All interpreters agree that the empires or world powers denoted by the various parts of the great image in Dan. 2:31–45 and by the four beasts from the sea (Dan. 7) are the same.
Understanding the Revelation of Daniel the Prophet
How Does Archaeology Confirm the Role of Belshazzar of Babylon?
Just as it is true of Bible critics today, for many years of the 19th-century Bible critics claimed that King Belshazzar, who is named in the book of Daniel, never existed. (Dan. 5:1) It was the common practice then as it is now, even though there have been thousands of archaeological finds that support the Bible, if archaeologists have not found evidence, then a place never existed, or a person never existed. However, that came to an end in 1854 in the case of Belshazzar. Why?