0100,0100,0100Century Schoolbook Reprise SI meant to send this to the Forum, but instead sent it only to Mr. Kravitz. Raymond ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Century Schoolbook Reprise SSiFrom: 0000,0000,8000Self < To: 0000,0000,8000Skravitz@aol.com Subject: 0000,0000,8000Re: Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar Send reply to: 0000,0000,8000maconr@rmii.com Date sent: 0000,0000,8000Sun, 14 Mar 1999 20:42:42 -7.00 From: Skravitz@aol.com Date sent: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:48:31 EST To: jvf@math.technion.ac.il Subject: Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar Send reply to: Jules Verne Forum < FF00,0000,0000> A short while ago we had a discussion about Verne's choices in the names > of his characters. In "The Mysterious Island" we have Cyrus and Neb. Cyrus > is the Latinized form of the names of two Persian rulers, Cyrus the Great > (~600 BC) and Cyrus the Younger (~424 BC). Nebuchadnezzar (~600 BC), was > King of Babylon. ["He was called Nebuchadnezzar which was abbreviated to > the familiar Neb." Part I, Chapter 2] Cyrus the Great did battle with > Nebuchadnezzar and defeated him. 0000,0000,0000Hello All, I thought I'd make a correction to the above. Cyrus the Great did indeed conquer Babylon in 539 BCE. However, by that time Nebuchadnezzar was long dead. The ruler(s) in Babylon on the night of the Persian conquest were Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar. Belshazzar was the #2 man in the Babylonian Empire when the city was captured on the night of 5 October 539 BCE. It was on that same night that the aged prophet Daniel interpreted the "handwriting on the wall" that foretold Babylon's doom, and it was for this reason that Belshazzar offered Daniel the "third position" in the kingdom. --Daniel 5:1-30 Nebuchadnezzar ruled from 624-582 BCE. Raymond