In order that the battle storm
to Imgur-Bel
the wall of Babylon might
not reach;
what no king before me
had done."--_East India House Inscription._

Thus Nebuchadnezzar's records of stone today repeat the proud boast
faithfully reported in the Scripture, "Is not this great Babylon, that I
have built?" Dan. 4:30. To the king it seemed that such a city could
never fall. One inscription reads:

"Thus I completely made strong the defenses of Babylon. May it
last forever."--_Rawlinson, "Fourth Monarchy," Appendix A._


Medo-Persia

But the prophet Daniel, proceeding with the divine interpretation,
interrupted all such proud thoughts with the declaration, "After thee
shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee."

Now the look was forward into the future. And the word came to pass.
Babylon's decline was swift after Nebuchadnezzar's death. Daniel the
prophet himself lived to interpret the handwriting on the wall at
Belshazzar's feast:

"God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.... Thou art weighed in
the balances and art found wanting.... Thy kingdom is divided, and given
to the Medes and Persians." Dan. 5:26-28.