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Chapter 5: Nabuchodonosor died in 563.Then came his son, Evil
Merodach (Man of Marduk). He was assassinated by his brother-in-
law General Neriglassdar who had served under Nabuchodonosor when
Jerusalem was destroyed. Neriglissar was followed by his son
Labashi-Marduk who was murdered nine months later, in 556. The
leader of the revolt was Nabonidus (Nabunaid).

An objection used to be made about chapter 5: Baltassar is
presented as the last king of Babylon before its fall. But we now
know that know that Nabonidus in the third year of his reign, 553,
made his son Baltassar coregent, and he himself left for Teima in
Arabia, where he stayed for about ten years, and never reassumed
the throne. So people in Babylon would commonly speak of him as
king. We are not sure why he stayed so long -- perhaps better
climate for his health, or perhaps religious reasons.

In 539 Baltassar was holding a great banquet, and in pride and
wine he ordered the sacred vessels taken by Nabuchodonosor from
the Jerusalem Temple to be brought, and he and his guests drank
from them. .

Babylon was considered impregnable. It was about 1 1/2 sq. miles.
It once had a double wall, but Nabuchodonosor built beyond it
another and more extensive wall. There were 8 gates. and 53
temples, the largest being that of Marduk which seems to have been
the biblical tower of Babel. The king received his royalty each
year at he New Year festival when he "took the hand of Marduk".

At the end of this chapter 5, the text of Daniel says; in came
Darius the Mede. But the Babylonian account says Cyrus, not
Darius, took the city. Josephus helps us here. In his
<Antiquities> 10.4. 259 he says. that it was Darius the Mede, 62
yrs. old, who made the actual conquest, while Cyrus, his kinsman,
was fighting elsewhere. Then a bit later Cyrus took over. Darius,
knowing the reputation of Daniel took him with him into Media and
made him one president over one of the 360 provinces he ruled. It
was after this that other courtiers, envious of Daniel, laid a
trap for him, as we read in Josephus 5.250 as a result of which
Daniel was put into the den of lions. Daniel 5.30 says that that
very night when the city was taken, Baltassar was slain. -- St.
Jerome in his Commentary on Daniel 9.24-27 has no hesitation in
saying that Darius the Mede actually took Babylon. Jerome is
relying there on Jewish traditions.

A hand appeared writing on the wall: Mene, Mene, Tecel, Phares
.The wise men could not interpret it, but Daniel did: God has
numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;
Tekeln: You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting;
Peres: your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and
Persians.