Nineveh

Background

Nineveh was the ancient capital of Assyrian during the Neo-Assyrian Empire after it was moved from Ashur. Located on the banks of the Tigris River the ancient city of Nineveh was easily comparable to that of ancient Babylon if not grander in its day.

According to ancient accounts there was fifteen different gates and the city was a lot like modern day Amsterdam with canals that criss-crossed streets. There was a massive palace along with the famed Library of Ashurbanipal and the city is given as a possible location for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which lets be honest there probably existed many of these structures.

Nineveh - Alain Manesson Mallet (1719)

Nineveh was destroyed during a Babylonian uprising and was razed to the ground following the Battle of Nineveh so we are unable to view the city in all its splendor today. Yet thousands of years ago this was the city to be in much like New York or Paris today.

The memory of Nineveh was preserved in the bible as a sign of gods wraith. However, the destruction of Nineveh was nothing more than battle hungry Chaldeans led by Nabopolassar who formed an alliance with other civilizations the Assyrians had subjugated for three hundred years and brutally crushed their civilization into the ground.

The city of Ashur was destroyed during this engagement as well.

Origins

The city of Nineveh was not always the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

Nineveh Map - Holy Land in Geography and in History (1899)