Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>]

Lisbeth S. Fried wrote,


>There certainly was another king ruling in Babylon after the fall.
>It was not Cyrus or Darius.
>It was Cambyses, Cyrus' son.
>Cambyses participated in the first Akitu festival
>after the conquest.
>Cambyses was king of Babylon,
>Cyrus was king of lands.
>
>Darius received the title of King of Babylon when
>he took over the kingdom from Cambyses, or rather from
>Bardyia, Cambyses' brother.



Dear Liz,


Thank you for your post. It is correct that Darius took over the kingdom
from Cambyses, but this is Darius I, who probably is implied in Dan 11:2.
The three kings of Persia can be Cyrus, Kambyses, and Darius I. However, in
v 1 "Darius the Mede" is mentioned, and he was 62 years old when he
received the kingdom (6:1). So the question is whether *Darius the Mede* is
an historical figure.

In my first post to Ian I gave some information from memory based on an
article I read 15 years ago. I searched for this article and found it: W.H.
Shea,"Darius the Mede, an update", Andrews University Seminary Studies
(AUSS), Autum 1982, pp 229-247. (See also the same author, "An Unrecognized
Vassal King of Babylon in the Early Aechemenid period",AUSS Jan 1971,51-67,
July 1971, 99-128, Jan 1972, 88-117, July 1972,147-178) These articles
cointain a huge amount of original cuneiform data, and the conclusions
*seem* to be reliable. Shea  defends the view that Darius the Mede was a
historical person, so it would be interesting to know whether anyone has
criticized Shea's conclusions after he wrote his articles.

I will give some high points. There is good evidence to show that the
coregency of Cyrus and Cambyses occurred at the end of Cyrus' reign and not
at the beginning. During the last four months of Cyrus' accession year and
the first 10 months of his first year, the inscriptions show there was
another vassal ruler of Babel, and this probably was Gubaru, who was
mentioned in the Nabonid Chronicle. It is interesting that Cyrus is
referred to by the title "king of lands, king of Babel" a few days after
the death of Gubaru, but before that he was only "king of lands".

The following parallels can connect Gubaru with Darius the Mede:

(1) According to the Nabonidus Chronicle Gubaru led the Medo-Persian troops
that conquered Babylon (Dan 5:28).

(2) Gubaru installed governors in Babylon according to the Chronicle. (Dan
6:1.2)

(3) Because Gubaru died a year after the fall of Babel, he might have been
an old man (Dan 5:31)

(4) His death about a year after the conquest fits well with Dan 9:1,11:1,
"the first year of Darius".

(5) The reference of Cyrus (Dan 10:1) as "king of Persia" fits the titel
"king of lands" of the tablets. Darius is said to have ruled over the
"realm of the Chaldeans" which fits the title "king of Babel"

(6) Gubaru's position as vassal harmonizes with the statement that Darius
was "made king".



Regards
Rolf


Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo