Meaning of NINEVEH

Capital of the Assyrian empire. The Hebrews They gave the name "Nineveh, that great city" to the agglomeration that surrounded the capital and occupied the district situated at the confluence of the Tigris and the Great Zab (Gen. 10:11, 12; Jon. 1:2; 3:3 ; Jdt. 1:1).

In a more proper sense, Nineveh was the city that rose on the left bank of the Tigris, at the confluence of this river and a small tributary currently called the Khoksr, about 43 km above the confluence of the Zab and the Tigris. .

The founders of Nineveh were Babylonians (Gen. 10:11). Manishtusu, of the Semitic dynasty of Akkad (around 2425-2245 BC) built a temple dedicated to Ishtar, tutelary deity of Nineveh. Several other peoples spread this cult to Egypt and southwest Asia Minor.

Assur, about 95 km south of Nineveh on the opposite bank, was originally the seat of government. But when Shalmansar built a palace in Nineveh (1280-1260 BC) it became the capital. Assurbanipal and his successor Shalmansar (approximately 885-825 BC) exercised a two-headed government for some time; They had residential palaces in Nineveh and Calah.

His successors, although they had their capital in Nineveh, also had palaces in Calah, in Dur-sharrukin and in Tarbisu.

Assyria, a warrior nation, beautified its capital thanks to the spoils of its conquests. Nineveh was also a literary center.

Around 650 BC, Assurbanipal created a large library of clay tablets covered with cuneiform inscriptions relating to history, liturgy, incantations, astronomy, astrology, mathematics.

These are mainly copies of ancient works that came from Babylon. Nineveh deserved the description of "bloody city" given to it by the prophet Nahum (Nah. 3:1). Throughout history he warred against neighboring nations, and used the fiercest cruelty against the defeated.

After his victories, Assurbanipal dedicated himself to cutting off the hands, feet, nose and ears of his prisoners; He put out their eyes and raised piles of human heads.

When the Assyrian empire began its decline (625 BC), Nebopolassar, governor of Babylon, proclaimed himself independent. In the year 612 BC, the Uman-mandá, allies of Nebopolassar, descended on the plain and undertook, alone, the conquest of Nineveh, which they destroyed.

A sudden flood of the Tigris fell on the city's fortifications, and helped the assailants.
The devastation of the city was so great that after the Greek and Roman times the very existence of the city came to be considered a myth.

But very important ruins lay, hidden under the masses of rubble. In 1820 an English official in Baghdad, named Rich, examined the Kouyoundjik tell, on the left bank of the Tigris, and was convinced that the ruins of Nineveh were located beneath it.

In 1842, Botta, French consul in Mosul on the right bank of the Tigris, began excavations. His attention was soon drawn to Korsabad, 16 km from Mosul, the town of Dur-sharrukin, where he discovered the palace of Sargon.

From 1845 to 1850, the Englishman Laylard explored Nimrod, 29 km south of Kouyoundjik, then excavated this place, which turned out to be the site of Nineveh, where Sennacherib had built a splendid palace with 71 rooms and chambers with walls decorated by sculptures.

In this same place he discovered Rasam, in 1853, the palace of Assurbanipal with his famous library. It has been possible to establish the plan of the fortifications (12 to 15 m high) of the city itself, and it was possible to deduce that it was 5 km long and around 2.5 km wide.

But it has already been mentioned that the Hebrews, and possibly other peoples, designated with the name of Nineveh a vast agglomeration that included Calah, 29 km to the south; Resen, between Calah and Nineveh; Rehobot-Hir, a large district of the city, possibly the same as Rebit-Nina, located northeast of the city. Gen. 10:11, 12 lists these four localities, which together formed "the great city."

There were other surrounding cities attached to this metropolitan area. Yarimdja marks the location of one of them, next to the river, immediately south of Nineveh. Near the Tigris, more than 4.5 km upstream, was Tarbisu; Its royal palace marked the beginning of a series of beautiful towns and fortified cities that bordered the river towards the south towards Calah.

Behind the river, northeast of Nineveh, and beyond Rebit-Nina, rose Dur-sharrukin, at the foot of the eastern mountains. This strong city, built around 707 BC. by Sargon, had an area almost like that of Calah, and possessed the vast palace discovered by Botta.

More than 11 km southeast of Dur-sharrukin, at the foot of the eastern range, was another important city, whose ancient name is unknown; Its location is close to Baasheihah. Ten km further south, the town of Birtelleh also marks the location of an ancient town.

Keremlis, 5 km further south, is located on the site of an ancient town. Finally, more than 10 km further south, is Imgurbel, whose palace and temple were adorned by Assurbanipal. This place is located 14 km northeast of Cala.

Other cities and towns were scattered across the plain. In the 1st century B.C. Diodorus of Sicily, basing himself on an authentic tradition, affirms that Nineveh had a rectangle shape, with dimensions of 150 by 90 stadiums; Therefore, its perimeter was 480 stadia, or 90 km. Years later, Strabo claimed that Nineveh had been much larger than Babylon.

All of this fully confirms the statement in Jonah 3:3: "And Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, three days' journey."

As for Voltaire's arguments regarding this statement, he only demonstrated his ignorance by stating the impossibility that such a large metropolis could completely disappear.