Nabonidus was the head priest of the Marduk cult in the city of Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Following the king's death, Nabonidus was named king instead of the rightful heir Belshazzar who was originally deemed too weak and young to rule his grandfather's empire. Nabonidus attempted to establish Marduk as the one acceptable god in the Babylonian empire. But his attempt to do so failed. After 3 months of ruling, Nabonidus had made many enemies amongst the administrators and officials in the empire. They plotted to overthrow him. Their opportunity came when Nabonidus tried once again to establish Marduk as the one God. This time thanks to a riot they deposed Nabonidus who fled in exile to Arabia. Nabonidus was succeeded by Belshazzar who ruled only a year before the Persians