Nineveh

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NINEVEH

Ancient city of Assyria and its capital under the last kings of the Assyrian Empire. Its position on the eastern bank of the Tigris (opposite modern Mosul) where this river is joined by the Khosar River made the site a natural fortress, for water from the latter stream, which ran through the center of the city, could be diverted to fill the moats on the north, east, and south sides of the city. The massive walls that were erected in the last period of the city's existence (seventh century b.c.) enclosed an irregular-shaped area of c. 1,800 acres; the wall on the north was c. 7,000 feet long, on the east c. 3 miles long, on the south c. 1,000 feet long, and on the west (along the Tigris) c. 2 1/2 miles long. Two large mounds on the western side now stand out over the ruins of the rest of the city: that of Nebi Yūnus (the Prophet Jonah), on which is the reputed tomb of Jonah, formerly a Nestorian shrine, but now Muslim, and that of Quyunjik (little lamb).

The site of Nineveh (Akkadian Ninua and Ninâ; Heb. nîn ^ewēh ) was occupied from at least 3800 b.c. until the time of its utter destruction by the Medes and Babylonians in 612 b.c. Although earlier Assyrian kings, who regularly resided at Assur (Asshur) or Calah (modern Khorsabad), had often used Nineveh as a secondary capital, it was only during the most glorious period of Assyrian history under the last three rulers of the Assyrian Empire—Sennacherib (705–682), Asarhaddon (681–670), and Assurbanipal (669–c. 633)—that Nineveh became the sole capital.

Although the native Arabic-speaking people still call this immense field of ruins Ninawa, as they have apparently done for centuries, the Western world, even in Greco-Roman times, did not know where the famous city lay. The site was first clearly identified and made known to the Western world by C. J. Rich in 1821. The sacred nature of the mound of Nebi Yūnus, which covers the palace of Sennacherib, has prevented extensive excavation from being made there; but the mound of Quyunjik, with its palaces of Asarhaddon and Assurbanipal, has been subjected to repeated excavations. The earlier excavations were merely treasure hunts, which were extremely successful in sensational finds of sculptures and inscriptions; it is only in the 20th century that the site has been scientifically excavated, with careful regard for the archeological strata and the pottery so useful for chronology. Almost all of the inscriptions (especially cuneiform tablets), as well as most of the sculptures found at Nineveh, are now in the British Museum. The excavations were made here by P. E. Botta (1842), A. H. Layard (1845–47, 1849–51), H. Rawlinson (1853–55), H. Rassam (1854 and 1877–83, when he discovered Assurbanipal's great library of cuneiform tablets), G. A. Smith (1873–74), E. A. Wallis Budge (1888–89), L. W. King (1902). R. Campbell Thomson (1927–28), and the latter with M. Mallowan (1929–32).

In the Bible, Nineveh is said to have been built by Nimrod (Gn 10.11). Sennacherib returned home there after his failure to capture Jerusalem (2 Kgs 19.36; Is 37.37). zephaniah foretold the destruction of Nineveh (Zep 2.12–15), and the whole Book of nahum is a vivid description of its capture by the Medes and Babylonians. Jonah is said to have preached to the people of Nineveh, "the great city" (Jon 1.2; 3.1–10; 4.11), and Jesus referred to their repentance as a model for the men of His own time (Mt 12.41; Lk 11.32). tobit is portrayed as living in this city with his fellow exiles (Tb 1.3; 7.3; 11.1;14.4, 15).

Bibliography: Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, tr. and adap. by l. hartman (New York 1963) 1644–45. m. rutten et al., Dictionnaire de la Bible,, suppl. ed. l. pirot, et al. (Paris 1928–) 6:480–506, r. c. thompson and r. w. hutchinson, A Century of Exploration at Nineveh (London 1929). a. parrot, Nineveh and the Old Testament, tr. b. e. hooke (Studies in Biblical Archaeology 3; New York 1955; London 1956). s. a. pallis, The Antiquity of Iraq (Copenhagen 1956).