History

Tayma enters the historical record when Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria received tribute from its king in 738 BC, and Sargon II similarly exacted tribute in 716 BC. The oasis appears in the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 21:14; Job 6:19) as a wealthy settlement known for its caravans. But its most extraordinary moment came in the 6th century BC, when Nabonidus, last king of Babylon, abandoned his capital for approximately ten years and took up residence here. The Nabonidus Chronicle, a cuneiform tablet in the British Museum, records that in the third year of his reign Nabonidus went to Tayma and failed to return to Babylon for multiple years to perform the Akitu New Year festival. The Verse Account of Nabonidus elaborates that he killed the local prince, took over the palace, and built a structure modelled on the Esagila temple complex of Babylon.

The motivations for this act remain debated. Babylonian priestly sources hostile to Nabonidus stress his religious heterodoxy and preference for the moon god Sin over Marduk. Modern historians have proposed strategic reasons: control of the Arabian incense and gold trade routes, or a response to Persian expansion. During his absence, Nabonidus entrusted effective rule to his son Belshazzar, whose administrative records survive in large numbers from Babylon. The Book of Daniel preserves a tradition of a Babylonian king spending years outside his capital that may echo memory of this episode. In 539 BC Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon without significant resistance; Nabonidus surrendered and was reportedly treated mercifully.

After the Babylonian period, Tayma continued as a Lihyanite, Nabataean, and Roman-period settlement. The Nabataean period left temples and inscribed monuments. Charles Doughty visited in 1877, producing observations that appeared in Arabia Deserta. German-Saudi excavations since 2004 have explored the Bronze Age settlement mound, the Nabonidus-period palace area, the Nabataean temple, and the fortification walls.