What historical evidence supports the events described in Daniel 5:4? Text Under Examination “Drinking the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.” (Daniel 5:4) Immediate Historical Setting Daniel 5 pictures a state banquet held by Belshazzar, crown-prince of Babylon, on the night Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians (539 BC). The revelers desecrate the Jerusalem temple vessels while extolling lifeless idols. Within hours the city is captured, fulfilling Isaiah 13; Jeremiah 50–51. Belshazzar’s Historicity For centuries critics alleged the Book of Daniel erred because “no Belshazzar” was known to classical historians. That changed in 1854 when Sir Henry Rawlinson published the Nabonidus Cylinder from Ur: • “May the fear of your great divinity overwhelm the king whom you love, and may Bel-šar-uṣur, my firstborn son, the offspring of my loins, revere your great divinity.” Further corroboration: 1. Verse Account of Nabonidus (British Museum, BM 38299) lines 18–19: “He (Nabonidus) entrusted the kingship to Bel-šar-uṣur, his eldest.” 2. Nabonidus Chronicle (BM 35382) column II: “The king was in Tema; the crown prince, the army, were in Akkad.” 3. Sippar Cylinder (Clay Cylinder, Sippar, BM 91000): repeats the co-regency formula. These tablets verify: • Belshazzar lived. • He functioned as co-regent while his father Nabonidus stayed in Arabia. • As “king” (Aramaic malkāʾ) he could offer rewards (Daniel 5:7), convene banquets, and promise third place in the realm (after Nabonidus and himself). Temple Vessels from Jerusalem in Babylonian Hands Nebuchadnezzar’s 586 BC sack of Jerusalem is confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicle (BM 21946) and strata in City of David excavations showing burn layers of that year. Ezra 1:7–11 lists 5,400 returned vessels, implying official storage. Administrative tablets from Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (e.g., E-catalogue no. 4608, British Museum) inventory items seized from foreign temples. Thus Daniel’s claim that sacred vessels were on hand for Belshazzar’s banquet aligns with Babylonian cataloguing practice. Babylonian Idolatry and Material Gods Daniel 5:4’s six-metal litany reflects standard Mesopotamian cult statuary. In the Esagila temple, the gilded statue of Marduk stood among silver, bronze, and iron furnishings; wood overlaid with gold was common. The Epic of Erra (tablets from Nineveh, 7th century BC) describes “gods of silver and gold” empowered only when consecrated—matching Daniel’s contrast between lifeless idols and the living God (5:23). The Feast and Babylon’s Fall: External Accounts 1. Nabonidus Chronicle, column III, lines 12–16: “In Tishri, Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon while Nabonidus was in exile.” 2. Xenophon, Cyropaedia VII.5.15–31: describes a Babylonian festival with widespread drinking; the Persians exploit the revelry to seize the gates. 3. Herodotus, Histories I.191: recounts that Babylon fell during a night of dancing and merriment. These independent sources echo Daniel’s scene: a night-time feast, inattentive leadership, sudden capture. Engineering of the Conquest Persian engineers diverted the Euphrates so troops could wade under the walls (Herodotus I.191). Cylinder of Cyrus (BM 90920) confirms Babylon was taken “without battle,” aligning with Daniel’s silence about combat inside the palace yet accounting for Belshazzar’s immediate death (5:30). Timeline Consistency Using Ussher’s chronology (creation 4004 BC), Jerusalem’s fall (586 BC) and Babylon’s fall (539 BC) fit seamlessly within Daniel’s exile period (captured 605 BC; serving until “first year of Cyrus,” 538 BC, Daniel 1:21). Archaeological Milieu of Babylon Excavations by Robert Koldewey (1899–1917) uncovered banquet halls within the Southern Palace capable of hosting thousands, with plastered walls matching Daniel 5:5’s “plaster of the wall.” Inscribed bricks naming Nabonidus and glazed-brick reliefs of divine emblems (gold-plated lion of Ishtar; silver-sheened moon for Sin) illustrate the idol motifs Daniel catalogues. Convergence of Data 1. Cuneiform tablets validate Belshazzar’s existence and authority. 2. Jewish and Babylonian records confirm the presence of temple vessels in Babylon. 3. Greek historians corroborate a drunken feast on Babylon’s last night. 4. Archaeology supports banquet-hall architecture and Babylonian idolatry patterns. 5. Dead Sea Scrolls and subsequent manuscripts secure the textual claim. Conclusion Every observable strand—epigraphic, classical, archaeological, and textual—meshes to support Daniel 5:4 as sober historical reportage, not legend. The passage stands vindicated by the material record, reinforcing the broader reliability of Scripture’s witness to God’s sovereign hand in human history. |
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