Nineveh — where Jonah preached — was the capital of the ancient Assyrian empire, which fell to the Medes in 612 BC.

And still others support the idea that the " book of vision " was written shortly before the fall of Nineveh at the hands of the Medes and Babylonians ( 612 BCE ).

" This is very symbolic showing that Nineveh was known for being a city full of prostitutes.

Jonah had already uttered his message of warning, and Nahum was followed by Zephaniah, who also predicted ( Zephaniah 2: 4-15 ) the destruction of the city, predictions which were remarkably fulfilled ( 625 BC ) when Nineveh was destroyed apparently by fire, and the Assyrian empire came to an end, an event which changed the face of Asia.

The collection was dramatically enlarged by the excavations of A. H. Layard at the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Nineveh between 1845 and 1851.

Layard's work was continued by his assistant, Hormuzd Rassam and in 1852 – 1854 he went on to discover the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh with many magnificent reliefs, including the famous Royal Lion Hunt scenes.

However, yet another massive rebellion broke out in the capital Nineveh, and the king was forced to turn back in order to quell the revolt.

Muhammad asked Addas where he was from and the servant replied Nineveh.

The earliest known key-based lock was built during the Assyrian Empire in Khorsabad near Nineveh about 704 BC.

Nineveh (; Akkadian: Ninwe ; ; Nīnewē ; Nineuē ; ; Naynuwa ; Nainavā ) was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Nineveh was an important junction for commercial routes crossing the Tigris.

Nineveh was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity.

The historic Nineveh is mentioned about 1800 BC as a centre of worship of Ishtar, whose cult was responsible for the city's early importance.

It was Sennacherib who made Nineveh a truly magnificent city ( c. 700 BC ).

From about 616 BC, in a coalition with the Scythians and Cimmerians, they besieged Nineveh, sacking the town in 612 BC, after which it was razed to the ground.

The city is mentioned again in the Battle of Nineveh in 627 AD, which was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanian Empire of Persia near the ancient city.

Nineveh was the flourishing capital of the Assyrian empire (); and ostensibly was the home of King Sennacherib, King of Assyria, during the Biblical reign of King Hezekiah and the prophetic career of Isaiah.

According to scripture, Nineveh was also the place where Sennacherib died at the hands of his two sons, who then fled to the land of ` rrt Urartu.

Some works were carried out outside Kouyunjik, for instance on the mound of Nebi Yunus, which was the ancient arsenal of Nineveh, or along the outside walls.

A large battle was fought against the Babylonian rebels at Nippur, their king was captured and in turn taken to Nineveh.

The book itself calls Nineveh a “ great city ,” referring to its size 3: 3 + 4: 11 ( NIV ) and perhaps to its affluence as well.

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand ; and also much cattle?

The story of descent ( from Israel, to Tarshish, to the sea, to under the sea ) becomes the story of ascent ( from the belly of the fish, to land, to the city of Nineveh ).

Simplified plan of ancient Nineveh, showing city wall and location of gateways.

Nineveh is compared to Thebes, the Egyptian city that Assyria itself had destroyed in 663 BCE.

Ordered by God to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it " for their great wickedness is come up before me ," Jonah seeks instead to flee from " the presence of the Lord " by going to Jaffa and sailing to Tarshish, which, geographically, is in the opposite direction.

This time he goes and enters the city crying, " In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown.

* The sanctuary of Jama Naballa Jonas is another place that tradition says is Jonah's grave, near the city of Mosul ( today in Iraq ), near the ancient remnants of Nineveh.

Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, Assur and Babylon, as well as major territorial states such as the city of Ma-asesblu, the Akkadian kingdom, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the various Assyrian empires.

The Assyrian city of Nineveh became one of Mitanni's vassals for nearly a century until the mid 14th century BC, when the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit I reclaimed it in 1365 BC while overthrowing the Mitanni Empire.

From the Arab conquest 637 CE until modern time the city of Mosul on the opposite bank of the river Tigris became the successor of ancient Nineveh.

Though the Books of Kings and Books of Chronicles talk a great deal about the Assyrian empire, Nineveh itself is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is described ( ff ; ) as an " exceedingly great city of three days journey in breadth ".

The book of Jonah depicts Nineveh as a wicked city worthy of destruction.

Other cities that had perished, such as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, had left ruins to mark their sites and tell of their former greatness ; but of this city, imperial Nineveh, not a single vestige seemed to remain, and the very place on which it had stood became only matter of conjecture.

Simplified plan of ancient Nineveh showing city wall and location of gateways.

He wrote about the end of the Assyrian Empire, and its capital city, Nineveh, in a vivid poetic style.

During his reign, he moved the empire's capital from his father's newly-constructed city of Dur-Sharrukin to the old city and former capital of Nineveh.

He then made his way to Nineveh, now known as Mosul, in Iraq.

Whether or not he survived the siege and sack of Nineveh by Chaldeans and Medes, Assyria was soon reduced to a rump state centered around its last capital city of Harran under its last king Ashur-uballit II and then destroyed by the Babylonians.

It began in the west in Sardis ( on the Aegean coast of Lydia, about 60 miles east of İzmir in present-day Turkey ), traveled east through what is now the middle northern section of Turkey, ( crossing the Halys according to Herodotus ) and passed through the Cilician Gates to the old Assyrian capital Nineveh ( present-day Mosul, Iraq ), then turned south to Babylon ( near present-day Baghdad, Iraq ).

In the autumn of this year he began his homeward travels, first to Bengal ; then round the Indian coast, touching at Cochin and Goa, to Ormuz ; next up the Persian Gulf to Basra and up the Tigris to Mosul ( Nineveh ); finally via Tirfa, Bir on the Euphrates, Aleppo and Tripoli, to the Mediterranean.