This means that two elements of the Verse Account are corroborated: the madness of Nabonidus and his monotheistic attitude.

Since the authors of Daniel consistently avoid mentioning Nabonidus, it is likely that one of them is responsible for the change of names. Moreover, several details return in the Prayer, where Nabonidus is the sad hero: the period of seven years, the isolation, the ultimate recognition of the power of the supreme God. The original story must have centered on another royal patient: Nabonidus, about whom rumors like this did circulate (see the Verse Account).

From cuneiform texts, nothing is known about Nebuchadnezzar's mental health. According to Daniel, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar suffers from a mental illness, and lives isolated for seven years, until he acknowledges the power of the one God. However, chapter four contains a bit of information that is corroborated by a text known as the Prayer of Nabonidus. Too many elements are too incredible (e.g., about every personal name is wrong). The resulting text cannot be taken as history. Probably, no less than four authors have contributed to the text. Nabonidus' crown prince Bêlsharusur) took place in the second century BCE, but the text contains many older elements. The final redaction of the biblical book of Daniel (called after a Jewish sage at the court of Belshazzar, i.e. A remarkable aspect of the capture of Babylon is the fact that Cyrus allowed the Jews (who were exiled in Babylonia) to return home.

The Achaemenid empire was to last for more than two centuries, until it was divided by the successors of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. Since he was already lord of peripheral regions in modern Turkey and Iran (and Afghanistan?), it is not exaggerated to say that the conquest of Babylonia meant the birth of a true world empire. The subject provinces soon recognized Cyrus as their legitimate ruler. In a broader sense, Babylon was the ancient world's capital of scholarship and science. In October 539 BCE, the Persian king Cyrus took Babylon, the ancient capital of an oriental empire covering modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

Book of daniel timeline by verse