Nineveh

Nineveh was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia, part of the Near East, and now lies within the modern Iraqi city of Mosul on the Tigris River’s eastern bank. It was the capital and biggest city of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and may have been the richest city of antiquity. For roughly fifty years, it was the largest city on Earth until 612 BC, when a coalition of former subjects—including the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians—sacked it after a bitter civil war in Assyria. It never again served as a political or administrative hub, though by Late Antiquity it became a bishopric for the Church of the East. During the Middle Ages, it lost importance relative to Mosul, and by the 14th century AD, following Timur’s massacres and dispersal of Assyrian Christians, it was largely deserted.

Its ruins sit across the river from Mosul’s historic center. Within the walls are two main tells: Tell Kuyunjiq and Tell Nabī Yūnus, the latter holding a shrine to Jonah. According to the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, Jonah preached to Nineveh. Excavations have yielded many Assyrian sculptures and artifacts, now housed in museums worldwide.

The site’s location was known continuously through the Middle Ages by some. Benjamin of Tudela visited in 1170, and Petachiah of Regensburg soon after.

**Name** The English name Nineveh comes from Latin *Nīnevē* and Koine Greek *Nineuḗ*, influenced by Biblical Hebrew *Nīnəweh*, from Akkadian *Ninua* (or *Ninâ*) or *Ninuwā*. It was also called *Ninuwa* in Mari, *Ninawa* in Aramaic, *Ninwe* in Syriac, and *Ninawa* in Arabic. *Nabī Yūnus* means “Prophet Jonah” in Arabic. *Kuyunjiq*, according to Layard, is a Turkish name—*kouyunjik* being the diminutive of *koyun* (“sheep”). It was also known as *Armousheeah* by Arabs and may connect to the Qara Qoyunlu dynasty.

**Geography** The remains of ancient Nineveh—the mounds of Kuyunjiq and Nabī Yūnus—lie on a level plain where the Tigris and Khosr Rivers meet, covering 750 hectares (1,900 acres) within a 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) fortification wall. This entire area is now a vast ruin field, about a third overlain by the Nebi Yunus suburbs of eastern Mosul. The Khosr River bisects the site. North of it is Kuyunjiq, including Tell Kuyunjiq’s acropolis and the former illegal village of Rahmaniye. South of the Khosr lies the urbanized Nebi Yunus area (also Ghazliya, Jezayr, Jammasa), with Tell Nebi Yunus, the mosque of Prophet Jonah, and a palace of Esarhaddon/Ashurbanipal beneath it. South of Al-‘Asady Street—built by Daesh after destroying parts of the city walls—is Junub Ninawah or Shara Pepsi.

**History**

**Neolithic** Nineveh was founded as early as 6000 BC in the late Neolithic. Deep soundings revealed soil layers from the early Hassuna culture. Its development paralleled Tepe Gawra and Tell Arpachiyah, a few kilometers northeast. During the Halaf Period, it was a typical farming village.

**Chalcolithic**

**Ubaid period** By 5000 BC, Nineveh shifted from a Halaf to an Ubaid village. In the Late Chalcolithic, it was one of the few Ubaid villages in Upper Mesopotamia to become a proto-city, alongside Ugarit, Brak, Hamoukar, Arbela, Alep, and regionally Susa, Eridu, and Nippur. Between 4500 and 4000 BC, it grew to 40 hectares. The greater Nineveh area is notable for spreading metal technology across the Near East, being the first place outside Anatolia to smelt copper. Tell Arpachiyah holds the oldest copper-smelting remains, and Tepe Gawra the oldest metalwork. Copper came from mines at Ergani.

**Uruk period** During the Uruk Expansion, Nineveh IV became a trade colony of Uruk, thanks to its position as the highest navigable point on the Tigris. It was contemporary with and similar in function to Habuba Kabira on the Euphrates. Finds included beveled rim bowls.

**Early Bronze Age**

**Ninevite 5 period** After the Late Uruk period, Nineveh’s regional influence grew. This era, called Ninevite 5 (or Ninevite V, 3000/2900–2600/2500 BC), is defined by characteristic pottery found widely across Upper Mesopotamia. Archaeologists also use the Early Jezirah chronology for this region, where “Ninevite 5” equals Early Jezirah I–II. Ninevite 5 pottery is roughly contemporary with Early Transcaucasian culture ware and Jemdet Nasr period ware. Iraqi Scarlet Ware also belongs to this period—a colorful painted pottery similar to Jemdet Nasr ware, first documented in Iraq’s Diyala River basin, later in the Hamrin Basin and Luristan. It is also contemporary with the Proto-Elamite period in Susa. Ninevite 5 splits into Early (3000–2750 BC, with painted pottery) and Late (2750–2500 BC, with incised pottery). In southern Mesopotamia, the former matches ED I–II, the latter ED II–IIIA.

**Akkadian period** In the late 3rd millennium BC, Nineveh was part of the Akkadian Empire. Though occupied then, there was minimal official presence.