The Great City of Nineveh

The name “Nineveh” means “dwelling place of the goddess Ninus.” It was located 400 kilometers north of Babylon on the east bank of the Tigris River, 880 kilometers from its mouth. Nineveh became the capital of the Assyrian Empire in the 11th century BC and flourished most under the reign of the Assyrian King Sennacherib in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. The thousands of cuneiform tablets from its state library are an invaluable resource for the history of ancient Mesopotamia.

In the time of Jonah, the city walls of Nineveh alone were about 12 kilometers long and had fifteen gates. Including the suburbs of Calah and Resen, the metropolitan area covered nearly three thousand hectares and had a population that may have exceeded one million. The excavated palace ruins are immense, and their architecture and ornamentation are considered the pinnacle of artistry and luxury. The most important discovery was the palace of King Sennacherib, where wall reliefs depict the siege of Lachish. The library of Sennacherib’s grandson, King Ashurbanipal, contained more than twenty-five thousand clay tablets, which are extremely valuable for historical research.

At the Nineveh site, there is a mound that locals call the Tomb of Jonah, which suggests that Jonah did go there and was highly revered. At that time, the Lord commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim that because of their wickedness, the city would be overthrown in forty days. The people of Nineveh believed God and turned from their evil ways, and God, in His mercy and patience, did not bring the disaster He had threatened. One hundred and fifty years after Jonah, the prophet Nahum came. Nahum brought a message of destruction, as Nineveh’s time was up. In 612 BC, the powerful Median kingdom from the Iranian plateau and the rising Neo-Babylonian kingdom allied to besiege and successfully capture Nineveh. In 605 BC, the once-mighty Assyrian Empire was officially destroyed, and Nineveh fell into ruin, remaining desolate to this day.

Biblical accounts:

Genesis 10:11: “From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—that is the great city.”

2 Kings 19:36, Isaiah 37:37: “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went back home to Nineveh, and was living there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword.”

Jonah 3:3: “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.”

Nahum 1:14: “The Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh: ‘You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the images and idols in the temple of your gods.'”

Zephaniah 2:13: “He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate, as dry as the desert. Flocks and herds will lie down there, every kind of wild animal.”

Matthew 12:41, Luke 11:32: “The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.”

Luke 11:30: “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.”

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version of the Bible, Logos Bible Geography, a comprehensive biblical interpretation, and audio recordings from David Pawson’s Old Testament Survey.