Belshazzar

Belshazzar (about 500 BC), the last ruler of the Second Babylonian Empire.

The legend of his end is told in the Bible (Daniel 5). During a feast, Belshazzar saw some writing on the wall. The words were: Mane (meaning number), Thecel (weigh) and Phares (part).

He asked the Jewish slave, Daniel, what these words meant. Daniel told him, 'God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. You are weighed in the balance and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided (i.e. parted) and given to the Medes and Persians.'

Belshazzar was murdered, and Cyrus, King of the Persians, captured Babylon.