The Writing on the Wall
King Belshazzar is hosting a party. He gives orders to bring in the gold goblets that his father took from the temple in Jerusalem and everyone drinks wine from them. A human hand appears and writes on the wall, but he does not understand it. None of his magicians or astrologers understand it. The Queen remembers Daniel and how he had served Nebuchadnezzar. She tells Belshazzar to call for him. Daniel interprets the words as “mene mene tekel parsin”. The meaning is that Belshazzar has been weighed in the scales and found lacking. His kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. That night, Belshazzar is killed and Darius, the Mede takes over the kingdom.