“Nebuchednezzar” of the Book of Daniel
by Damien F. Mackey The Book of Daniel is charged with all sorts of historical inaccuracies, a fault more likely of the perceived history rather than of the Book of Daniel itself. Admittedly, some of the things that the author of Daniel attributes to “King Nebuchednezzar” appear to be better suited to Nabonidus, the supposed last king of the Babylonian (Chaldean) empire. Yet there might be a good reason why this is the case. In very many ways, it seems, King Nabonidus reflects the “Nebuchednezzar” of the Book of Daniel. Introduction Reading once again Paul-Alain Beaulieu’s book, The Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, 556-539 B.C. (1989), I noticed various “Nebuchednezzar” characteristics in King Nabonidus. Not least was the fact that, Nabonidus had, like “Nebuchednezzar”, a son named “Belshazzar”. There was also a seeming tendency on Nabonidus’s part towards a kind of monotheism - revering S î n, the El of the