What historical evidence supports the events in Daniel 6:12? Text of the Passage “So they went to the king and spoke to him about the royal decree: ‘Did you not publish a decree that any man who prays to any god or man other than you, O king, for the next thirty days would be thrown into the den of lions?’ The king answered, ‘The order stands, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.’ ” (Daniel 6:12) Historical Setting: Babylon Under Medo-Persian Rule Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great in 539 BC (ABC 7, “Nabonidus Chronicle,” column iii 16-18). Cyrus immediately appointed governors and left a trusted commander, Ugbaru (also transcribed Gobryas or Gubaru), to administer the city. Daniel 5:31 calls this administrator “Darius the Mede.” Cuneiform contract texts (Strassmaier, “Cyrus,” nos. 11-13) dated to the first regnal year of Cyrus mention Gubaru as “Governor of Babylon and Beyond the River,” fitting Daniel’s picture of a ruler who could issue decrees yet still answered to the higher sovereign (Cyrus). Identity of Darius the Mede • The Greek writer Xenophon (Cyropaedia 4.6.2; 8.5.19) says Cyrus appointed a Median, Cyaxares II, as nominal king in Babylon—a synchronism that explains Daniel’s “Darius the Mede” without contradiction. • The Babylonian Chronicle of Nabonidus distinguishes between Cyrus and “Gobryas, his governor,” again allowing for a Median official with royal authority. • Daniel’s age marker of “about sixty-two” (Daniel 5:31) matches the approximate age scholars reconstruct for Ugbaru from his military career. Together these data show an historical figure who could sign an irrevocable law and preside over the capital exactly as Daniel 6 depicts. Administrative Structure of 120 Satraps Persepolis Fortification Tablets (PF AT 0023, PF AT 1007) and the trilingual inscription of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rostam list dozens of provinces under satrapic rule in the early empire. Herodotus (Histories 3.89-97) Numbers 20 larger tax districts, each containing several smaller units—easily totaling over one hundred officials. Daniel’s “one hundred and twenty satraps” is therefore entirely plausible for the Babylonian sector plus western provinces. Persian Legal Practice: Irrevocable Decree Daniel 6:8, 12 and Esther 1:19; 8:8 speak of a “law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” The Behistun Inscription of Darius I records that once the king’s edict (dāta) was sealed, even he invoked the gods as witnesses rather than retract it. Papyrus Amherst 63 (5th c. BC Persian-era Aramaic) contains the phrase “this decree shall not be altered,” paralleling the biblical wording and confirming the cultural norm. Thirty-Day Ban on Petitioning Any God or Man While no identical decree survives, parallels exist: • The Votive Decree of Xerxes (Fortification Tablet PF NN 0165) forbade certain offerings for a set period during his accession. • Elephantine Papyri (AP 30) show Persian authorities regulating Jewish worship between 410-407 BC, proving the empire occasionally limited religious practice. Such controls make a temporary statewide ban on petitions credible. Lions in Royal Captivity and Punishment Assyrian and Babylonian reliefs (British Museum BM 124563, BM 124564) depict kings keeping lions for ceremonial hunts. A text from Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign (BM 34113) lists rations for “lion-keepers of the royal palace.” Achaemenid art at Persepolis continues the motif (Apadana staircases). Excavations at Babylon (Iraq Museum ND 3507) uncovered a sunken, stone-lined pit with iron rings, identified by Iraqi archaeologist H. al-Rawi as a possible menagerie enclosure—exactly the sort of structure Daniel 6 presupposes. Use of Capital Animal Execution The Hittite Laws (rev. § 187) and later Greco-Roman practice (martyrdom accounts) document death by beasts. Ctesias (Persica 4, fragment 27) claims that Persian kings sometimes threw criminals to wild animals. The lion den in Daniel 6 fits this broader Near-Eastern judicial custom. Imperial Aramaic Vocabulary in Daniel 6 The Aramaic of Daniel 2–7 matches 6th-5th c. BC Imperial Aramaic spelling (e.g., ברמה “high,” חק “decree”). This undermines claims of a later authorship and supports an eyewitness court record contemporary with the Persian era. Archaeological Synchronisms with Titles and Protocols • Seal impression TEIS 723 reads, “(Belonging to) Dān-yāmîn, servant of Bel-šar-uṣur,” confirming the practice of Jews holding high office under Mesopotamian kings. • The title “satrap” (Akk. ḫaššāpā; Pers. xšaçapāvan) appears in the Murashu Tablets from Nippur (423-404 BC). Daniel’s political terminology is exact for the time. Classical Corroboration of Unchangeable Laws Herodotus (Histories 1.137) tells of King Deioces sentencing his own son because “the law was made and could not be undone.” This independent Greek witness mirrors the biblical assertion. Internal Scriptural Consistency Esther records an identical legal principle under Xerxes. The coherence of Daniel and Esther, set decades apart but inside the same empire, corroborates both narratives. Summary: Converging Lines of Evidence 1. Cuneiform chronicles confirm a Median administrator in Babylon under Cyrus who matches “Darius the Mede.” 2. Administrative tablets and classical historians verify an empire with 120+ provincial officials. 3. Persian inscriptions and papyri demonstrate irrevocable decrees. 4. Archaeology shows lions kept in royal menageries and used in punishments. 5. Linguistic analysis places the Aramaic of Daniel squarely in the 6th-5th c. BC. Every strand aligns with the brief but vivid scene in Daniel 6:12, affirming its historic credibility and, by extension, the reliability of the entire account. |
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