King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand… (Dn 5:1 ESV)
Belshazzar is named as the king who was ruling in Babylon on the night the kingdom fell to the army of Cyrus the Great of Persia. In actual fact, he was co-regent with his father, Nabonidus, who ruled over Babylon for 17 years, from ca. 556–539 BC.
For many years Belshazzar was unknown to history, as ancient writers like Berossus (ca. 250 BC), seem to name Nabonidus as the final king of Babylon.1 This caused some 19th-century critics to doubt the veracity of the account of Belshazzar in the Book of Daniel. For example, Cäsar von Lengerke described it as “pure fiction” and “a palpable forgery” going on to say that, “the whole story is disfigured and falsified by the author, who was neither an eye-witness of the occurrences, nor accurately acquainted with the history of them.” His summary was based on three factors: the last king of Babylon was not named Belshazzar, he was not a son of Nebuchadnezzar, and he was not slain on the night Babylon fell to the Persians.2 Other scholars who accepted the historicity of Daniel’s account generally assumed that Belshazzar was an alternate name for another Babylonian king: Josephus equated him with Nabonidus,3 while Zöckler thought he was Evil-Merodach (Awil-Marduk).4
Belshazzar’s Historicity
The identity of Belshazzar (Akkadian, Bēl-šarru-uṣur, meaning “Bel protect the king”) has been firmly established since the mid-19th century through the translation of numerous cuneiform inscriptions. In 1853, four clay cylinders were discovered in the ruins of the ziggurat at Ur in Iraq by J.E. Taylor. They were identical inscriptions that recorded the restoration of the ziggurat of the moon-god Sîn and each contained a prayer naming Belshazzar as the son of Nabonidus:
“Moreover, with regard to Belshazzar, (my) first-born son, my own offspring, have the fear of your great divinity placed in his heart so that he does not commit a(ny) sin. May he be sated with happiness in life.” (Col. ii., Lines 23–26)5
A similar prayer is contained on a series of fractured clay cylinders in the collection of the British Museum (BM 91124 and BM 104738):
“(As for) me, Nabonidus, the king of Babylon who reveres your great divinity, may I be sated with happiness in life. Moreover, with regard to Belshazzar, (my) first-born son, my own offspring, prolong his days. May he not commit a(ny) sin” (i. lines 32–36).6
A letter in the Yale Babylonian Collection that dates to the seventh year of Nabonidus contains another reference to Belshazzaz. In it, a man named Shumukin notes a constellation he saw in a dream. He writes, “In a dream I saw the Great Star, Venus (ie. Dilbat), Sirius, the moon and the sun and I shall (now) study this (constellation) with regard to a favorable interpretation for my Lord Nabonidus, king of Babylon, as well as to a favorable interpretation for my lord Belshazzar, the crown prince”7
Still another cuneiform tablet from Borsippa dated to the 11th year of mentions a “slave of Belshazzar, son of the king.”8
“Belshazzar, son of the king” is named in five other Babylonian texts that describe his business dealings in the empire.9
With these (and other) inscriptions the historicity of Belshazzar, the crown prince and first-born son of Nabonidus has been firmly established.
Belshazzar’s Co-Regency
Was Belshazzar ever considered a king, a title he is given in the fifth chapter of the Book of Daniel? Critics would say no, pointing the fact that Belshazzar is not referred to as “king” in any official royal inscription, and while his father was away in Arabia, the annual Akitu (New Year) Festival was not held in Babylon since only the king could preside over it. On the other hand, there is abundant evidence that he was co-regent for almost a decade and engaged in royal activities.
