"The Writing is On the Wall" --Origins of the Phrase

Remember the story in Daniel of King Belshazzar dining at a magnificent feast to celebrate his successful looting of the Temple at Jerusalem? While dining, a disembodied hand begins to write mysterious characters on the wall. The king finds that only the prophet Daniel can interpret the signs: the king will die for his act of sacrilege. This story explains the origins of a phrase we still use today: "the writing is on the wall."