Nabonidus Cylinder

Background

Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (the Chaldean dynasty), reigning from 556 to 539 BC. He is known for his particular devotion to the moon god Sin, and he rebuilt ancient temples in several cities. When Mesopotamian kings restored a temple, they buried clay cylinders recording the history of the construction, along with prayers, in the building's foundations or corners. The term "Nabonidus Cylinder" refers to the building inscriptions of this kind left by Nabonidus. Several cylinders are known from different find sites, but the one most often mentioned in connection with the Bible is the cylinder from Ur. Babylon, over which Nabonidus ruled, fell to Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC.

Discovery and Contents

In 1854 the British consul J. E. Taylor discovered the cylinders at the corners of the ziggurat (a stepped temple tower) at Ur. They are inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform (a script composed of wedge-shaped strokes), the official script of Babylon at the time. Some are reportedly held in the British Museum.

The text first recounts the history of the ziggurat: it was begun by Ur-Nammu, an ancient king of Ur, and completed by his son Shulgi, but it fell into ruin over the centuries until Nabonidus rebuilt it. The cylinder concludes with a prayer to the moon god. In this prayer Nabonidus asks to be kept from sin and also asks that reverence for the god be placed in the heart of his eldest son, "Bel-shar-usur." This name corresponds to Belshazzar in the Book of Daniel.

There is also a Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar, a city north of Babylon. It records the restoration of temples in Harran and Sippar and mentions Cyrus's defeat of the Median king.

Influence

Before the discovery of the Ur cylinder, the name Belshazzar was not attested outside the Book of Daniel (Daniel 5, 7, and 8). Ancient historians such as Herodotus and Berossus named only Nabonidus as the last king of Babylon. For this reason some scholars regarded Belshazzar as a fictional figure.

The cylinder showed that Belshazzar actually existed as the eldest son of Nabonidus. Other documents deciphered later, such as the Nabonidus Chronicle and the Verse Account of Nabonidus, have been studied alongside it. According to these documents, Nabonidus resided at Tayma in Arabia for about ten years, during which the prince is understood to have governed in Babylon. In Korean church sermons and Bible study materials, the cylinder is also commonly presented as a classic example of biblical archaeology.

Assessment

Conservative and evangelical scholars regard the cylinder as supporting the historicity of the Book of Daniel. They explain that the Book of Daniel calls Belshazzar "king" because he actually exercised rule while his father was absent. They also interpret the passage in which Belshazzar promises Daniel the position of "third ruler in the kingdom" (Daniel 5:7, 16, 29) as referring to the position next after his father and himself. This interpretation is frequently cited by proponents of biblical inerrancy.

Historical-critical scholars point out that there is no record of Belshazzar formally ascending the throne. They also note that the Book of Daniel calls Belshazzar the son of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:2, 11, 18). On the basis of these discrepancies, they conclude that the Book of Daniel was written at a later date. In response, conservatives argue that in ancient Semitic languages "father" and "son" could also refer to a predecessor or ancestor and to a successor. Some also interpret the expression "third ruler" as a title. ChurchWiki does not treat either position as the correct one.