According to the Verse Account of Nabonidus, the king of Babylon left the city and traveled throughout Arabia, setting up a base at Tayma (Teima). The reason for Nabonidus’ absence is unknown, although various suggestions have been made: he was on an extended military campaign, he set out to worship the moon-god, he was mad, he was sick and seeking a better climate. The Verse Account of Nabonidus simply states that during his third year, “he entrusted the army to his oldest son, his first born, the troops in the country he ordered under his command. He let everything go, entrusted the kingship to him [his firstborn son, Belshazzar], and, himself, he started out for a long journey. The military forces of Akkad marching with him, he turned to Tayma deep in the west” (ii.5-6).10
Throughout the next ten years or so Nabonidus was absent from Babylon and Belshazzar ruled in his stead as co-regent. Paul-Alain Beaulieu has analyzed 38 datable Babylonian texts referring to Belshazzar and determined that he oversaw official matters in Babylon from at least the fourth year to the thirteenth year of Nabonidus’ reign.11 Specifically, there are four main royal activities that indicate Belshazzar’s kingship:
1) The King of Babylon was honored with the remains of the sacrificial meals offered to the cultic statues and by selecting the royal offerings of sheep. According to Babylonian texts, both Nabonidus and Belshazzar were honored in these ways while Nabonidus was away.12
2) Oaths were typically sworn “by the majesty of the king.” There is a record of oaths being sworn by the majesty of Nabonidus and Belshazzar while the latter was reigning in Babylon.13
3) The King of Babylon was officially in command over the army. According to the Verse Account of Nabonidus, Nabonidus gave Belshazzar the command of the “army of all the lands.” In the Babylonian chronicles the army of Akkad is called “his army,” referring to Belshazzar.14
4) Records show that Belshazzar exercised full royal authority by granting land leases, ordering that temple be purified, issuing directives “by the command of Belshazzar.”15
Moreover, according to Beaulieu, “During Nabonidus’ absence Belshazzar assumed the regency, and it appears the king never directly intervened in the internal affairs of Babylonia while residing in Teima.”16
For all intents and purposes, there were two kings of Babylon during this period: Nabonidus reigning from Teima in Arabia, and Belshazzar reigning in Babylon. While it is true that Belshazzar is never referred to as “king” in official royal inscriptions, the Babylonian record indicates Nabonidus “entrusted the kingship” to him and that, in his absence, for almost a decade his son functioned as the de-facto king of Babylon, carrying out many of the royal duties.
Given his official position as co-regent and his role in Babylon, it would not be surprising for people to refer to him as king, especially when addressing him face-to-face, as recorded in Daniel 5:18. Moreover, this arrangement makes sense of the reward Belshazzar promised Daniel of being made the third highest ruler in the kingdom (Dn 5:16); as a co-regent, that is the highest honor he could offer.
Belshazzar’s Genealogy
Since Belshazzar’s co-regency is linked to the reign of his father, a knowledge of Nabonidus’ family tree provides important background information.
In his own inscriptions, Nabonidus calls himself the “son of Nabu-balatsu-iqbi” a “wise prince” who is otherwise unknown.17 According to the Adad-guppi Inscription, his mother’s name was Adad-guppi (Hadad-ḥappī). Nabonidus does not appear to have had any direct family ties to the royal line of Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II.18
According to the ancient historian Berossus, he became king of Babylon through a coup:
“Laborosoarchodos [Labasi-Marduk], the son of Neriglisaros [Neriglissar], who was only a child [likely a young man], was master of the kingdom for nine months. Because his wickedness became apparent in many ways he was plotted against and brutally killed by his friends. After he had been killed, the plotters met and jointly conferred the kingdom on Nabonnedos [Nabonidus], a Babylonian and a member of the conspiracy.”19
In his own inscription, Nabonidus says, “At the command of Marduk, my lord, I was raised to the sovereignty of the land.”20 It telling that he claims the Babylonian god Marduk elevated him to the throne, both justifying his accession and implying he did not come to the throne through normal the normal manner of inheriting it from his father.
How then do we make sense of Daniel’s statement to Belshazzar that “the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty” (Dn 5:18) since Nabonidus was not a descendent of Nebuchadnezzar? Some have pointed out that in the ancient Near East, the terms father and son could be used in a broader way to mean predecessor/successor, even when there is not direct family link.21 For example, on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, the Assyrian king records that he received the tribute of “Jehu, son of Omri”22 even though Jehu was not related to Omri and had actually destroyed the Omride line. Daniel could be using the phrase “Nebuchadnezzar your father” in the sense that he was Belshazzar’s predecessor.
Other scholars believe Belshazzar was related to Nebuchadnezzar through his mother. According to Herodotus, Nabonidus (called Labynetus in the Greek text)23 had a wife named Nitocris.24 Dougherty has presented an extensive list of plausible circumstantial evidence suggesting that Nitocris was likely the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar by an Egyptian wife (the name Nitocris is of Egyptian origin).25 If this is the case, Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter was Belshazzar’s mother and Daniel’s phrase “Nebuchadnezzar your father” was used in a familial sense.
If Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, one might expect him to have been given an important role in the Babylonian courts when he came of age. Indeed, there is a Babylonian text from ca. 560 BC that names a “Belshazzar, the chief officer of the king.”26 His plausible relation to Nebuchadnezzar may also explain why Belshazzar’s ascension as co-regent in Nabonidus’ third year seems to have been readily supported by those in Babylon.
Belshazzar’s Death
According to the Bible, the night that Babylon fell to the army of Cyrus the Persian, Belshazzar and his court were feasting and drinking. When they intentionally blasphemed God by using vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, a supernatural hand appeared writing on the wall. Daniel was called and he interpreted it as a message proclaiming the downfall of Belshazzar. The fifth chapter of Daniel ends with the fall of the city and simply states, “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed” (Dn 5:30).
Leaving aside the supernatural handwriting on the wall (archaeology, by definition, cannot verify or falsify supernatural events), there are numerous details in this simple account that are affirmed in other historical sources.
