exam-
Schaudig). ples, such a public building would be located in the

173
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.

Fig. 13.
The stele of King Nabonidus from Tayma (drawing T. Rickards;
Fig. 12. the cuneiform text is based on the original copy by H.
The stele of King Nabonidus from Tayma (TA 488) (photograph Schaudig).
M. Cusin).

central, most important part of the settlement, or at

the most elevated position. However, to date there
are no buildings which can be attributed to the king
or his period (47).

References
1. The contributions by R. Eichmann and
H. Schaudig are based on papers
presented at the 51st Rencontre
Assyriologique Internationale at Chi-
cago in 2005. The authors’ sincere
thanks go to Tessa Rickards for cor-
recting the English text.
2. For an overview cf. http://
www.dainst.org/index_3258_de.html;
cf. Eichmann R, Hausleiter A, al-Najem
M & al-Said S. Tayma — Spring 2004.
ATLAL 19: in press.
3. The correct spelling of the translitera-
tion is Taym!a’. We use the English
transliteration of the toponym.
4. Cf. Avanzini A, ed. Profumi d’Arabia.
Atti del convegno. Rome: L’Erma di
Bretschneider, 1997.
5. Bawden G, Edens C & Miller R.
Preliminary archaeological investiga-
tions at Tayma. ATLAL 4: 1980: 69–106.
6. Cf. Macdonald MCA. Trade routes and
trade goods at the northern end of the
‘‘incense road’’ in the first millennium
B.C. In: Avanzini, Profumi d’Arabia:
333–349.
7. Cavigneaux A & Khalil Ismail B. Die
Statthalter von Suhu und Mari im 8. Jh.
v. Chr. BaM 21: 1990: 321–456, espe-
cially 351.
8. Schaudig H. Die Inschriften Nabonids
von Babylon und Kyros’ des Großen samt
den in ihrem Umfeld entstandenen Ten-
denzschriften. Textausgabe und Gramma-
tik. Münster: AOAT, 256: 2001: 9–23.
9. Such as e.g. Müller WW & al-Said S.
Der babylonische König Nabonid in
taymanitischen Inschriften. In: Nebes
N, ed. Neuere Beiträge zur Semitistik.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002: 105–
121; see note 21.
10. Buhl F – [Bosworth CE]. Tayma’. EI 10:
2000: 401–402.
11. Leibniz Labor für Altersbestimmung.
Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel,
sample no. KIA24635 (26 January
2005).
12. Cf. e.g. Khan M. Prehistoric Rock Art of
northern Saudi Arabia. Riyadh: Ministry
of Education, 1993: 104–108; Khan M.
Schematisation and form in the rock
art of northern Saudi Arabia. ATLAL
11: 1988: 95–99, Pl. 95 (representation
from southwest of Tayma).
13. Arsebük G. Addendum: Microlithic
assemblage from the Tülintepe Chal-
colithic. In: Keban Project 1971 Activities.
Ankara: Middle East Technical Uni-
versity, Keban Project Publication Ser-
ies, I/4: 1974: 155–159; Arsebük G. An
assemblage of microlithic engravers
from the Chalcolithic levels of Değir-

