The incredible story of the release of the Israelites by a Persian king, Cyrus, from their long exile in
This amazing tale of peace--resulting in the first charter of human rights--has much to say to today’s political climate and has been never been told as a narrative, I believe, because of confusion over the ancient Persian title for a king.
Nabonidus, King of Babylon in 539BC and father of Belshazzar, was not mentioned in the biblical account of
Some historians believed the book of Daniel to be flawed because there is no mention of Nabonidus as the father of Belshazzar. As we will see, a title is not always a title...
The very existence of King Belshazzar was also in doubt until archeological evidence was found only recently which showed Belshazzar as the same as Marduk-sar-uzar or Baal.[i] Many prominent historians support the view that the biblical word “father”—a common ancestral term used by Jesus on many occasions to refer to Abraham—reveals that Nebuchadnezzar, referred to as the “father” of Belshazzar in Daniel 5:2, 11, 13, 18, could well have been his grandfather.
There is much debate about the identity of Darius...
One theory is that “Darius” is an old Iranian title and that Gubaru, governor of
Darius 1, the king who reigned after Cyrus, according to the historical accounts, is taken to be of Persian origin (Kent 1953:138, cf. 116, 134) and his father's name is Hystaspes, whereas the father of Darius mentioned in Daniel 9:1 is Ahasuerus, indicating seemingly, they are two different people.[iii ] Darius the first, who came after this story was told, came to the throne under even stranger circumstances than King Belshazzar.
While King Belshazzar was sworn in as a puppet to mind Babylon while his father roamed around Mesopotamia collecting idols, Darius 1st became king because of a thundercrack and a horse's whinney...
D. Wiseman suggests that Darius the Mede (who came earlier than Darius 1st King of Persia) took the title “king”—used for the name of a vassal who exercised local autonomy—and was one and the same with Cyrus.
[iv] Cyrus, although the King of Persia, was also named “King of the Medes” after killing the Mede dictator, Astyages. Kings in the ancient near east had more than one title.[v] Names, as we have already seen, were often not what they seemed in ancient times.
Xenophon, the prominent Greek historian of the time, claime Cyrus was the son of a Median princess and heir to the Median throne.[vi]
If Cyrus were Darius, the Mede...this could match perfectly with the biblical story.
But It was Cyrus who was mentioned in Isaiah, so I have taken the name of Cyrus as the king and Darius as his governor.
The main archeological evidence on this persona is the famous Cyrus cylinder that proclaimed the first declaration of human rights when the Jews were liberated. It is clear from all accounts that both Darius and/or King Cyrus had a major part to play in the liberation of the Jews from
The Bedouin involvement in the story was envisaged after reading findings that show the Bedouin fought against Nabonidus during his desert exile.
Archeological discoveries also mean that history is forever changing.
AND
The Great Persian Empire--the first world empire--may never have been if it weren't for a lonely shepherd who wanted a son...
But that's another story...
[i] Belshazzar. WebBible.
<http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/belshazzar.html> cited 11 Mar. 2008.
[ii] D. J.Wiseman Some Historical Problems in the Book of Daniel in <http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/daniel_wiseman.pdf> cited 10 Mar. 2008.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Josephus, Antiq.Jud. X. 11.4.
[vi] Cyropaedia 8 v. 19.
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