Daniel's 70 weeks (2) Nabonidus was Nebuchadnezzar proven by lunar eclipse in Nabonidus' 2nd year reign

Can the Neo-Babylonian Chronology be Lowered? By Carl Olof Jonsson pg. 6:  ... a lunar eclipse ... took place in the second year of Nabonidus, the last king in the Neo-Babylonian period. The eclipse, which is mentioned in a cylinder inscription, is stated to have been observed in the morning of Ululu 13 and to have “set while eclipsed‟. It is not explained whether it was total or not. 

Ululu 13 in Nabonidus’ 2nd year corresponded to September 26, 554 BC in the conventional chronology and the most exact modern calculations confirm that in the morning of that day there was indeed a lunar eclipse that “set while eclipsed‟.

The heart of Ancient Babylon is located at 32.5 degrees north and 44.4 degrees east. Using Stellarium and setting the Algorithm of delta T to JPL Horizons, the date to September 26, 554 BC (or -553 in astronomical year numbering) at 2:53:57 UTC, and the location at Ancient Babylon, one can see the center of the Moon setting in the horizon with an umbral eclipse magnitude of 14.9%. 

While this partial lunar eclipse was observed in Ancient Babylon, there was another lunar eclipse during Moonset with a 72.9% umbral eclipse magnitude that happened on August 15, 561 BC, or about seven years earlier. It was also observed in Ancient Babylon.

Using Stellarium and setting the Algorithm of delta T to Chapront-Touze & Chapront (1991), the date to August 15, 561 BC (or -560 in astronomical year numbering) at 2:19:36 UTC, and the location at Ancient Babylon, we can see that during this lunar eclipse, the center of the Moon was exactly at the horizon while having a 72.9% umbral eclipse magnitude. This I believe was the correct lunar eclipse observed in Babylon that “set while eclipsed” during the reign of Nabonidus. 

The Reign of Nabonidus King of Babylon 556-539 BC, pg 127 last paragraph by Paul-Alain Beaulieu: It is known from the Royal Chronicle that the eclipse must have taken place in the second year of Nabonidus or slightly before…

If the lunar eclipse indeed took place on August 15, 561 BC during the early part of Nabonidus’ second year, then the first year of Nabonidus must have been in 562 BC instead of 556 BC, or six years earlier than the historically recognized date. 

Now the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II is believed to have ended in 562 BC. This means Nabonidus was the immediate successor of Nebuchadnezzar II. And I actually believe Nabonidus was the assumed name of Nebuchadnezzar II after he was afflicted by a seven years mental illness in fulfillment of a prophecy made by Daniel about him.

Daniel 4: 24-26 This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times [or years] will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. 

The three Babylonian kings listed between Nebuchadnezzar II and Nabonidus, namely, Amel-Marduk, Neriglissar, and Labashi-Marduk, were the kings that ruled Babylon during the seven years mental illness of Nebuchadnezzar when he assumed the name Nabonidus and while Nabonidus was king in exile. In other words, the first seven years of Nabonidus coincided with the reigns of Amel-Marduk, Neriglissar, and Labashi-Marduk, and did not come after their reigns.  It is not a coincidence either that if we sum the years these three Babylonian kings reigned, the total is about seven years.

Amel-Marduk is believed to have ruled from October 562 upto August 560 BC and Neriglissar from August 560 upto April 556 BC. And while historians give Labashi-Marduk's reign as lasting from April upto June 556 BC only, Berossus gives Labashi-Marduk's reign as nine months instead, presumably until January 555 BC. 

I believe Nabonidus' mental illness lasted from January 562 BC until January 555 BC, or exactly seven years. And it was only until October 562 BC that the Babylonians decided to recognize regents in his place starting with Amel-Marduk and ending with Labashi-Marduk in January 555 BC. 

Amel-Marduk was the successor of his father, Nebuchadnezzar II although he was not Nebuchadnezzar's oldest son. Evidence of altercations between Nebuchadnezzar and Amel-Marduk makes his selection as heir seem improbable. Considering the available evidence, it is possible that Nebuchadnezzar saw Amel-Marduk as an unworthy heir and sought to replace him with another son. Why Amel-Marduk nevertheless became king is not clear to historians.  Regardless, Amel-Marduk's administrative duties began before he became king, during the last few months of his father's reign, when Nebuchadnezzar was ill and dying.

If one considers Nebuchadnezzar becoming mentally ill as early as January 562 BC, one can see why Amel-Marduk became the successor against his father’s will, and why his administrative duties began while Nebuchadnezzar was still alive and about nine months before Amel-Marduk  became recognized as king. And I believe that to legitimize his claim to the throne, he made it look like Nebuchadnezzar died by forcing Nebuchadnezzar to assume a new identity as Nabonidus.

Daniel on Nebuchadnezzar’s madness by Livius.org: [Daniel] chapter four contains a bit of information that is corroborated by a text known as the Prayer of Nabonidus. According to Daniel, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar suffers from a mental illness, and lives isolated for seven years, until he acknowledges the power of the one God. From cuneiform texts, nothing is known about Nebuchadnezzar's mental health. The original story must have centered on another royal patient: Nabonidus, about whom rumors like this did circulate …

Prayer of Nabonidus by Livius.org: The following Aramaic text belongs to the famous Dead Sea Scrolls: The story is similar to Daniel's account of a king of Babylon who is ill, lives isolated for seven years, and becomes convinced of the truth of the monotheistic creed. The difference is that in Daniel, the subject is Nebuchadnezzar, not Nabonidus.

[1] Words of the prayer, said by Nabonidus, king of Babylonia, [the great] king, [when afflicted] 

[2] with an ulcer on command of the most high God in Tayma:

["I, Nabonidus,] was afflicted 

[3] for seven years, and far from [men] I [was driven, until I prayed to the most high God.] And 

[4] an exorcist pardoned my sins. He was a Jew from [among the children of the exile of Judah” ...]

Wikipedia, Belshazzar, Portrayal in the Book of Daniel: Belshazzar is portrayed as the king of Babylon and "son" of Nebuchadnezzar, though he was actually the son of Nabonidus.

Note that both the Bible and the Prayer of Nabonidus did not say that his mental illness of having the “mind [or behavior] of an animal” deprived him of his capacity to rule as king or to conduct military campaigns (see Daniel 4:16),  only that he had most likely an infectious skin ulcer. This necessitated his isolation from other people, and during his time the cure probably required limiting his diet to grass and having him remain naked. 

The confusions about the story of Nebuchadnezzar II as written in the Bible and a strikingly similar story of Nabonidus in Babylonian chronicles will make sense once it is accepted that Nebuchadnezzar II and Nabonidus were in fact one and the same person.