and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
First Nabonadios, second Belshazzar, his son, and third the Interpreter.
8. Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9. Then was the king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
10. Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.
This queen was the wife of Nabonadios and mother of Belshazzar. Her death is recorded on the annalistic tablet of Cyrus. Her funeral rites were conducted by Cambyses in the “Temple of the Sceptre of the world,” and his free will offerings aggregated “Ten times the usual amount,” a most appropriate tribute to the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, that wonderful warrior, engineer and man of letters.
11. There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
12. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
13. Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
14. I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.