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 ).

Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the center of the civilization and commerce of the world, a " bloody city all full of lies and robbery " ( Nahum 3: 1 ), for it had robbed and plundered all the neighboring nations.

" 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.

Heywood Broun wrote: `` Belle Poitrine is the most original thinker since Caligula '', and even F.D.R. had to concede that `` if the rest of this nation showed the foresight and patriotism of Miss Poitrine, America would rapidly resemble ancient Babylon and Nineveh ''.

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

* 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.

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.

But it is also possible that it took three days to cover all its neighborhoods by walking, which would match the size of ancient Nineveh.

The study of the archaeology of Nineveh reveals the wealth and glory of ancient Assyria under kings such as Esarhaddon ( 681 – 669 BC ) and Ashurbanipal ( 669 – 626 BC ).

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

Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, and the Persian palaces at Persepolis and Susa.

These were originally named after the cities of the ancient empires that once existed in present-day Iraq: Babylon, Samarra, and Nineveh.

Behind the veil of all the hieratic and mystical allegories of ancient doctrines, behind the darkness and strange ordeals of all initiations, under the seal of all sacred writings, in the ruins of Nineveh or Thebes, on the crumbling stones of old temples and on the blackened visage of the Assyrian or Egyptian sphinx, in the monstrous or marvelous paintings which interpret to the faithful of India the inspired pages of the Vedas, in the cryptic emblems of our old books on alchemy, in the ceremonies practised at reception by all secret societies, there are found indications of a doctrine which is everywhere the same and everywhere carefully concealed.

Nineveh Province (,, Syriac-Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Nīnwē ) is a province in northern Iraq, which contains the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.

Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh.

* Nineveh, an ancient Assyrian city in Iraq

His visit to the ruins outside the city of Mosul in Iraq is one of the earliest accurate descriptions of the site of ancient Nineveh.

At one time from the monastery of Mar Mattai ( near the ancient Assyrian capital Nineveh ), at another from Tagrit itself, he undertook fruitful missionary work among the Arabs and throughout the valley of the Tigris.

Not counting the caliph's new home region of Syria, nor Egypt ( including eastern Libya ; both only recently lost by Byzantium to the Sassanids ), these were Iraq and Mesopotamia ( both Arabized, around ancient Ctesiphon and modern Baghdad respectively around ancient Nineveh and modern Mosul ), Khuzestan around ancient Susa, still partly Arabic ), Armenia, Iberia ( i. e. Trans-Caucasian Georgia ), Arran-Schirwan ( east of it ) all three of the northern front, Azerbaijan ( a Turkic people ) and the ethnic heart of Iran ( Fars which is the eponymous home province, Djibal-the ancient Media -, Gilan, Tabaristan and Djurdjan ( all three on the Caspian Sea coast ), Kerman, Sistan and Khorasan ( including Herat in present Afghanistan ); under the Omayyad dynasty ( 661-750 ) the caliphate expanded further east, adding Sindh ( now southern Pakistan ), Zabulistan ( including Kabul and Ghazna, later the eponymous seat of a mighty break-away Ghaznavid dynasty ) and in Central Asia Tocharistan ( around Balkh ) and Transoxania ( Sogdia, Fergana and Mawara An-Nahr, with Samarkand ).

During his reign he collected cuneiform texts from all over Mesopotamia, and especially Babylonia, in the library in Nineveh, the first systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East, which survives in part today.

The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur ( Sanctuary of Enlil ) and Ur ( Sanctuary of Nanna ), Middle Bronze Age remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy ( Hattusha ), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron Age palaces and temples at Assyrian ( Kalhu / Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh ), Babylonian ( Babylon ), Urartian ( Tushpa / Van Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam ) and Neo-Hittite sites ( Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe ).

To this day, oriental churches of the Middle East commemorate the three days Jonah spent inside the fish during the Fast of Nineveh.

The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur ( Sanctuary of Enlil ) and Ur ( Sanctuary of Nanna ), Middle Bronze Age remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy ( Hattusha ), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron Age palaces and temples at Assyrian ( Kalhu / Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh ), Babylonian ( Babylon ), Urartian ( Tushpa / Van Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam ) and Neo-Hittite sites ( Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe ).

As early as the 12th century, the ruins of Nineveh were correctly identified by Benjamin of Tudela ( also known as Benjamin Son of Jonah ), a rabbi from Navarre, who visited the Jews of Mosul and their ruins during his travels throughout the Middle East.