The Babylonian revival did not long endure. After Nebuchadnezzar's death (562 BC), a struggle for power apparently went on among various parties and individuals for several years. In 556 BC Nabonidus, one of Nebuchadnezzar's governors, became king of Babylonia (r. 556-539 BC). A somewhat enigmatic figure, he in some way antagonized the influential priestly class of Babylon. Nabonidus left the city of Babylon under control of his son Belshazzar and lived for a while in the city of Harran and later in the oasis of Teima, in the Arabian Desert. In 539 BC the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king Cyrus the Great, who had defeated Media. Nabonidus was captured at Sippar (near modern Baghdâd, Iraq), and the Persians entered Babylon without resistance. Babylonia was then annexed to Persia and lost its independence for all time.

Text from Microsoft Encarta

from the period of Umayyad Caliph

Harran was the capital of his empire

as it is today

sheep coming home at the end of the day

the town
(from the beehive rooms to the modern solar hot water heater)

the fuel dump
(dried cattle dung used as fuel for cooking)

front door of a beehive room

the rear with stored "fuel" pile

broken roof
showing the method of construction of the beehive cone

beehive rooms in the sunset

Euphrates River