OMAR seems to have stayed in the city only about ten days, during which he must have given his instructions for the erection of the Mosque on the site of the Temple. This Mosque, therefore, stands as the sign and the symbol of the treading down of Jerusalem, and while it remains, those times of treading down cannot be considered as fulfilled. How steady was Israel’s decadence from Nebuchadnezzar to OMAR! Nothing would exceed that darkest moment in Israel’s history, when Israel was well nigh obliterated in the mighty struggles of her enemies who fought over her inheritance. Thus OMAR becomes the great central point of the 2,520 years, whether reckoned as _Lunar_, _Zodiacal_, or _Solar_, dividing them equally into two portions of 1,260 years.(81) Having thus fixed the central date, which already points forward to the end, let us go back and find the starting point, that we may the better understand the end. When Daniel was explaining to Nebuchadnezzar his mysterious dream, he said, “Thou art this head of gold”! (Dan. ii. 38). This moment is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to mark the commencement of the Babylonian kingdom—the first of these four great Gentile powers. But Daniel spoke of what ALREADY existed, and was _explaining the then_ condition of things. He said, “God _hath_ given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” (Dan. ii. 37). The kingdom of Babylon had already been in existence for more than thirty years, for its king had destroyed Jerusalem and burnt the Temple with fire, and brought away many captives, amongst whom was Daniel and his companions. The opening words of the book make this very clear. The monumental history of Babylon, as now dug up, shows that before this it had been sometimes tributary to, and sometimes almost independent of, Assyria. In A.M. 3352, after a severe struggle with Assurbanipal, the Assyrian king, Babylon was once more subdued, and its king setting fire to his palace perished in the flames. After that there was peace for twenty‐ two years, during which time Kandalanu governed Babylon in succession to Sumas‐sum‐ukin, a son of Assurbanipal. In A.M. 3375 (_i.e._ B.C. 627),(82) another revolt broke out, and the Assyrian king sent a general of great ability to quell it. His name was Nabu‐pal‐user (which means _Nebo protects his son_). He put down the rebellion with so much skill that Assurbanipal made him governor of Babylon. He shortly afterwards, in A.M. 3376, himself rebelled, and made himself King of Babylon. Associating with him his son Nebuchadnezzar, they commenced a campaign against Assurbanipal, which ended in the fall of Nineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria. The kingdom of Babylon, thus commencing in B.C. 625,(83) became the first great Gentile kingdom as foretold in Daniel. There is practically no question, now, as to this date.