Babylon

"Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the
children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the
heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them
all. Thou art this head of gold."

[Illustration: THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

"Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Dan.
5:28.]

The parts of the image, then, of various metals, from head to feet,
represented successive empires, beginning with Babylon; and the kingdom
of Babylon, represented by Nebuchadnezzar, was the head of gold.

History shows how fitly the golden head symbolizes the Babylonian
kingdom. Long before, the prophet Isaiah had described it as "the glory
of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." Isa. 13:19. And
now, in Nebuchadnezzar's day, it was the golden age of the Babylonian
kingdom. No such gorgeous city as its capital ever before stood on
earth. And Nebuchadnezzar was the great leader of its conquests, and the
beautifier and builder of its walls and palaces. "For the astonishment
of men I have built this house," one tablet reads; and hundreds repeat
the story.

"Those portals
for the astonishment of multitudes of people
with beauty I adorned.