So now we peer into ancient Babylon through the telescope of archeology and we see a quaint situation. Nabonidus, the kind and able monarch, fascinated with the study of antiquities, has left the active control of the kingdom to his son and heir, Belshazzar. The prince regent, however, was not able to stand prosperity. He seems to have degenerated into a drunken profligate who spent all of his time in the dubious pleasures of sin. The administration of the kingdom fell on evil days during the brief span of time that Belshazzar was in authority. As nearly as we can build an accurate and credible chronology from the now available records of Babylon, Belshazzar became regent in 541 B. C., and in the year 538 B. C. the Babylonian dynasty disappeared. In those three years great and marvelous events were being shaped in the womb of time. Cyrus, thereafter called the Great, had previously begun his phenomenal rise to power. Apparently he had been born a minor prince in an obscure tribe of the Medes, but was endowed with genius and brilliancy from his early youth. The picture that is now painted of Cyrus, as we see him in the treasured records, depicts this fascinating personality engaged first of all in welding the scattered families of the Medes into a close, binding organization that made them a power. So rapid was his climb to dominion, there is no other explanation to account for the phenomenon than that of Isaiah, who in his forty-fifth chapter, states that the Lord God Almighty Himself had raised Cyrus to the position of world dominion. This prophecy we shall refer to later; but our present purpose is to show the conjunction of Cyrus with Belshazzar. We come to a period of time when the records are fragmentary, but it is evident now that Cyrus the Mede became naturalized as a Persian that he might occupy that throne and combine it with his own kingdom. When the youthful Cyrus had combined Media and Persia into one great dominion, a new world empire was born, although it was not immediately apparent. After a number of successful forays and campaigns that enlarged his possessions and strengthened his position until he felt himself to be well nigh invincible, the ambitious Cyrus turned his eyes toward Babylon. He realized that if he possessed Babylon, he would indeed be the master of the earth.