Handwriting on the wall

Handwriting on the wall, incident in the Old Testament (Book of Daniel). The Aramaic words mene, mene, tekel mysteriously appeared written on the wall and only the Babylonian ruler Belshazzar could see them. The Hebrew prophet Daniel interpreted them to mean that God intended to destroy Belshazzar and his kingdom, which fell to Cyrus of Persia that night. The phrase is now used to refer to any sign heralding disaster.