Belshazzar’s Blasphemous Party (539 BCE)
Rarely is a party so good, it can literally be called “of Biblical proportions.” But Belshazzar, at the end of his Babylonian reign, threw a massive feast, one that made it into Judeo-Christian sacred texts. He invited 1,000 guests to dine and drink. When the party was really rolling along, he called for the gold and silver goblets and bowls plundered from the Jewish temple to be brought in. These were sacred items, used for Hebrew sacraments. Belshazzar showed them off as the spoils of Jerusalem’s defeat and razing Solomon’s Temple. After making sure his guests were duly impressed, he poured barley beer in the goblets, and offered the beverage to his guests to show off his victory. Unfortunately for Belshazzar, he would never wake up from his beer buzz. Persian invaders conquered Belshazzar’s kingdom that very night. Belshazzar was assassinated in his sleep.