Editing Nineveh (section)

==Name==
[[File:Artist’s impression of Assyrian palaces from The Monuments of Nineveh by Sir Austen Henry Layard, 1853.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Artist's impression of Assyrian palaces from ''The Monuments of Nineveh'' by Sir [[Austen Henry Layard]], 1853]]
The English placename ''Nineveh'' comes from the [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|Nīnevē}}''<!--not Nineve, per OED--> and the [[Koine Greek]] ''Nineuḗ'' ({{lang|grc|Νινευή}}) under influence of the [[Biblical Hebrew]] ''Nīnəweh'' ({{lang|he|נִינְוֶה}}),<ref name=oed>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd ed. "Ninevite, ''n.'' and ''adj.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013.</ref> from the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''{{lang|akk|Ninua}}'' ({{abbr|var.|variant}} ''Ninâ'')<ref name=jenc>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia Judaica|chapter=Nineveh|publisher=Gale Group|year=2008|chapter-url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_14857.html}}</ref> or ''{{lang|akk|Ninuwā}}''.<ref name=oed/> The city was also known as ''Ninuwa'' in [[Mari, Syria|Mari]];<ref name=jenc/> ''Ninawa'' in [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]];<ref name=jenc/> Ninwe (ܢܸܢܘܵܐ) in [[Syriac language|Syriac]];{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} and ''Ninawa'' ({{lang|fa|نینوا}}) in [[Arabic]].

The original meaning of the name is unclear but may have referred to a [[Tutelary deity|patron goddess]]. The city was said to be devoted to "the goddess [[Inanna]] of Nineveh" and ''Nina'' was one of the [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] and Assyrian names for that goddess.<ref name=jenc/> The [[Cuneiform#Assyrian_cuneiform|Assyrian cuneiform]] for ''Ninâ'' ({{cuneiform|11|[[wikt:𒀏|𒀏]]}}) is a fish within a house (cf. [[Aramaic]] ''nuna'', "fish"). This may have simply intended "Place of Fish" or may have indicated a goddess associated with fish or the Tigris, possibly originally of [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] origin.<ref name=jenc/> The word נון/נונא in [[Akkadian language|Old Babylonian]] refers to the [[Anthiinae]] genus of fish,<ref name=Jastrow>{{cite book|last=Jastrow|first=Marcus|author-link=Marcus Jastrow|title=A Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature|page=888|publisher=The Judaica Press, Inc.|location=New York|year=1996}}</ref> further indicating the possibility of an association between the name Nineveh and fish. In the [[Quran]], Jonah is referred to as ''Dhu'n-Nun'' "owner of the fish", though this may be related to the story of him being swallowed by a "large fish".

{{confusing|paragraph|date=July 2024}}''Nabī Yūnus'' is the [[Arabic]] for "Prophet [[Jonah]]". ''Kuyunjiq'' was, according to [[Austen Henry Layard|Layard]], a Turkish name (Layard used the form ''kouyunjik'', diminutive of ''koyun'' "sheep" in Turkish); known as ''Armousheeah'' by the Arabs,<ref name=Layard1849>Layard, 1849, p.xxi, "...called Kuyunjiq by the Turks, and Armousheeah by the Arabs"</ref> it is thought to have some connection with the [[Qara Qoyunlu]] dynasty.<ref>{{citation|title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam|contribution=Koyundjik|page=1083|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&pg=PA1083}}.</ref> These toponyms refer to the areas to the North and South of the Khosr stream, respectively: Kuyunjiq is the name for the whole northern sector enclosed by the city walls and is dominated by the large (35 ha) mound of Tell Kuyunjiq, while Nabī (or more commonly Nebi) Yunus is the southern sector around of the mosque of Prophet Yunus/Jonah, which is located on Tell Nebi Yunus.