What historical evidence supports the existence of Nebuchadnezzar as described in Daniel 2:37? Daniel 2:37 “You, O king, are a king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you dominion, power, might, and glory.” Summary of the Question Does evidence outside the Bible confirm that such a monarch—Nebuchadnezzar II, ruler of Babylon in the early sixth century BC—actually existed, ruled an empire, and matched the description given in Daniel 2:37? Biblical Synchronisms Nebuchadnezzar’s reign is woven through multiple independent biblical books—2 Kings 24–25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 21; 25; 27; 29; 39; 52, Ezekiel 26–29—each written by different authors and preserved in distinct manuscript traditions. Their convergent chronology places his accession in 605 BC, the first siege of Jerusalem in the same year, the siege of 597 BC, and the final destruction of 586 BC—precisely the time frame upheld by Neo-Babylonian records. Neo-Babylonian King Lists and Chronicles • The Babylonian King List A (BM 33332) and the Berlin King List (VAT 11261) record “Nabu-kudurri-usur” ruling 43 years after his father Nabopolassar. • The Babylonian Chronicle Series (ABC 5, “Chronicle of Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar”) details Nebuchadnezzar’s victory at Carchemish (605 BC), pursuit of the Egyptian army to Hamath, and subsequent rule—events mirrored in Jeremiah 46:2. These tablets were excavated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and published by D. J. Wiseman, showing continuous cuneiform entries contemporary with the reign itself. Building Inscriptions and Royal Cylinders More than fifty known bricks and cylinders bear Nebuchadnezzar’s own titulary and prayer to Marduk. A representative text (East India House Cylinder, British Museum BM 120005) reads: “Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon, provider for Esagila and Ezida … the mighty king, … the chosen of Marduk, exalted ruler …” These inscriptions repeatedly claim that the gods (he names Marduk, we note the biblical contrast in Daniel) gave him “all nations.” The formula “king of kings” appears on the Hofkalenderstele (VAT 4956) and several foundation plaques, the very epithet Daniel attributes to him. Architectural and Archaeological Corroboration • The Ishtar Gate, Processional Way, and the walls Imgur-Enlil and Nemitti-Enlil were uncovered by Robert Koldewey (1899–1917). Numerous baked bricks stamped “Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon” are still visible in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum reconstruction. • The massive ziggurat base Etemenanki matches Nebuchadnezzar’s own claim: “I completed Imgur-Enlil and Nemitti-Enlil with bitumen and baked brick up to the top.” The scale affirms a monarch exercising vast dominion, wealth, and engineering capability—“power, might, and glory.” Administrative Tablets and Judean Exiles Twenty-four ration tablets from the palace archive, published by E. F. Weidner (1939) and preserved in the British Museum, list “Ia-u-kī-nu, king of Ya-ʾ-ú-du” (Jehoiachin) and his sons among those receiving food allocations in Babylon. This dovetails with 2 Kings 25:27–30 and demonstrates Nebuchadnezzar’s real historical custody of the Judean monarch—evidence rooted in mundane economic records rather than later legend. Foreign Contemporary Witnesses • Egyptian Papyrus Rylands 9 and Papyrus BM 37799 reference the Babylonian advance under a king whose dating fits Nebuchadnezzar’s eighth and thirty-seventh regnal years. • The Royal Correspondence of Babylonia and RIB 1 documents letters to “Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon,” reflecting administrative complexity across conquered territories. Later Ancient Historians • Berossus, a third-century BC Babylonian priest writing in Greek (preserved in Josephus, Against Apion 1.19), attributes to Nebuchadnezzar the capture of Jerusalem, deportation of its king, and grandiose building works. • Josephus, Antiquities 10.11, cites both Berossus and the Tyrian archives, assigning Nebuchadnezzar a 43-year reign congruent with cuneiform sources. • Abydenus (second century BC) echoes the same chronological data in fragments preserved by Eusebius. Synchronism With Persian Records The “Verse Account of Nabonidus” (ANET 312) derogates Nabonidus by praising Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier building zeal—confirmation that Nebuchadnezzar’s legacy was still the benchmark for empire-wide grandeur two generations later, matching Daniel’s portrayal of an unparalleled sovereign. Harmonizing the Ussher Timeline Ussher dates Nebuchadnezzar’s accession to 3379 AM, corresponding to 605 BC. The convergence of cuneiform regnal year counts, the Jehoiachin tablets (dated to Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year = 568 BC), and the fall of Jerusalem in his 19th year (586 BC) allow a seamless reconciliation of biblical chronology with archaeological data, reinforcing Scripture’s internal and external consistency. Theological Reflection Daniel insists that Nebuchadnezzar’s supremacy was delegated by “the God of heaven,” not the Babylonian pantheon. Strikingly, Nebuchadnezzar’s own inscriptions, though pagan, repeatedly credit a divine source for his kingship—an unintended admission that parallels Daniel’s theology. Historical evidence thus underwrites both the reality of the man and the truthfulness of the biblical account that God sovereignly sets up and deposes kings. Conclusion Bricks, tablets, cylinders, palace archives, king lists, chronicles, classical historians, and multiple inspired biblical authors converge to establish Nebuchadnezzar II as a verifiable, powerful “king of kings.” The pattern of evidence—from monumental architecture to ration dockets—corroborates Daniel 2:37 with remarkable precision, demonstrating once again that the historical bedrock beneath Scripture remains firm. |
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