NINEVEH. – Capital city of Assyria. The city’s name was originally Ninuwâ, in the middle of the 2nd millennium Ninuwâ, but alongside this also Ninua and Nina. Only the last two remained in use.
The ruins of the ancient city lie to the northeast of Mosul, today 1.5 km distant from the Tigris, but at that time on the Tigris itself. The Khosr (Hūṣur in Assyrian), a tributary of the Tigris, flows through the ruins. The fortifications of the ancient city form an irregular trapezoid whose perimeter exceeds 12 km. On the southern side of the walls two mounds of ruins (= tells) are visible: Kuyunjik (750 × 375 × 30 m) and Nebi Yunus (somewhat smaller).
The first investigations were carried out by C. J. Rich, who also left an excellent map of the ruins (c. 1820). In 1842–43 P. E. Botta excavated at Kuyunjik. Four years later Austen H. Layard took over, discovering the “North-West Palace” of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859), a palace of Adad-nirari II (809–782), the “Central Palace” of Tiglath-pileser II (745–727), and the “South-West Palace” of Nineveh (c. 1860–1861), in which Ashurbanipal (668–626?) also carried out restorations. He also uncovered numerous sculptures, reliefs, weapons, and in two chambers part of the celebrated cuneiform library of Ashurbanipal.
(c. 1860–1861), in which Ashurbanipal (668–626?) also carried out restorations. He also uncovered numerous sculptures, reliefs, weapons, and in two chambers part of the celebrated cuneiform library of Ashurbanipal.
(from C. Bezold, N. und Babylon, Leipzig (56), fig. 767) Nineveh – Dying Lion. Relief from the palace of King Ashurbanipal.
From 1852 to 1854 Hormuzd Rassam discovered the “Northern Palace” of Ashurbanipal with splendid reliefs of classical Assyrian art and the other part of the library of Ashurbanipal with the archive of the Sargonids. In this palace W. K. Loftus continued Rassam’s excavations and brought to light beautiful reliefs. Later excavators (G. Smith, H. Rassam, A. W. Budge, L. W. King, R. Campbell Thompson) were more interested in literary matters, namely finding the remains of Ashurbanipal’s library. Thus many thousands of tablets passed to the British Museum. Finally, between 1927 and 1932 deep excavations were carried out, yielding unexpected results. The temple of the goddess Ištar was found, the temple of Nabû (adjacent to the “Northern Palace” of Ashurbanipal), a palace of the 9th century (probably of Sennacherib) with many historical inscriptions, and a bronze mask dedicated by King Manishtushu (c. 2300 BC): this is probably a portrait of his father Sargon I (24th century BC). The nearby tell Nebi Yunus has not yet been touched, since it stands above the sepulchral mosque of the prophet Jonah and a village on its cemetery. Only from some underground galleries is the existence of the palaces of Adad-nirari II, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon indicated. Various prehistoric cultures succeeded one another at N.: at a depth of 27.50 m: virgin soil; 27.50–26.00 m: N. I: incised pottery (c. 3800 BC); 26.00–21.30 m: N. II: very fine painted pottery with geometric designs in black and red on a yellow ground (c. 3500 BC); 21.30–20.10 m: intermediate layer without culture; 20.10–12.80 m: N. III: handmade, polished pottery, reed huts, earliest signs of metal, impressions of seals; 12.80–7.90 m: N. IV: wheel-turned pottery of the Uruk type (c. 3100 BC); 9.90–5.50 m: N. V: pottery with geometric and faunal motifs in black and red, well-cut cylinder seal impressions (c. 2600 BC); 5.50–1.20 m: Assyrian period.
When Sargon I of Akkad (c. 2350–2300) destroyed Sumerian hegemony and created an empire extending from the Near East to Anatolia, the city of N. also belonged to his kingdom. The first notice we have is that his son Manishtushu built a chapel in the temple of the goddess Ištar at N. After several centuries, Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria (first half of the 18th century BC), a contemporary of Hammurabi, rebuilt the temple of the goddess. Hammurabi himself says in the prologue of his law code (IV: 60–63): “the king who in the city of N. in the temple of E-meslam caused the waters of the goddess Ištar to appear.” Of this temple (23.8 × 7.6 m), built of clay bricks on a stone foundation, the walls still stand to a height of 3 m. Under the Mitannian (Hurrian) kingdom King Tushratta (c. 1400–1370) wrote to Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1413–1377) of Egypt that the goddess Ištar of N. had declared herself willing to go to Egypt, as she had already done to the temple of his father (Shuttarna II): the Pharaoh should hold her in high honor and send her back in due time.
After Assyria was freed from Hurrian domination under Ashur-uballit I (1363–1328), the temple of the goddess Ištar of N. with its ziggurat (= tower) became the