Bible Authenticity

“In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream.”—Daniel 7:1 NIV

“In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision.”—Daniel 8:1 NIV

“King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.”—Daniel 5:1 NIV

“Nebuchadnezzar his father”—Daniel 5:2 NAB

“His predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar”—Daniel 5:2 NLT

Until the 1870’s, Daniel (and works dependent on it) was the only source of information about Belshazzar. Critics, therefore, claimed that Daniel’s references to Belshazzar were fiction, and the author of Daniel was a fraud. At that time, all other extant sources said Nabonidus was the last king of Babylon. Critics were silenced when archival texts began to be discovered in Babylon, beginning with the Nabonidus Chronicle, which was written shortly after Babylon’s capture by the Medes and Persians in 539 BCE. Today, Belshazzar is well-authenticated as a historic personage through archaeological discoveries and studies. In fact, at least 37 archival texts have been discovered naming Belshazzar, proving he was a real person, and revealing his position to be exactly what the Bible says it to be, ruler of Babylon during his father’s extended absence, in the final years of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. read more