Biblical city
Nineveh
Mosul, Iraq · Assyria
The last great capital of Assyria, Nineveh was the city Jonah was sent to and the target of Nahum's oracle of judgment. Its palace reliefs and the library of Ashurbanipal, recovered in the nineteenth century, remain primary sources for Assyrian history.
History in Scripture
Capital of Assyria, Nineveh was the city Jonah was sent to and which repented at his preaching. A century later Nahum and Zephaniah foretold its fall, and it was destroyed by Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC. Sennacherib's palace there recorded his campaign against Judah.
The ancient city
Nineveh stood on the Tigris opposite modern Mosul, a vast walled capital with aqueducts, gardens and a great library of cuneiform tablets, including the Gilgamesh flood account.
The site today
The mounds of Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus lie inside Mosul. The site suffered deliberate destruction under ISIS in 2014–2017; restoration is ongoing and its finest reliefs are in the British Museum.
Key passages
Sources & notes
Description summarizes standard historical and archaeological reference works. Imagery is added separately and is labeled by type.