Nineveh

{nin'-uh-vuh}

Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria, lies on the left bank of the Tigris River opposite present-day Mosul, Iraq. Prehistoric occupation of the site dates back to at least the 6th millennium BC. Holding an important position on the main river crossing in the fertile northern Mesopotamian plain but only intermittently governed by local rulers, Nineveh was dominated in the 3d millennium BC by the Agade and Ur empires and in the 2d millennium by the Mitanni and Kassite empires.

With the rise of Assyrian power in the late 2d millennium, the city became a royal residence and was finally established as the capital by King Sennacherib (r. 704-681 BC), who replanned the city and built for himself a magnificent palace. Sacked (612 BC) by the Medes, Nineveh declined, although occupation of the site continued through the Seleucid and Parthian periods until medieval times.

Sennacherib's city wall, more than 12 km (7.5 mi) long, enclosed an area of about 700 ha (1730 acres); it was pierced by 15 great gates, five of which have been excavated. The northern Nergal Gate, with its original flanking bull colossuses, has been restored. Canals provided water to the city and to municipal gardens that were stocked with unusual plants and animals. Sections of an aqueduct built by Sennacherib still stand at Jerwan, 40 km (25 mi) away. The palaces of Sennacherib and his grandson Ashurbanipal stand at Kuyunjik, the citadel of the site. Their walls and doorways were lined with sculptured reliefs, many of which are now in the Louvre, Paris, and the British Museum, London (including Ashurbanipal's famous Lion Hunt reliefs, now in the British Museum). Sennacherib's palace comprised at least 80 rooms; the throne room suite, now partially restored, still contains some of its bas-reliefs depicting scenes of conquest. Archives of cuneiform tablets were found in both palaces, but the library of Ashurbanipal forms an unrivaled epigraphic source for current knowledge of Mesopotamian history. One of the greatest treasures of ancient Mesopotamia, it contains more than 20,000 tablets and fragments, many of which are copies of ancient Mesopotamian texts such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian Flood story; its subjects range from literature to religion, the sciences, and lexicography.

The E-mashmash temple, dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, also stood on Kuyunjik; its series of superimposed structures, dating back to the 3d millennium BC, were maintained by successive rulers of Assyria and survived until at least AD 200. The imperial arsenal, built by Sennacherib's successor Esarhaddon (r. 680-669 BC), stands largely unexcavated at Nebi Yunus, a mound on the city wall 1.6 km (1 mi) south of Kuyunjik. It is still covered by modern buildings, among them a mosque reputed to contain the tomb of Jonah.

Nineveh was first surveyed in 1820; intermittent excavation by various expeditions took place from 1842 to 1931; more recent work, including some restoration, has been undertaken by the Iraq Department of Antiquities.

Kate Fielden

Bibliography
Goodspeed, George S., A History of the Babylonians and the Assyrians (1978); Hancock, Percy S. P., Mesopotamian Archaeology (1912; repr. 1977); Olstead, Albert T., History of Assyria (1923; repr. 1975); Thompson, R. Campbell, and Hutchinson, Richard W., A Century of Exploration at Nineveh (1929).