We read in Daniel 5:29 of King Belshazzar who made Daniel the “third ruler in the kingdom.”
Belshazzar’s feast, depicted in the famous painting below, is a memorable scene in the biblical account of the last days of Babylon.
For decades biblical skeptics scoffed at all this because there were no historical records that identified any Babylonian king of that name.
The Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon make no mention of him.
The last Babylonian king was Nabonidus.
Biblical skeptics, sitting in their armchairs at prestigious European universities, said Belshazzar was obviously a made-up or legendary figure.
Then in 1854 the Nabonidus cylinders were uncovered at the Temple of Ur in southern Mesopotamia.
These cuneiform records name Belshazzar and identify him as Nabonidus’s eldest son.
Another passage testifies that while Nabonidus was away his son ruled in his place.
So Belshazzar is now historically validated. Not only that , but we now see that Nabonidus was the first ruler and Belshazzar the second.
Therefore Belshazzar could not have given Daniel any higher title than to be the third man in line.
Daniel’s peculiar reference to himself being designated as the “third ruler” is thereby explained.
More here:
https://a.co/d/02tw1wQb
This video illustrates how biblical archaeology works by examining a clay seal dated to the 8th century BC and attributed to the prophet Isaiah. It was produced by the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (http://www.armstronginstitute.org) and narrated by Stephen Flurry.
The power of biblical archaeology is it corroborates the historicity of the Bible down to its tiniest details.
Cameo figures from thousands of years ago come “back to life” through artifacts out of the ground.
Excavations in a Babylonian temple produced a small cuneiform tablet, quite mundane, that refers to a small gold offering made by the chief eunuch Nebo-Sarkesim in the 10th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
Who is this Nebo-Sarkesim? Not a figure of any importance in Jewish history. But he is mentioned in the Bible.
Jeremiah 39:3 states, “All the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats at the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezar of Samgar, Nebo-Sarkesim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezar a high official, and all the other officials of the king of Babylon.”
Jeremiah names the Babylonian officials who were present at the capture and subsequent burning of Jerusalem.
And there he is: Nebo-Sarkesim.
Once again a minor character jumps out of the Bible and into the pages of ...
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