Belshazzar
Saw handwriting appear
Belshazzar was the last king of Babylon before its fall to the Persians in 539 BCE.
In the biblical Book of Daniel, he hosts a feast where a mysterious hand writes on the wall—"mene, mene, tekel, upharsin"—foretelling his kingdom's doom.
He is killed that night.
The name evokes impending judgment or heedless revelry before catastrophe: a Belshazzar's feast of excess before the crash.
Hebrew prophet's name
- BabylonAncient Mesopotamian capital
- handwritingManual letter formation
- wallVertical enclosing structure
- prophetDivinely inspired messenger
Chaldeans · captivity · exile · Hebrews · interpretation · judgment · sacrilege · blasphemy
Unavoidable grim fate
- fatePredetermined course of events
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- PersianOf or from Iran
Median · Cyrus · Darius · ruin · destruction · demise · hubris · arrogance
Sign of future calamity
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- forewarningNotice of future trouble
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
premonition · foreboding · sign · warning · lampstand · plaster · inscription
Formal celebratory meal
- gobletsStemmed drinking vessels
- revelryNoisy, lively celebration
- wineFermented grape beverage
- concubinesNon-wife sexual partners kept
opulence · carousing · profanation · desecration · drunkenness · debauchery · extravagance · indulgence
Interim throne holder
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- BabylonianOf ancient Mesopotamian empire
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- successionFollowing in order
Daniel
Hebrew prophet's name
- BabylonAncient Mesopotamian capital
- handwritingManual letter formation
- wallVertical enclosing structure
prophet · Chaldeans · captivity · exile · Hebrews · interpretation · judgment · sacrilege · blasphemy · idolatry
doom
Unavoidable grim fate
- fatePredetermined course of events
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
Persian · Median · Cyrus · Darius · ruin · destruction · demise · hubris · arrogance · sacrilege
portent
Sign of future calamity
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- forewarningNotice of future trouble
- interpretationAssigned meaning
harbinger · premonition · foreboding · sign · warning · lampstand · plaster · inscription
banquet
Formal celebratory meal
concubines · opulence · carousing · profanation · desecration · drunkenness · debauchery · extravagance · indulgence · intemperance
regent
Interim throne holder
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- BabylonianOf ancient Mesopotamian empire
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
succession · reign · royal · court · palace
- Ancient RulersGenghis Khan, Hammurabi, Cyrus the Great, Ramesses II, Ramesses
- Biblical RulersKing David, King Solomon, King Saul, Herod, Queen Esther
- Exile BooksDaniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Book of Daniel, Babylonian exile
- Mesopotamian FiguresGilgamesh, Hammurabi, Sargon, Marduk, Ishtar
- OratoriosMessiah, Elijah, The Creation, Samson, Solomon
- MesopotamiaBabylon, Sumer, Tigris, Mesopotamia, Euphrates
BelshazzarCyrus the Great
First Achaemenid emperor
conqueror · victor · Alexander the Great · Genghis Khan · Nebuchadnezzar
BelshazzarCyrus the Great
First Achaemenid emperor
Romulus · founder · empire builder · Nebuchadnezzar · Augustus