Among the names of ancient characters that have been preserved in the Bible, though

lost for centuries to history, is the name of Belshazzar. So completely unique was the

testimony of Scripture, that the critics of the Word concluded that Belshazzar was a myth.

Yet the fact that the simpliest peasant who read his Bible had information which went

beyond the knowledge of the Universities, or of Archeology.

There is a heap of ruins in Chaldea, on the west bank of the Euphrates, called locally

Mugeyer, or Mukeyyer, which means, "The city of asphalt," because the bricks were

covered with asphalt, the "slime" of Genesis 11: The remains of the city reveal that it was

a city of wealth, learning, science, and luxury. Cylinders discovered in the ruins tell us

that this is Ur of the Chaldees, the city of Abraham. Abraham became a wanderer and

tent dweller by faith, not from inclination. He left a city and its many advantages for a

pilgrim's journeyings, but Scripture tells us that he had outweighed the claims of Ur.

Abraham had his Phil. 3: Ur was devoted to the worship of the moon-god, and Mr.

Taylor, Vice-Consul of Busrah, discovered four cylinders, one in each corner of the

temple. These were embedded in the brick work at a depth of six feet from the surface.

Their inscriptions give an account of the rebuilding of the temple by Nabonidus, and in

one of them (No. 91,125), occur these words:--

Here then is the historical Belshazzar, a real personage. Again the historical accuracy

of the Word is manifest, while confusion is brought to the critics by the excavators's

spade. So jealous were these ancient kings of possible rivals, that they did not name their

sons upon their inscriptions unless already sharing their throne. Canon Rawlinson could

find only two other instances of the sons of kings of Assyria and Babylonia being

mentioned on the inscriptions of their royal parents. When Belshazzar would offer

Daniel a reward for interpreting the handwriting on the wall, he said, "Thou shalt be third

ruler in the kingdom." Why "third"? We know now. Belshazzar, who shared the throne

with Nabonidus his father, was second ruler, and hence he could offer nothing higher to

Daniel. The tragic end of Belshazzar, and with him of the first kingdom of Gentile

dominion, foreshadows the greater blasphemer and his end spoken of both by Daniel and

John in the Revelation.

May these occasional sidelights, as they make Scripture characters more real and

tangible, impress us with the absolute veracity, authority and sufficiency of the Word of

the living God. We need no "proofs," but these sidelights are of service.