The army of Cyrus had already reached the capital of Chaldea. The vast
plain before the city swarmed with moving thousands of Medes and
Persians. At this time no warriors were finer in appearance than the
battlemen of the Persian prince. Their discipline had reached to an
almost inconceivable degree of perfection. The wishes and desires of
their great commander had become their law; and each one vied with the
other in rendering obedience to his orders. Their fame had spread
throughout lower Asia, and through many parts of Assyria.
But the Babylonians thought themselves so well prepared for this
emergency that the numerous legions of Cyrus failed to alarm them.
Their walls they considered proof against any attack, and they had a
sufficient amount of provision in the city for twenty years. They
laughed to scorn the demand of the Persians, and loudly ridiculed them
from the city walls. Belshazzar and his counselors, considering
themselves secure, gave way to their depraved appetites. The palace was
one scene of debauchery and revelry by day and by night.
The Persian general soon saw that an assault on such formidable
defenses would be useless. A project was conceived in his mind. He made
the inhabitants believe that he intended to reduce the city by famine.
To this end he caused a line of circumvallation to be drawn quite
around the city with a large and deep ditch; and, that his troops might
not be over-fatigued, he divided his army into twelve bodies, and
assigned to each of them its month of guarding the trenches. The great
ditch was completed, but the reveling Babylonians little thought of its
real design.
Belshazzar, the king, made a feast to a thousand of his lords, and
drank wine before the thousand. This feast was one of great splendor.
The most spacious and magnificent rooms in the richest city in the
world were crowded with rank and beauty. Learning, aristocracy and
royalty were there. Precious stones and costly perfumery filled the
salon with dazzling luster and sweet fragrance. Wit sparkled with the
sparkling of the cups, and reason flowed with the flowing of the wine.
They drank toasts of enthusiastic patriotism; they sang songs of
unbounded loyalty, and shouted defiance to every foe. Strains of melody
poured forth from an hundred instruments, and hilarity and excessive
mirth beamed forth from every countenance. The high praises of the gods
of Chaldea, with rapturous shouts in honor to their king, mingled
together and broke forth from a thousand tongues. The besieging army
and its commander, together with the God of the Hebrews, were made the
subjects of their keenest sarcasm.
This feast was given in honor of Belshazzar’s birth; and we may easily
judge that flattery without measure was poured into his willing ear. On
this occasion, from the very nature of the festival, much was expected
from the monarch himself, and it was very evident that he was fully
determined that in this they should not be disappointed. He spoke in
this vein:
“All hail, brave Babylonians! Welcome! Thrice welcome to the presence
of your king! Before me on this night I behold the pride and glory of
Babylon. Here are my nobles who have at all times distinguished
themselves by their valor and great bravery. Let us banish gloom, and
let our hearts overflow with mirth! We may well congratulate ourselves
on the perfect safety of Babylon. Our walls are impregnable and our
possessions are abundant. We laugh to scorn the silly movements of the
Persians that parade before the city. Dark predictions there are, I
know, in regard to the future of Chaldea, but these Hebrew delusions
have well-nigh vanished. I am sorry to confess that my royal grandsire
gave too much countenance to these groundless delusions, in the
preferment of the Hebrew Belteshazzar with his three companions to high
offices within the province of Babylon. This, my lords, was a great
mistake of the past, for which we have already too dearly paid. Since I
came to the throne, this intermeddling of foreigners with the affairs
of the nation has received no countenance; and happy am I to know that
to-day all offices under the government are entrusted to none but
native Chaldeans. In this I do not wish to cast a shade on the memories
of the illustrious dead, for truly no monarch ever distinguished
himself more than my lamented grandfather. The trophies of his
victories are to-day visible throughout the empire. To him, indeed, the
gods of Chaldea were propitious, and unmistakable proof they gave of
their superiority to the gods of other nations. We have heard much of
the renowned God of the Hebrews! But, under the protection of our own,
we bid defiance to all other gods! Who is the God of Israel that I
should fear him? Did not my grandfather, under the guidance of the gods
of Chaldea, enter into his territory, destroy his city and burn his
temple? Why did he not then vindicate his power and glory? Why permit
the vessels of his temple to be carried into Babylon, and there
deposited in the temple of Belus? Ah, my lords, those vessels were
worthy of a more trusty god! They are beautiful to behold, and would
well become an occasion like the present. Surely this is well thought!
Let the vessels of the temple of the God of Israel be brought hither,
and from them let us drink wine in honor of the gods of Chaldea! Bring
them hither in haste! My thirst increases with the thought! All praise
to our matchless gods! Again I say, let us banish gloom, and let us be
filled with mirth! But here, indeed, come the temple vessels of the God
of Israel! Bring them hither. Look ye here, Babylonians! Saw ye ever
anything more beautiful? Such fine specimens of art as these must be
rendered serviceable in the employ of more worthy gods! Let them be
filled with wine! Let us drink to the gods of the empire; and, if there
is a God in Israel, let him come to the rescue! We defy his power,
Chaldeans! These Hebrews among us must be limited in their privileges.
The worship of their imaginary God, if at all permitted, must be on a
more private scale. They are corrupting in their influence, and their
liberties must be restricted. This I have accomplished in a measure,
and, by the gods, I swear that in this my pleasure must be realized to
the full! These foreigners have too long lived in ease, and many of
them have been unwisely elevated to fill the most responsible offices
in the gift of the government, to the exclusion of Chaldeans and more
worthy men. Of this We shall hear no more complaint. I have cut short
the work, and not one Hebrew remains in office within the empire.
