In the room where the royal family was shot, investigators discovered an inscription: "Balthasar was killed by his servants that night." This fragment of wallpaper was taken to France by investigator Sokolov. These words are the last lines of Heine's poem "Balthasar." But who is Balthasar?

In 586 BC, after yet another uprising in Judea, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon's Temple. The Babylonians took many captives, and the great captivity of the Jews began, lasting nearly 70 years.

According to the Old Testament, the prophecies of biblical prophets frightened Babylonian monarchs and their advisors. In anticipation of the prophecy's fulfillment, the kings avoided showing disrespect to the God of the Jews, fearing His wrath. They lived in fear but hoped that the destruction of the Temple meant the end of His power.

Nebuchadnezzar ruled for 45 years, after which his son Evil-Merodach ascended the throne, ruling for 23 years. His successor Balthasar, in the third year of his reign, anxiously awaited the end of the seventieth year. When, as he thought, the time had expired, Balthasar rejoiced, believing that Babylon had survived the fateful moment and that Jerusalem had not been restored. In a sign of contempt for God, he held a feast that became a symbol of unrestrained revelry. Balthasar dared to do what even his grandfather did not: he took the vessels of the Temple from the treasury for his celebration. However, he miscalculated.

During the feast, a mysterious inscription appeared on the wall: "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." The prophet Daniel interpreted it as follows: "Mene," God has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end; "Tekel," you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; "Peres," your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.