Xenophon notes that the Babylonians were unconcerned by Cyrus’ siege of the city “in the belief they had provisions enough for more than twenty years.” He also records that they were celebrating “a certain festival…during which all Babylon was accustomed to drink and revel all night long.”27 Likewise, Herodotus records the Babylonians “were dancing and celebrating a holiday which happened to fall then.”28 Exactly which festival was being celebrated remains unknown, but it was not the Akitu (New Year) festival, which was held in March/April; Babylon fell in October of 539 BC.
Some have suggested that Belshazzar was not reigning in Babylon when the city fell since Nabonidus had returned and would have been considered the king. The Nabonidus Chronicle contains details which help clarify the situation. According to this text, the Akitu (New Year) festival was not celebrated in the seventh, ninth, tenth, and eleventh years of Nabonidus because he was away in Teima. It goes onto record that the king had returned, and in his 17th year (539 BC) the Akitu festival was celebrated. Later in the autumn, the Persians attacked and the Nabonidus Chronicle further records that the Babylonian king left the city to meet them in battle.
“When Cyrus did battle at Opis on the [bank of] the Tigris against the army of Akkad, the people of Akkad retreated. He carried off the plunder (and) slaughtered the people. On the fourteenth day Sippar was captured without a battle. Nabonidus fled. On the sixteenth day, Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus, without battle they entered Babylon. Afterwards, after Nabonidus retreated, he was captured in Babylon.” (Col. iii, Lines 13-16)29
Another scholar translates the last line as, “Afterwards Nabonidus, when he returned to Babylon was taken prisoner.”30
Berossus further records: “On learning of the invasion [of Cyrus and his army] Nabonnedos [Nabonidus] met him with an army and opposed him in battle. After being defeated, he fled with a small retinue and took refuge within the city of the Borsippians [Borsippa]. Cyrus meanwhile seized Babylon…Cyrus then marched on Borsippa to lay siege to Nabonnedos. Nabonnedos, however, did not await the siege but surrendered himself first. Dealing with him a gracious manner, Cyrus granted him Carmania as his residence and sent him out of Babylonia.”31
In reconstructing the chain of events during the swift and chaotic fall of Babylon, it appears Cyrus invaded the land, Nabonidus left the city of Babylon to confront him and was defeated in battles at Opis and Sippar. Nabonidus then fled to the safety of Borsippa. In the meantime, the city of Babylon was taken, after which Cyrus marched on Borsippa, where Nabonidus surrendered. He was either taken back to Babylon as a prisoner or returned to Babylon to officially give himself up. After this, Cyrus was gracious and Nabonidus was allowed to leave Babylon where he lived out his life in Carmania.
One important fact to notice is this: all of the histories agree that Nabonidus was not in Babylon the night the city fell to Cyrus’ army! According to the Nabonidus Chronicle, the king had fled and it was only after the city of Babylon fell that he returned. According to Berossus, Nabonidus was at Borsippa when Babylon fell. Given the earlier co-regency, it makes sense that Nabonidus left his son in control of the capital while he marched out to battle. Thus, Belshazzar was ruling in the city of Babylon the night the empire fell, just as the Bible records.
In fact, this may be what Herodotus alludes to when he states that “Cyrus, then, marched against Nitocris’ son [Belshazzar]…”32
Moreover, Xenophon records that the king was killed by Cyrus’ generals, Gadatas and Gobryas in the palace on that fateful night in October 539 BC.33 Some have seen in this a discrepancy between Berossus, who says Nabonidus was spared, and Xenophon, who says the king died. However, there need not be any discrepancy. Given that Nabonidus was not in Babylon the night the city fell, it was King Belshazzar who was killed, as Xenophon and the book of Daniel record. King Nabonidus was allowed to live, as recorded by Berossus and affirmed in another text called the Dynastic Prophecy. Beaulieu summarizes, “The Dynastic Prophecy confirms Berossus’ statement that Nabonidus was not killed, but exiled to a remote province in the Persian empire. Therefore, it is possible that the king slayed by Gobryas in the Cyropaedia was not Nabonidus, but his son, Belshazzar. Xenophon would agree on this point with the Book of Daniel.”34
Conclusion
While Belshazzar was at one time unknown to the historical world, we now have over 3000 cuneiform inscriptions dating to the reign of Nabonidus, many of which cover the period of Belshazzar’s coregency. This is far more inscriptional evidence than exists for any other neo-Babylonian king.35 In fact, we now know more about the reign of Nabonidus and his co-regency with Belshazzar than we know about King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, as there are few inscriptions from the latter part of his rule .36
The sheer number of royal inscriptions and datable letters from Babylon have filled in many details from the coregency of Nabonidus and Belshazzar. These, along with the testimony of ancient historians, affirm numerous details in the biblical text that were once doubted by critical scholars of earlier generations.
