Iron Maiden Cryptically Welcomes Us to BELSHAZZARS FEAST on July 15, 2021 at 1pm EST

In chapter five of the biblical Book of Daniel, the Babylonian prince Belshazzar hosts an elaborate feast in the wake of the destruction of the First Temple, but the festivities are not long-lasted: A disembodied hand soon appears and begins to write on the wall. No one, not even Belshazzar’s wise men, can read the writing.

Daniel, a captive of King Nebuchadnezzar well known for his wisdom, is called to the scene. He deciphers the message written by the hand of God: Belshazzar’s days are numbered due to his blasphemy and his kingdom will subsequently be given over to the Medes – who were ancient Iranians – and the Persians. (This is believed to be the origin of the phrase “the writing on the wall,” which Iron Maiden have hinted at with their use of the acronym “W.O.T.W.”) The same evening, Belshazzar is killed and Darius the Mede becomes the new leader of Babylon.

There was also an image of the Belshazzar’s Feast poster that had a few news paper clippings that read “Maxwell Took from Pension.”

Robert Maxwell was born Jan Ludvik Hoch in modern day Ukraine (then part of Czechoslovakia) in 1923. He escaped to France during World War II and made his way to Britain, where he joined the British Army.

After buying the rights to distribute German academic papers, he took over a small academic publisher, which later became Pergamon Press. During the 1980s he aggressively expanded his business empire, with the result that, by the end of the decade, he owned a string of companies, including Macmillan Publishers, the Daily Mirror and New York Daily News.

What was the scam?

Having taken on large amounts of debt, and following the launch of a string of expensive failures, Maxwell was reduced to shunting money between his companies to give the impression they were profitable, repeatedly changing the dates on which they reported earnings, in order to fool auditors. When this wasn’t enough to keep his empire going, he looted money from the pension fund of the Mirror Group in an attempt to prop up its share price.

What happened next?

With his businesses on the brink of collapse, Maxwell was reported missing from his yacht on 5 November 1991. His body was later discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, an apparent suicide (officially considered an accidental drowning). His bankers called in their loans, and his looting of the pension fund was discovered. By 1992 his sons Kevin and Ian were forced to declare bankruptcy.

Ironically, the cover art of Maiden’s 1992 12″ single for Be Quick or Be Dead depicts what many have speculated was the likeness of Robert Maxwell being strangled by Eddie over a collage of newspaper clippings: