The Four Kingdoms of Daniel in the Early Mediaeval Apocalyptic Tradition

Abstract

The four kingdom schema is a historiographic framework that divides the last phase of human history into four periods, each period ruled in turn by a dominant power or world-empire. Although it originated in classical antiquity,1 the schema received its enduring formulation in chapters 2 and 7 of the biblical book of Daniel, where it acquired an apocalyptic valence.2 There the schema is presented in the form of heavenly revelation,3 which gave it a predetermined dimension.4 Both chapters expect the fourth kingdom to be overthrown by the eschatological kingdom of God, thus terminating the sequence.5 The four kingdoms are never named but instead are identified symbolically.6 In chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a giant statue that is composed