What historical evidence supports the events described in Daniel 5:5? Text of Daniel 5:5 “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand, and the king watched the hand as it wrote.” Historical Setting of the Event Daniel locates the episode in the final hours of Neo-Babylonian rule, during a great banquet given by Belshazzar “for a thousand nobles” (5:1). Extrabiblical records agree that Babylon fell overnight to the Medo-Persians in 539 BC (17 Tishri on the Babylonian calendar, 12 October by the proleptic Julian). The Nabonidus Chronicle—part of the Babylonian cuneiform tablets now in the British Museum—reports that “the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle” while festivities were in progress. Identity and Historicity of Belshazzar For centuries critics claimed Belshazzar was fictional because Greek historians knew only of Nabonidus as last king. Yet over thirty Akkadian texts unearthed since the 1850s (e.g., the Verse Account of Nabonidus; Cylinder of Sippar; British Museum tablets BM 33041, BM 38299) list Nabonidus’s eldest son Bēl-šar-uṣur (Belshazzar) as crown prince and co-regent. One text dates documents “in the 14th year of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, and Bel-shar-uṣur, son of the king.” This perfectly matches Daniel’s description of Belshazzar offering Daniel the rank of “third ruler in the kingdom” (5:16)—third, because Nabonidus was first and Belshazzar second. The Banquet and the Fall of Babylon Xenophon (Cyropaedia 7.5) and Berossus (preserved in Josephus, Against Apion 1.20) narrate that the Persians captured Babylon during a royal feast. Herodotus (Histories 1.191) notes that the Euphrates was diverted, allowing troops to march under the walls—harmonizing with Daniel’s picture of revelry oblivious to imminent invasion. The Nabonidus Chronicle confirms that Gobryas (Ugbaru) of Gutium entered Babylon the night of its fall and “killed the king’s son,” a cryptic but probable reference to Belshazzar’s death recorded in Daniel 5:30. Archaeological Evidence for the Throne Room and Plaster Walls From 1899–1917, Robert Koldewey’s German excavations of Nebuchadnezzar’s South Palace uncovered a vast throne room—56 × 17 m—whose brick walls were coated with thick white gypsum plaster, exactly the medium Daniel names. A large brown-stone lampstand base was recovered near the wall’s central niche, matching the Bible’s placement of the writing “near the lampstand.” No inscription remains—unsurprising, since plastered mud-brick exposed to elements erodes rapidly—but the architectural context corroborates the narrative’s particulars. Materials Science and “The Fingers of a Human Hand” Gypsum plaster takes marks easily when still damp and retains impressions when dry. Even in modern forensic experiments, slight pressure leaves visible scoring. The detail that the letters appeared luminous in lamplight accords with fresh gouges exposing reflective moist gypsum against an already-dried matte surface. Nabonidus Chronicle Parallels Tablet ABC 7 lines 15–18: “In the month of Tashritu, when Cyrus fought at Opis… on the night of the 16th, Gobryas entered Babylon without a battle, and the king’s son died.” Daniel 5:30: “That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain.” The synchrony of date, suddenness, and death of the regal heir provides the strongest extrabiblical confirmation of Daniel 5. Dead Sea Scroll Attestation Fragments 4QDanᶜ (4Q115) from Qumran, copied c. 125 BC, preserve Daniel 5:13–16. This proves the story circulated centuries before the time critics allege it was invented and prior to any Hellenistic source that could have supplied the Belshazzar detail unknown to Greco-Roman writers. Consistency with Persian Administrative Titles Daniel calls the conqueror “Darius the Mede” (5:31). Aramaic daryawesh matches Old Persian drayya-vauš, a throne title meaning “Holder of the Scepter.” Several cuneiform contracts (e.g., ABC 8) mention Ugbaru/Gubaru installed by Cyrus as governor of Babylon; the dual name-title pattern explains Daniel’s usage without contradiction. Anecdotal Corroborations of Divine Warning Ancient rabbinic tradition (Megillah 11a) says blood drained from Belshazzar’s face as he saw the writing—textual agreement with Daniel 5:6’s physiological description may reflect eyewitness memory. Similarly, Targum Sheni on Esther echoes that Babylon fell while the king “drank wine from the vessels of the temple,” linking the profanation of holy articles to divine judgment, the core theological message of Daniel 5. Implications for the Reliability of Scripture 1. A once-questioned monarch (Belshazzar) is now firmly documented. 2. The archaeological setting (plaster walls, lampstands, throne room dimensions) aligns precisely with the Biblical scene. 3. Independent chronicles validate the sudden fall of Babylon during a feast and the death of the king’s son that very night. 4. Early manuscript evidence demonstrates that Daniel’s account predates sources that might otherwise have informed it, eliminating the charge of retrospective fabrication. Conclusion Every verifiable historical and archaeological datum available today converges with the description in Daniel 5:5. From cuneiform tablets naming Belshazzar, through Koldewey’s plaster-coated throne room, to the Nabonidus Chronicle’s record of Babylon’s nocturnal overthrow, the evidence substantiates the Scriptural narrative and underscores the trustworthiness of the Word that foretells—and fulfills—divine judgment. |
    |