It is believed by some scholars to have been written in the late 2nd century BC and accounted apocryphal by Protestants. The chapter is formed of three independent narratives, which place the culture-hero Daniel at the court of Cyrus, king of the Persians: "When King Astyages was laid to rest with his ancestors, Cyrus the Persian succeeded to his kingdom." There Daniel "was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of all his Friends" (14:1).