Mene

Mene (Aramaic mene, meaning numbered or who is counted) is the first word of the mysterious inscription written by a supernatural hand on the wall of Belshazzar's palace in Babylon during his great feast (Daniel 5:25): Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Daniel interpreted its meaning: Mene — God has numbered the days of Belshazzar's kingdom and finished it; Tekel — he has been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres (singular of Upharsin) — his kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. That very night Belshazzar was slain and the kingdom passed to Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:30–31).

The phrase "the writing on the wall" has entered Western idiom as a metaphor for unmistakable signs of coming judgment or doom. The episode illustrates the biblical theme that the sovereign God holds all human rulers accountable and sets their term of power according to his own purposes (Daniel 4:17; Romans 13:1).