Belshazzar in the Nabonidus texts
A figure once cited as proof that Daniel was fiction turns out to be documented in Babylonian records — including the co-regency that makes the book's odd detail about "third ruler" make sense.
Nommé hors de la BibleAuteur antique6th century BC
Belshazzar was long treated as a biblical invention, since Babylonian king lists end with Nabonidus. Then cuneiform texts turned up naming Belshazzar as Nabonidus's son, entrusted with the kingship while his father was away at Teima for years — which also explains why Daniel's Belshazzar can only offer the third place in the kingdom, not the second.
He entrusted the camp to his eldest son, the firstborn… he let everything go, entrusted the kingship to him.
- Découvert
- Babylonia (Sippar, Ur and elsewhere) — Nineteenth-century excavations
- Conservé à
- British Museum and other collections
- Langue
- Akkadian
Jusqu'où cela va
Belshazzar's existence and co-regency are secure. The book of Daniel's wider historical setting — including its "Darius the Mede" — remains genuinely disputed, and this item does not resolve that.
Ce qu'en font les historiens
Standard in Assyriology; the Nabonidus–Belshazzar arrangement is discussed independently of any biblical question.
Dans l'Écriture
Se rattache à
Sources
- Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar (Yale Oriental Series, 1929)
- Belshazzar — overview and bibliography
Ces textes sont pour l'instant en anglais. Les traductions suivront.