Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

Last time, I left off with Cyrus the Great quietly regarding Babylon and its empire.

He had good reasons to be worried about Babylon. It had enormous power. It possessed vast wealth. It had one of the best armies anywhere. And it controlled Mesopotamia, which was the economic and cultural center of the world at the time. In American terms, think of it as California or Texas, producing energy, technology, food, and media all at the same time.

A Babylon as an enemy was to be feared. A Babylon as a prize was to be coveted.

Belshazzar's Feast,” by the English artist John Martin (1789 –1854).

About the image: This is “Belshazzar's Feast,” by the English artist John Martin (1789 –1854). Here we have Belshazzar confronted by the mysterious words on the and wall and contemplating his own fall. Martin was a romantic painter who is noted for his vast scenes with tiny human figures clearly overwhelmed by the universe. This painting is in the Yale Center for British Art. It is believed to be in the Public Domain. You can see it on Wikimedia here: Page URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Martin_-_Belshazzar%27s_Feast_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Fortunately for Cyrus, Babylon and its empire were in trouble. After long years of wise management, its ruling family had been overthrown in a bloody putsch by powerful courtiers. This began a long, chaotic period of coups and counter-coups, kings and anti-kings, and finally came to a head in the form of King Nabonidus (who ruled from 556 BC to 539 BC) and his son Belshazzar. There is some speculation that he didn’t want the job and that he was put into power unwillingly by his son.(1)

Whatever...Nabonidus and Babylon were not a match made in heaven. It’s hard to tell from a distance of nearly 2500 years, but it seems he was eccentric to say the least. Maybe even a bit mentally disturbed. First, he alienated local religious authorities by elevating the moon god, Sin, over Marduk, who was the city’s patron god. Second, he left the capital and, for many years, ruled his empire from Tema, a small town in the Arabian desert. In his absence Belshazzar was supposed to be in charge, but it seems he didn’t have quite enough authority to really do his job.

And, finally, it *may* be (kind of unclear) that Nabonidus neglected the festival of Akitu, which celebrated a victory of the god Marduk over chaos, as well as marking the New Year.(2) This was more serious than it sounds since Akitu included a ritual humiliation of the King that was meant to keep him humble (sort of like “Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal”). That Nabonidus didn’t partake in the ceremony was unsettling to people.

Long story short, by 539 BC, the city was seething. War (with Persia) was clearly on the horizon, but Nabonidus didn’t seem to be the man to fight it. Local authorities and elites were afraid and angry. The religious establishment was alienated. And, oh yes, there is some evidence that there was, or had been recently, a famine in the area...meaning people were hungry.

And some of this story is reflected in, of course, the Bible, specifically in the Book of Daniel, chapter 5. You’ll recall that in it, Belshazzar throws a party (Belshazzar’s feast) for his friends and the Babylonian elite. To show his importance, he has the captured silver and gold vessels from the First Temple brought to the table. Then he and his guests drink from them.

At that point, a mysterious hand appears and writes “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” on the wall. Daniel, the Jewish sage, is brought in to interpret, and he explains that the words mean, “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”(3)

Scholars have decided that this story is mostly a literary invention and not an account of actual events. But, the “handwriting on the wall” does say much about what was happening in the city at the time, and the deep dissatisfactions of its citizens.

Thus, when Cyrus invades in 539 BC, there are a few moments of sharp fighting, but... by the time he gets to Babylon, the people basically throw open the front door, fix him a drink, and ask “What kept you?” Not to put too fine a point on it, he is welcomed as a hero, a paragon of virtue, a champion of Old Time Religion (i.e., Marduk) and...and...he’s the guy is going to give the city stable, peaceful, and predictable governance after Nabonidus’s serious weirdness. There is a lot to be said for that.

Besides which...well...

You wanna guess who was in the front row of the cheering squad when Cyrus rolled into town? You wanna? Go ahead. Guess.

Yep. It was the aristocrats, priests, scribes, intellectuals, former land-owners, artisans, merchants, and members of the royal court who’d all be taken from Jerusalem.

And, very soon, Cyrus would give them reason to flat-out love him.

More to come.

Footnotes:

1. Nabonidus, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabonidus and Belshazzar, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar

2. It is still celebrated today by some Syrian peoples. See Akitu Festival, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akitu

3. I’m told that the “handwriting on the wall” comes from Aramaic weight measures:

a. Mene – a mina, a large unit of weight

b. Tekel – a shekel, a smaller unit

c. Peres – half a mina, and a pun on “Peres” = Persia

Daniel interprets these as follows:

a. Counted (The days of your kingdom are numbered.)

b. Weighed (have been weighed on the scales, and found wanting.)

c. Divided (your kingdom will be divided by Medes and Persians)

Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker

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