Babylonians, in this has not the king met your wishes? Your joyous
looks and merry countenances answer ‘yea!’ Let this then be our motto,
‘Chaldeans to rule Chaldea!’ Drink! Drink freely! Drink to the gods! Is
there a God in Israel? Let him come and claim the vessels of his
sanctuary! Oh, the wine tastes delicious from these thy golden goblets!
Oh, thou God of Israel! Ha! ha! ha! More wine! Let us rejoice and be
glad, and drink defiance to all gods save the gods of Chaldea! Who
shall Belshazzar fear? What god can alarm the king of Bab—”
The vessel fell from the monarch’s hand! Paleness gathered on his brow!
A sudden trembling shook his whole frame! A cry of terror broke from
his lips!
On the wall, over against the candlestick, there appeared the fingers
of a man’s hand, which wrote on the plaster. This was the mysterious
sight that gave terror to the king and alarmed the merry throng.
“Haste ye!” cried the terrified king, “and bring hither my wise men,
and let them give me the signification of the writing. Go in haste!”
Messengers were speedily hurried to summon the magicians and wise men
into the presence of the monarch, and within a short period the whole
“college” stood before the agitated sovereign in the midst of the
banqueting hall.
“Look ye yonder!” said the king, with a trembling voice, pointing to
the mysterious writing. “Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me
the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet and have a
chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the
kingdom.”
The wise men gazed in silent astonishment on the writing, cast solemn
glances at one another, and at last frankly confessed that it was
written in a language with which they had no acquaintance—peradventure,
understood only by the gods.
“What shall I do?” cried the king, in deep agony. “I fear some awful
calamity is about to befall me! A curse upon you pretenders’ Depart
from my presence! O ye gods, what shall I do?”
The great fear of the king had been made known to the queen-mother, the
famous Nitocris, wife of Nebuchadnezzar. She hastened to the banquet
chamber, where she found all in the greatest consternation, especially
the king.
“O king, live forever!” cried the queen-mother. “Let not thy thoughts
trouble thee, nor thy countenance thus be changed in the presence of
thy mighty lords, lest hereafter they despise thy fear. There is a man
in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and, in the days
of thy grandfather, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom
of the gods, were found in him, whom the king, Nebuchadnezzar, thy
grandfather—I say _the king himself_—made master of the magicians,
astrologers and soothsayers; and this was a sure sign of his superior
wisdom. This great man is not found among _thy_ nobles. Since in thy
great wisdom thou didst see fit to deprive all Hebrews of office, this
mighty Daniel, whom thy grandfather called Belteshazzar, has been seen
but seldom. But be it known to thee, O king, that he is not utterly
forgotten.”
Without delay messengers were sent to the house of Daniel, and in a
short time a venerable person, with his hair silvered over, slowly
marched into the banqueting hall, and, without the least embarrassment,
stood in the presence of the pale and trembling Belshazzar.
“Art thou that Daniel who art of the captivity of Judah, whom the king
my grandfather brought from Judah? I have even heard of thee that the
spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and
excellence are found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers,
have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and
make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not show
the interpretation of the thing. Now, if thou canst read the writing
and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed
with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shall be the
third ruler in the kingdom.”
Then Daniel answered and said before the king:
“Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another. Yet I
will read the writing to the king, and make known unto him the
interpretation.
“O thou king! the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, and
majesty, and glory, and honor. All people, nations and languages
trembled and feared before him. Whom he would he slew, and whom he
would he kept alive; whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put
down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride,
he was deposed from his kingly throne and his glory was taken from him;
and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the
beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses. They fed him with
grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he
knew that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he
appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou, O Belshazzar, hast not
humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up
thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels
of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy
concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of
silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, which see not, nor
bear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, thou hast not
glorified.
“This is the interpretation of the thing. MENE—God hath numbered thy
kingdom and finished it; TEKEL—thou art weighed in the balances and
found wanting; PERES—thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and
Persians.”
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and
put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning
him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
As soon as Cyrus saw that the ditches, which they had long worked upon,
were finished, he began to plan for the execution of his vast design,
which as yet he had communicated to no one. He was informed that, in
the city, on a certain day, a great festival was to be celebrated, and
that the Babylonians, on occasions of that solemnity, were accustomed
to pass the whole night in drunkenness and debauchery. Of this impious
feast we have already spoken. Thus Providence furnished him with as fit
an opportunity as he could desire. He therefore posted a part of his
troops on that side where the river entered the city, and another part
on that side where it went out, and commanded them to enter the city
that very night by marching along the channel of the river as soon as
ever they found it fordable. Having given all necessary orders, he
exhorted his officers to follow him—that he was under the direction of
the gods. In the evening he gave orders to open the great receptacles,
or ditches, on both sides of the town, above and below, that the waters
of the rivers might run into them. By this means the Euphrates was
quickly emptied and its channel became dry. Then the two bodies of
troops, according to their orders, went into the channels, the one
commanded by Gobryas and the other by Gadates, and advanced toward each
other without meeting any impediment.
Thus did these two bodies of troops penetrate into the very heart of
the city without opposition. According to agreement, they met together
at the royal palace, surprised the guard, and slew them. The company,
hearing the tumult without, opened the door. The Persian soldiers
rushed in. They were met by the king with his sword in hand. He was
slain, and hundreds of his drunken associates shared the same fate.
Thus terminated the great banquet of Belshazzar, where the God of
heaven was wickedly blasphemed; and thus terminated the Babylonian
empire, after a duration of two hundred and ten years from the first of
Nabonassar’s reign, who was the founder thereof.