174

mentepe (Malatya). Anadolu Ara-
ştırmaları 10: 1986: 131–136.
14. To be seen on several satellite images
of the 1990s. Cf. also the cover of Abu
Duruk H. Introduction to the archaeology
of Tayma. Riyadh: Department of
Antiquities, 21998.
15. Cf. Abu Duruk, Introduction: Pl. 140,
Fig. 3 (see also Bawden, Edens &
Miller, Preliminary archaeological
investigations: Pl. 61).
16. The author observed the effects of such
sudden rainfall in the desert area of
Jordan and Iraq in November 2000.
17. Cf. Roaf M. Nabonid. B. Archäolo-
gisch. RlA 9: 1998–2001: 12.
18. See Eichmann et al., Tayma.
19. Rothenberg B. Who were the ‘‘Mid-
ianite’’ copper miners of the Arabah?
In: Rehren T, Hauptmann A & Muhly
JD, eds. Metallurgica Antiqua. In honour
of Hans-Gert Bachmann and Robert
Maddin. Bochum: Der Anschnitt Beiheft,
8: 1998: 197–212.
20. Cavigneaux & Khalil, Statthalter: 350–
351.
21. For a first publication see al-Taima!’i
MH. Mlintaqa Rujum Sa’s’a bi-Tayma.
Riyadh: 2006 (in Arabic).
22. For similar statues cf. Jaussen JA &
Savignac R. Mission archéologique en
Arabie. Cairo: Institut français d’arché-
ologie orientale, 1909–22 [reprint
1997]): Pls. 28, 2.3; 29–31.
23. Peter Stein (Jena), pers. comm.
24. Netzer E. Nabatäische Architektur.
Mainz: von Zabern, 2003: 162–163,
Abb. 222. This type occurs on the
Nabataean rock-tomb façades from c.
50 BC until the end of the first century
AD, according to Netzer, Architektur:
53–54.
25. Faris NA. The book of the idols. Being a
translation from the Arabic of the kitab al
asnam by Hisham ibn-al-Kalbi. Transla-
tion with introduction and notes. Prince-
ton: Princeton University Press, 1952.
Scanned by Andrew Vargo (http://
www.geocities.com/mabcosmic/arti-
cles/boi.html; 7.11.2005): p. 49 (‘‘lt was
the statue of a huge man, as big as the
largest of human beings, covered with
two robes, clothed with the one and
cloaked with the other, carrying a
sword on his waist and a bow on his
shoulder, and holding in [one] a spear
to which was attached a standard, and
[in the other] a quiver full of arrows.’’).
ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY AT TAYMA
26. Bietak M. Avaris: The capital of the
Hyksos. London: British Museum Press,
1996: 10–21.
27. Cf. Kennet D. On the eve of Islam:
archaeological evidence from eastern
Arabia. Antiquity 79: 2005: 107–118,
especially 115.
28. For a history of his reign and his
inscriptions see Beaulieu PA. The Reign
of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, 556–539
B.C. New Haven and London: Yale
Near Eastern Researches, 10: 1989;
Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids.
29. Eph’al I. The Ancient Arabs. Nomads on
the Borders of the Fertile Crescent, 9th–5th
Centuries B.C. Jerusalem and Leiden:
Magnes Press, 1982: 241, map.
30. Dalley S & Goguel A. The Sela’
Sculpture: A Neo-Babylonian Rock
Relief in Southern Jordan. ADAJ 41:
1997: 169–176; sketch: Fig. 8.
31. Börker-Klähn J. Altvorderasiatische
Bildstelen und vergleichbare Felsreliefs.
Mainz: Baghdader Forschungen, 4:
1982: no. 203.
32. Ellis RS. Foundation Deposits in Ancient
Mesopotamia. New Haven and London:
Yale Near Eastern Researches, 2: 1968:
132–133. Ambos C. Mesopotamische
Baurituale aus dem 1. Jahrtausend v.Chr.
Dresden: ISLET, 2004: 71–75.
33. This has been put forward in the
discussion of the paper by Wilfred G.
Lambert and Eckart Frahm.
34. Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids: no. 3.3a,
see also the very similar fragments
from Babylon no. 3.8a.
35. Cf. Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids: 535,
summarising the evidence and the
discussion, supports Moortgat-Correns
U. Noch einige Zuweisungen an
Nabonid. Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anato-