BONUS
The issue of how Belshazzar was lost to history for so long, as well as who may have tried to erase the record of his reign and why are dealt with by Roger Young in his article, “How Belshazzar was Deleted from History and Who Did it, published in Bible and Spade magazine. You can find a copy of it HERE. I highly recommend it!
Cover Photo: Nabonidus Cylinder BM 91128 Credit: Jastrow / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5 DEED
Endnotes
1 Stanley Mayer Burstein. The Babyloniaca of Berosus. (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1978), p. 28.
2 Cäsar von Lengerke, Das Buch Daniel (Königsberg: Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1835), as translated and quoted in Moses Stuart, A Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1850), p. 143-144.
3 Josephus, Antiquities, 10.11.2. Online: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-10.html (Accessed Jan. 8, 2024).
4 Otto Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel. Translated by James Strong. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901), p. 34. Online: https://archive.org/details/bookofprophetdan0013zckl/page/34/mode/2up?view=theater (Accessed Jan. 9, 2024).
5 Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny, eds. The Royal Inscriptions of Amēl-Marduk (561-560 BC), Neriglissar (559-556 BC), and Nabonidus (555-539 BC), Kings of Babylon. (University Park: Eisenbrauns, 2020), p.163.
6 Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny, p.135.
7 A.T. Clay, Yale Babylonian Collection I (1915), No. 39, p. 55, as quoted in ANET, footnote, p. 309-310
8 “Tablet BM 26740,” British Museum. Online: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1898-0514-558 (Accessed Jan. 9, 2024)
9 Raymond Philip Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929), p. 81-85.
10 A. Leo Oppenheim, “Verse Account of Nabonidus.” Livius.org. Online: https://www.livius.org/sources/content/anet/verse-account-of-nabonidus/ (Accessed Jan. 10, 2024).
11 Paul-Alain Beaulieu, The Reign of Nabonidus King of Babylon 556 – 539 BC (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), p. 156-157.
12 Beaulieu, p. 188.
13 Beauleu, p. 190.
14 Beauleu, p. 190.
15 Beaulieu, p. 194-195.
16 Beaulieu, p. 185
17 Raymond Philip Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929), p. 17.
18 Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny, eds. The Royal Inscriptions of Amēl-Marduk (561-560 BC), Neriglissar (559-556 BC), and Nabonidus (555-539 BC), Kings of Babylon. (University Park: Eisenbrauns, 2020), p. 3.
19 Stanley Mayer Burstein. The Babyloniaca of Berosus. (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1978), p.
20 Raymond Philip Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929), p. 72.
21 Roger Young, “How Belshazzar was Deleted from History and Who Did it.” Bible and Spade. 32.5 (2022), p. 21.
22 Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Vol 1. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1926), 211.
23 See Roger Young’s article (p.24-25) above, as well as Doughtery’s Nabonidus and Belshazzar (p. 33-24) for Herodotus’ use of the name Labynetus for Nabonidus.
24 Herodotus 1.188
25 Raymond Philip Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929), p. 51-63.
26 Dougherty, p. 67.
27 Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 7.5.13 and 7.5.15. Online: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.%20Cyrop.%207.%205&lang=original (Accessed Jan. 13, 2024).
28 Herodotus, Histories, 1.191. Online: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D191 (Accessed Jan. 13, 2024).
29 A.K. Grayson, “ABC 7 (Nabonidus Chronicle).” Online: https://www.livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/abc-7-nabonidus-chronicle/ (Accessed Jan. 13, 2024)
30 Raymond Philip Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929), p. 170.
31 Stanley Mayer Burstein. The Babyloniaca of Berosus. (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1978), p. 28.
32 Herodotus, Histories, 1.191. Online: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D188 (Accessed Jan. 13, 2024).
33 Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 7.5.28-30. Online: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.%20Cyrop.%207.%205&lang=original (Accessed Jan. 13, 2024).
34 Paul-Alain Beaulieu, The Reign of Nabonidus King of Babylon 556 – 539 BC (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), p. 231.
35 Eric A. Powell, “The Last King of Babylon.” Archaeology.org. Online: https://www.archaeology.org/issues/458-2203/features/10334-babylon-nabonidus-last-king#art_page2 (Accessed Jan. 12, 2024).
36 According to Ronald Sack, we have few cuneiform inscriptions from the latter part of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (594 BC onward), and are forced to rely upon Hebrew, Greek, and Latin secondary sources. Ronald Sack, “Nergal-šarra-uṣur, King of Babylon as seen in the Cuneiform, Greek, Latin and Hebrew Sources.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie. 68 (1), p. 129.
Bible Archaeology Report 
Thank you very much for this information.
Thank you for your consistently top notch work, Brian!