Kingdom era · 605–539 BC
Babylon — the head of gold
The one kingdom Heaven names out loud, so every metal, beast and horn after it can be read with confidence.
See it
A gleaming head crowning a statue; a lion with eagle's wings lifted up and given a man's heart. Both pictures say the same thing about the same city.
Why it is the anchor
“Thou art this head of gold” is the interpretive key of the whole book. One identification is fixed by the text itself, and the chain of empires proceeds from it in order.
How it ended
A single night, a hand writing on plaster, and a kingdom weighed and divided — the fall of Babylon becomes the pattern Revelation later reuses for a religious Babylon.
Read it for yourself
Every reference opens in the two-book reader with commentary, chain references and original-language notes.
Keep pulling the thread
Where this leads next
Kingdom era · 539–331 BC
Medo-Persia — the breast of silver
A two-sided empire: silver arms, a bear raised on one side, a ram with two horns — one horn higher than the other.
Revelation 17–18 · the older story returning
Mystery Babylon
Revelation names a religious system with an ancient city's name, and every detail sends the reader back into earlier Scripture.
Symbol key · Powers
Beast
A kingdom or political power