lici 39: 1997: 114, in attributing the
Uruk-stele to king Nabonidus instead
of Marduk-apla-iddina; the cuneiform
inscription, though visible, apparently
has not been recognised by H. Lenzen
(quoted by Becker A. Uruk – Kleinfunde
I. Stein. Mainz: Ausgrabungen in Uruk-
Warka Endberichte, 8: 1993: 60; but the
author herself does not comment upon
the visible remains of the inscription
either).
36. A recent macroscopic comparison with
the ‘‘Tayma-stone’’ in the Musée du
Louvre shows close similarities of the
raw material of both monuments
(my warmest thanks go to B. André-
Salvini).
37. Cf. Gadd CJ. The Harran Inscriptions
of Nabonidus. Anatolian Studies 8: 1958:
pl. 2a–b.
38. Cf. Hanspeter Schaudig’s article
(above) quoting Sennacherib’s King’s
Road stele from Nineveh (Fig. 9). The
inscription area of the latter, however,
is not elevated.
39. Cf. Dalley S and Goguel A. The Sela’
sculpture; an earlier Assyrian object
with a similar arrangement of image
and inscription is the eighth-century
BC monument of B!el-harran-b!el!i-usur
ˇ _
(Börker-Klähn, Bildstelen: 218–219);
(remains of) a possible edge at
approximately the same location as the
upper end of the panel of the Tayma
stele (are) is visible on a stele in the
British Museum, usually attributed to
Nabonidus (Schaudig, Inschriften
Nabonids: no. 3.4 [‘‘Tarif-Stele’’]).
40. A similar distribution of inscriptions
and imagery as on the Sela’ relief can
be found at the monumental rock-relief
of Darius I at Behistun, dating some
twenty years after the fall of Babylon.
41. Cf. e.g. the summary by Börker-Klähn,
Bildstelen: 71–72.
42. Cf. both stelae from Harran. A winged
sun disk is represented on the stele in
the British Museum.
43. Moortgat-Correns, Noch einige
Zuweisungen: 118, discussing the
attribution of a terracotta plaque from
Nippur; as has been pointed out by
other scholars before, the ‘‘kudurru’’ of
Marduk-apla-iddina of Babylon also
shows a ‘‘royal’’ staff. A figure with a
similar iconography is depicted on the
left side of the ‘‘Tayma-Stone’’ in the
Louvre which until recently has led to
the attribution of this stele to king
Nabonidus (Moortgat-Correns, Noch
einige Zuweisungen: 121–123; see also
Novák M. Zur Verbindung von Mon-
dgott und Wettergott bei den Ara-
mäern im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. UF 33:
2001: 449 [‘‘vermutlich’’]). The well-
published Aramaic inscription, not
discussed by either author, dates to the
‘‘5th/4th centuries BC’’: Calvet Y &
Robin C, eds. Arabie heureuse — Arabie
déserte. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion
des musées nationaux, 1997: 261–263
(with further references). Whereas
Moortgat-Correns does not take into
175
RICARDO EICHMANN ET AL.
account a later carving of the inscrip-
tion (as she does for the stele found in
Tayma in 1979 (Moortgat-Correns,
Noch einige Zuweisungen: 127–130),
Roaf, Nabonid: 12, thinks of a copied
image.
44. Cf. Boehmer RM. Kopfbedeckung. B.
In der Bildkunst. RlA 6: 1980–83: 208
arguing in favour of a soft material of
the ‘‘cap’’ basically because of the
176
assumed soft material of the appendix;
Roaf, Nabonid, speaks of the ‘‘typical
royal Babylonian crown’’, without
discussing the material.
45. This statement pertains merely to the
general scheme of representation, since
there are clear differences between
Assyrian and Babylonian iconography.
46. Cf. Eichmann et al., Tayma.
47. For the previous evidence cf. Roaf,
Nabonid: 12, contradicting the view of
Beaulieu PA. King Nabonidus and the
Neo-Babylonian Empire. In: Sasson
JM, ed. Civilizations of the Ancient Near
East, New York: Scribners, 2: 1995: 974
who recognised a ‘‘large Neo-Babylo-
nian style building that is likely to be
Nabonidus’s palace’’.