Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar II (604–562 BC) built the Ishtar Gate, now reconstructed in Berlin with glazed bricks; his cylinders and the bricks stamped with his name record his building works in Babylon.
Biblical context · Approved edition
Daniel at the court of Babylon
Daniel tells how a young man from Judah, taken captive to Babylon, is trained at the king’s court without ceasing to be faithful to his God, and how, years later, he interprets the writing on the wall on the night the kingdom falls. We will first observe the sacred text and then Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, the Belshazzar of the inscriptions and the debates that remain open.
By the end: you will be able to distinguish what the sacred text affirms, what Babylon and its inscriptions contribute and what remains open, such as the date of the book and the identity of Darius the Mede.
- Passage
- Daniel 1 and 5
- Central question
- What does the account of Daniel in Babylon affirm, and what can Nebuchadnezzar’s city and its inscriptions contribute?
- Estimated reading time
- 10–12 minutes
- Status
- Approved for publication · version 1.0
First, look at the sacred text
Observe before reconstructing
Read Daniel 1 and 5 and compare the two moments: who rules in each, what does the court ask of Daniel, how does he respond and what does the text say God does?
Compare with a guided observation
| Element | What the passage tells us |
|---|---|
| The deportation | Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim, and “the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand” together with vessels of the temple (Daniel 1:1–2). |
| The training | Young men of Israel, of royal or noble descent, are chosen to learn “the learning and the language of the Chaldeans” for three years (1:3–5). |
| New names | The prince of the eunuchs gives Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah the names Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (1:6–7). |
| The resolve | Daniel purposes in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s food and asks for a ten-day test with vegetables and water (1:8–16). |
| God’s gift | God gives the four knowledge and skill, and the king finds them ten times better than his magicians; Daniel remains there until the first year of Cyrus (1:17–21). |
| The feast | Belshazzar drinks with his nobles from the vessels of the temple in Jerusalem, and fingers write on the palace wall (5:1–5). |
| Weighed in the balances | Daniel reads and interprets the writing; Belshazzar proclaims him third in the kingdom, dies that same night, and Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (5:25–31). |
Daniel 1 and 5 frame the court stories: the first opens with Nebuchadnezzar, the second closes with the fall of Babylon, and between them Daniel serves several kings without changing his God.
Degrees of certainty
What can be recognized and what remains open
Ancient context helps when three things are kept apart: the Babylon that can be studied, the inscriptions that shed light on its kings and the questions that are still debated.
Belshazzar, son of Nabonidus
For centuries Belshazzar was known by name only from Daniel; Xenophon related the death of a king’s son without naming him Belshazzar. Since 1854, cuneiform inscriptions—including cylinders of Nabonidus found at Ur—have documented him as the king’s son, and other texts show that he governed in Babylon during his father’s absence.
A book in two languages
Daniel is written in Hebrew (1:1–2:4a and chapters 8–12) and in Aramaic (2:4b–7:28), the language in which the Chaldeans speak to the king in Daniel 2:4.
The date of composition
Jewish and Christian tradition ascribes the book to Daniel in the sixth century BC; many scholars date it around 167–164 BC, during the persecution under Antiochus IV. Both positions are argued; the question remains open.
Darius the Mede
No document outside the Bible, except Josephus, mentions him. Some regard him as an error or a confusion with Darius I; others propose identifying him with Gubaru, with Cyaxares or with Cyrus himself. There is no consensus.
Three complementary lenses
How to read the account and its context
These three lenses do not compete with each other: they answer different questions and must keep different degrees of certainty.
Theological reading: faithful in a foreign land
What it contributes
It brings to the fore that even in exile God remains the Lord of history: “He removes kings, and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21). Daniel learns the language and serves at court, but does not surrender his loyalty: he “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” (1:8).
Which details it helps explain
“The Lord gave” Jehoiakim (1:2) and the same God gives the young men wisdom (1:17); Nebuchadnezzar opens the book and Belshazzar is “weighed in the balances” (5:27). The pride that profanes the temple vessels (5:2–4, 23) contrasts with Daniel’s humility.
Which limit must remain
The theological reading does not by itself settle the date of the book’s composition or the identity of every king it mentions.
Related readings: source 1.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon
What it contributes
It helps us picture the city Daniel came to. Nebuchadnezzar II raised the Ishtar Gate, covered with blue glazed bricks and animals in relief, and left his name stamped on bricks and on clay cylinders that describe his temples, ziggurats, palaces and fortifications in Babylon and Borsippa.
Which details it helps explain
Hundreds of thousands of fragments of the gate were taken to Berlin, where it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum along with part of the Processional Way. The cylinders and bricks are written in Akkadian cuneiform; Daniel 1:4 speaks of “the learning and the language of the Chaldeans”, and 2:4 mentions Aramaic, the common language of the empire.
Which limit must remain
These monuments show the grandeur of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, but they do not name Daniel or his companions: they illustrate the setting, they do not prove the account.
Belshazzar, Nabonidus and the debates about the book
What it contributes
It explains a detail that was a puzzle for centuries. Known sources gave Nabonidus as the last king of Babylon; the Ur cylinders include a prayer for “Belshazzar, his son”, and other texts show that Nabonidus entrusted him with the government during his long absence. That is why it makes sense for Belshazzar to offer Daniel the “third” place in the kingdom (5:7, 16, 29).
