Nineveh: History of the Ancient Assyrian City

Nineveh was an age-old Assyrian city in Upper Mesopotamia, near Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq. It was the capital and biggest city of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and the world's biggest city for some decades, and is on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. It's now a prevalent name for the portion of Mosul that's on the Tigris' eastern bank, and it is also the name of the nation's Nineveh Governorate.


It was the world's largest city for about fifty years till it was sacked by a union of its previous subject tribes, including but not limited to the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Scythians, and Cimmerians, in the year 612 BC, following a severe period of civil dispute in Assyria. The city was never ever a political or administrative center again, though it was the seat of a Christian bishop by Late Antiquity. Throughout the Middle Ages, it weakened in contrast to Mosul and was mainly deserted by the 13th century AD.

In the Bible, it has been mentioned several times, and it is the center of attention in the story of Jonah, who was swallowed up by a whale or fish and spat out on the beach, only to hear from God that he still needed to go to Nineveh and give the people a chance to repent.

There is much more to this mysterious city of the ancient. Learn more by reading or listening to this book!