THE END OF THE BABYLONIAN EXILE
Inscriptions of Nabuna’id; Their Bearing on Biblical Statements Regarding Belshazzar. Account of the Capture of Babylon Bearing on the Book of Daniel. Inscription of Cyrus Bearing on the Capture of Babylon. Cyrus’ Permission for the Return to Jerusalem.
1. Inscriptions of Nabuna’id.
Several inscriptions of this king, who ruled 555-538 B. C., are known, but only a brief extract of one of them is given here, as the major part of the material has no bearing on the Bible.
Nabuna’id, King of Babylon, the restorer of Esagila and Ezida, the worshiper of the great gods am I .......... O Sin, lord of the gods of heaven and earth, god of the gods, .......... as for me, Nabuna’id, King of Babylon, save me from sinning against thy great divinity. A life of many days grant as thy gift. As for Belshazzar, the firstborn son, proceeding from my loins, place in his heart fear of thy great divinity; let him not turn to sinning; let him be satisfied with fulness of life![547]
Belshazzar is here said to be the son of Nabuna’id, whereas in Dan. 5:11, 18 Nebuchadrezzar is called his father. Nabuna’id, as the Babylonian documents show, was not a descendant of Nebuchadrezzar, but a usurper of another family. Some scholars hold that this shows the book of Daniel to be in error, while others hold that “father” in Dan. 5:11, 18 is equivalent to “ancestor,” and think Belshazzar may have been descended from Nebuchadrezzar on his mother’s side.
The Nabuna’id-Cyrus Chronicle
This chronicle is known only from a tablet which is somewhat broken. The following extract will show the nature of its contents:
In the 9th year Nabuna’id was at Tema. The son of the king, the princes, and soldiers were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon in Nisan, Nebo did not go to Babylon. Bel did not go out. The festival sacrifice was omitted. They offered sacrifices in Esagila and Ezida on account of Babylon and Borsippa, that the land might prosper. On the 5th of the month, Nisan the mother of the king, died in Dur-karashu on the bank of the Euphrates above Sippar. The son of the king and the soldiers mourned three days. In the month Sivan there was mourning for the king’s mother in Akkad.
In the month Nisan Cyrus, King of Persia, mustered his soldiers, and crossed the Tigris below Arbela and in the month Iyyar went to the land of .......... its king he killed, he took his possessions. His own governor (?) he placed in it ......... afterward his governor (?) and a king (?) were there.[548]