Which details it helps explain
Nabonidus reigned from 555 to 539 BC, and Babylon fell to the Persians in October 539. Babylonian texts do not give Belshazzar the title of king, although he wielded power. On the date of the book, many scholars place it in 167–164 BC and see Darius the Mede as a figure confused with Darius I; others, such as Tom Finley, defend Daniel’s authorship and propose, following D. J. Wiseman, that “Darius” would be another name for Cyrus (6:28).
Which limit must remain
That Belshazzar is documented shows accurate knowledge of late Babylon, but it does not by itself decide the date of the book or resolve the identity of Darius the Mede.
Related readings: source 1 and source 5 and source 6 and source 7 and source 8.
Comparison of lenses
What each approach answers and leaves unanswered
| Approach | Basis | Main contribution | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theological reading | The sequence of Daniel 1 and 5 and the confession of 2:20–22. | Shows God sovereign over empires and faithful to his own in exile. | Does not fix the date of the book or the identity of each king. |
| Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon | The Ishtar Gate, cylinders and bricks bearing his name. | Gives a verifiable setting for the court where Daniel was trained. | Does not name Daniel or prove the account. |
| Belshazzar and the debates | Nabonidus cylinders and studies on the date and Darius the Mede. | Clarifies the “third place” and sets out the positions on the date. | The date and Darius the Mede remain debated. |
Criterion: the sacred text, the Babylonian finds and the proposals about the date are presented as different levels of evidence.
What you can now recognize
What context contributes to the account of Daniel
Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, with its gate of glazed bricks and its royal inscriptions, and the Belshazzar who reappeared in the Nabonidus cylinders help place the account in a real world. But they do not name Daniel, fix the date of the book or resolve who Darius the Mede was.
The centre of the account lies in what God does: he hands over and sustains, gives wisdom to the faithful and judges the arrogance of kings. Context illuminates the setting; the sacred text defines the message.
Return to the sacred text
What does this add to my reading?
1. Notice the resolve
In Daniel 1:8–17, what does Daniel decide, how does he ask for it and to whom does the text attribute the outcome?
See a guided answer
Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself”, but he asks respectfully and proposes a ten-day test. The text attributes the outcome to God: he gave Daniel favour with the prince of the eunuchs (1:9) and gave the young men knowledge and skill (1:17).
2. Who removes and sets up kings?
In Daniel 2:20–22, what does Daniel confess about God, and how does it shed light on Belshazzar’s fall in chapter 5?
Return to Daniel 2:20–22See a guided answer
Daniel blesses God because wisdom and might are his, and because “he removes kings, and sets up kings”. Belshazzar’s night shows that confession in history: the kingdom that seemed secure is “weighed in the balances” and passes to others (5:26–28).
Result of the journey: you can now recognize the central message of the account, place it prudently in ancient Babylon and fairly present the debates about the date of the book and Darius the Mede.
Key terms
Brief glossary
- Chaldeans
- People of southern Mesopotamia from whom Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty came; in Daniel the term also refers to the court’s wise men.
- Ishtar Gate
- Monumental gate of Babylon built by Nebuchadnezzar II, with glazed bricks and animals in relief; now reconstructed in Berlin.
- Foundation cylinder
- Clay cylinder with a cuneiform inscription that Mesopotamian kings placed in their buildings.
- Nabonidus
- Last king of Babylon (555–539 BC) and father of Belshazzar, to whom he entrusted the government during his absence.
- Aramaic
- Semitic language common across the empire; the central part of Daniel (2:4b–7:28) is written in it.
Editorial record
Scope and review
- Responsible person
- Jose A Bejarano V
- Version
- 1.0 · trilingual edition
- Last reviewed
- Approved for publication by the responsible editor on 27 September 2026
- Method
- A guided reading that distinguishes the sacred text, the historical and archaeological context and theological interpretations.
About the images: the illustrations are conceptual visual aids; they do not constitute historical, archaeological or geographical evidence.
Sources for further study
Works consulted
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Biblical literature: Daniel” — the book of Daniel, its two languages and the dating to the time of Antiochus IV held by many scholars.
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: “From Fragment to Monument: The Ishtar Gate in Berlin” — the Ishtar Gate built by Nebuchadnezzar II and its reconstruction with glazed bricks in the Pergamon Museum.
- British Museum: cilindro de Nabucodonosor II (1885,0430.1) — cuneiform inscription on his building works in Babylon and Borsippa: temples, ziggurats, the palace and a new fortress.
- British Museum: ladrillo con inscripción de Nabucodonosor (1841,0726.62) — fired brick from Babylon with the king’s stamp impressed in the centre.
- British Museum: cilindro de Nabonido (K.1692) — cylinder from Ur on the restoration of the temple of the god Sin, with a prayer for the king and for Belshazzar, his son.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Belshazzar” — Belshazzar, eldest son of Nabonidus and coregent, known from inscriptions outside the Bible only since 1854.
- Bryant G. Wood (Associates for Biblical Research): “Iraq and the Bible” — why Belshazzar offers Daniel the third place in the kingdom.
- Tom Finley (Biola University): “Who Wrote the Book of Daniel? Part 2: Who Was Darius the Mede?” — the proposals for identifying Darius the Mede, from a defence of Daniel’s authorship.