Overview
In 1854 J. E. Taylor, British vice-consul at Basra, excavated at Tell el-Muqayyar, the site of Ur, and recovered inscribed foundation cylinders of Nabonidus, the last native king of Babylon. The text records Nabonidus's restoration of the temple-tower (ziggurat) of the moon-god Sin and closes with a prayer to Sin.
In the prayer Nabonidus asks for long life for himself and then prays for 'Belshazzar, the firstborn son, proceeding from my loins'. The cuneiform writes his name dEN-LUGAL-URU3, Bel-sharra-usur. Four exemplars of the same text are in the British Museum and are edited as Nabonidus 32 in The Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, vol. 2 (Weiershäuser and Novotny 2020).
The cylinders, with the Nabonidus Chronicle's notices that 'the son of the king' was in Akkad while Nabonidus stayed at Tema, establish Belshazzar as Nabonidus's eldest son and a figure of state in Babylon.
In its own words
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!Nabonidus's prayer to Sin, trans. G. A. Barton, Archaeology and the Bible (Philadelphia, 1916), Part II ch. XVIII, p. 382
What the evidence shows
- Four exemplars of one text (RINBE 2, Nabonidus 32) in the British Museum: BM 91125, 91126, 91127, 91128; provenance Ur (CDLI records).
- Col. ii lines 24-26 of exemplar 1 (CDLI transliteration): u3 sza2 {disz}{d}en-lugal-uru3 / DUMU resz-tu-u2 / s,i-it lib3-bi-ia, 'and of Bel-sharra-usur, the eldest son, offspring of my heart'.
- The same prayer asks Sin to keep Nabonidus himself from sin and grant him long days (col. ii 19-23).
- The Nabonidus Chronicle (as translated by Barton 1916, p. 382) records for Nabonidus's 9th year that the king was at Tema while 'the son of the king, the princes, and soldiers were in Akkad'; Barton notes similar entries for other years.
- Barton (1916, p. 384) reports a contract from Erech, dated in Nabonidus's 12th year, sworn by 'the oath of Nabuna'id, King of Babylon, and of Belshazzar, the king's son' (from Pinches).
Open questions
- Was Belshazzar 'king'? Daniel 5:1 calls him king. The Ur cylinders call him 'eldest son' and the Chronicle calls him 'the son of the king'. Barton (1916, p. 384) notes that an oath sworn jointly by Nabonidus and Belshazzar shows him 'but slightly lower in rank and power than the king himself'. Dan 5:7, 16, 29 offer 'third ruler in the kingdom', which fits a second-in-rank prince. No text yet seen calls Belshazzar šarru (king).
- 'Nebuchadnezzar his father' (Dan 5:2, 11, 18): the cylinder calls Belshazzar the son of Nabonidus. Barton (1916, p. 382) notes that Nabonidus was not of Nebuchadnezzar's line. Some take 'father' as 'ancestor' or 'predecessor', or propose descent through his mother; no cuneiform text seen here documents Belshazzar's mother.
Sources
- CDLI artifact records RINBE 2, Nabonidus 32, ex. 01-04 (P393977, P393978, P393979, P386348) = BM 91125, 91126, 91127, 91128 link museum record
- F. Weiershäuser and J. Novotny, The Royal Inscriptions of Amel-Marduk (561-560 BC), Neriglissar (559-556 BC), and Nabonidus (555-539 BC), Kings of Babylon (RINBE 2; University Park: Eisenbrauns/Penn State UP, 2020), DOI 10.1515/9781646021178 link editio princeps
- G. A. Barton, Archaeology and the Bible (Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, 1916), p. 44 (Taylor at Mugheir) and Part II ch. XVIII pp. 382-384 link translation
- British Museum collection object W_K-1692 (cylinder of Nabonidus) link museum record
Corrected from the earlier edition of this page
- Claims that there is a single 'Nabonidus Cylinder': there are four exemplars of the same text, BM 91125-91128.
- Claims that the cylinder calls Belshazzar 'king' or 'co-regent': it calls him 'the eldest son, offspring of my heart'. Co-regency is an inference from the Chronicle and from joint oaths.
- Claims that Belshazzar was 'unknown outside Daniel until 1854' should be qualified. The Ur cylinders were the first cuneiform attestation read; the Chronicle and Erech contracts followed.
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