Belshazzar
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Belshazzar. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
bel-shaz'zar, a Babylonian prince mentioned in the Book of Daniel, Chapter v. He died 538 B. C. According to the scriptural account, Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzar and the last of the Chaldean dynasty at Babylon. Ancient historians name Nabonidus as the last king, and do not mention Belshazzar as a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. The cuneiform inscriptions discovered at Babylon have made clear this discrepancy. Nabonidus, the last Chaldean king, fled from Babylon after the defeat of his forces and while the city was in a state of siege. He left his son Belshazzar, whom he had previously associated with himself on the throne, in charge of Babylon. The story told by Daniel is that Belshazzar made a great feast to a thousand of his lords. While they were merry with wine, the fingers of a man's hand appeared between the great lamp and the wall, and traced words of unknown meaning on the plaster. The king was so terrified by the apparition that he lost countenance and his knees smote together. He called for his astrologers, but none was able to explain the mystery until young Daniel, a Jewish captive, boldly interpreted the writing as a warning that the Babylonian kingdom was at an end. That same night Belshazzar was slain and the Medes took possession of his kingdom. The "handwriting on the wall" has been a favorite subject with both painters and poets. Byron has written two poems on Belshazzar and his vision. Belshazzar, by Proctor, pseudonym Barry Cornwall , is the best known poem on the subject.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the last of the Babylonian kings, who reigned conjointly with his father, Nabonadius. He perished 538 B. c., during the successful storming of Babylon by Cyrus. This event is recorded in the book of Daniel; but it is difficult to bring the particulars there given into harmony with the cuneiform inscriptions.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both entries date the fall of Babylon to 538 B.C.; modern chronology, fixed from the Nabonidus Chronicle and contemporary business tablets, puts Cyrus's capture of the city in October 539 B.C. The cuneiform vindication Aiton's cites in 1910 still holds — the Nabonidus cylinder from Ur names Bel-shar-usur as the king's eldest son, and other texts show him left in charge of Babylon while his father was at Teima — but nothing in the tablets calls him king, and no record says he was slain that night; Nabonidus himself returned and was taken alive. Collier's caution in 1921 that Daniel is "difficult to bring into harmony with the cuneiform inscriptions" has become the mainstream view, with most scholars now dating the book's composition to about 165 B.C., in the Maccabean crisis, rather than the sixth century. The identity of Daniel's "Darius the Mede" remains unresolved.
Written for this edition, 2026.