Nineveh

                      Nineveh, the third and the last Capital of the Assyrians was a huge city built on the banks of the Tigris by king Sennacherib (704-681 BC), one of the greatest of the Assyrian rulers. He moved the capital of his gigantic kingdom to Nineveh from Khorsabad. In the Old Testament Book of Jonah , Nineveh was referred to as the city which took three days to cross on foot- it was so huge.

                     However, it was under Assurbanipal(669-627 BC), Sennacherib’s grandson that Nineveh really flourished. He built a magnificent library of more than 25000 clay tablets which depicted all works of life during the fantastic, though often blood thirsty reign of the Assyrians. This library also contained tablets which referred to the Biblical story of the Flood. It was Assurbanipal, who combined the age old image of an Assyrian as a warrior with that of being the Head Priest of Assur, the patron god of the Assyrians and that of a scholar with a thirst for knowledge that would bring about a huge change in literature and points of law .      

                     In the mid 19th Century,  the remains of Nineveh were discovered at the village of Nabi Yunus on the eastern bank of the Tigris. This find was accredited to Sir Austen Henry Layard, who recovered bas-reliefs from Nimrud, the old Assyrian capital which pointed to the existence of the dusty mound which was the remains of Nineveh. It was the discovery of the remains Sennacherib’s which confirmed the find to be that of Nineveh. Many of the rooms in this magnificent palace depicted glorious scenes from the reign of both Assurbanipal and Sennacherib with two gigantic winged bulls adorning the gates of the main palace hall.   

                   However, after the death of Assurbanipal, this great city was besieged by the Medes from northern Iran and the Chaldeans from southern Iran who combined forces against the warring sons of Assurbanipal. The city held out for three months against the siege. But eventually, the great walls had to fall to the marauders who destroyed it completely and reduced it to rubble.