ARCHAEOLOGY: Daniel vindicated by the spade

And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations,

and dissolve doubts:

now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof,

thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck,

and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 5:16

Skeptics long criticized the book of Daniel because they claimed that there was no Babylonian king named Belshazzar and that they believed Daniel was written after the Greek conquest of Persia (because they could not believe Daniel could have predicted that).

But thanks to the spade.......
1854: The 4 clay cylinders, the Nabonidus Cylinders, claimed that king Nabonidus had an eldest son named Belshazzar.
1882: The Nabonidus Chronicle (from another ancient text) was published. It tells that king

Nabonidus was away in Tema (in Saudi Arabia today) and left Belshazzar as "crown prince" to run the affairs of the kingdom. So that would make Belshazzar the highest ranking official in Babylon when it fell. Eldest son of the king as acting regent while the father was off fighting in the Arabian peninsula.
1924: Persian account of Nabonidus, which claims he entrusted the rule to his firstborn (Belshazzar) while away fighting Persians in the Arabian sands to the south.
1990's: Discovery of cuneiform texts which indicate that both Nabonidus & Belshazzar took a royal oath.
*** Now notice, Belshazzar only offered Daniel the 3rd highest position in the kingdom. WHY? Because we now know that Belshazzar was acting king while his father, the real king, was away. Hence, 3rd would be the highest position in the kingdom Belshazzar could offer.

The Bible once again vindicated by the spade....

For a taste of music in Babylon during the days of Daniel, of what he might have had to endure listening to, click on the Link....
http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2014/12/in-news-ancient-babylonian-songs.html