Editing Nineveh (section)

== Biblical Nineveh ==
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], Nineveh is first mentioned in Genesis 10:11: "[[Ashur (Bible)|Ashur]] left that land, and built Nineveh". Some modern English translations interpret "Ashur" in the Hebrew of this verse as the country "Assyria" rather than a person, thus making [[Nimrod]], rather than Ashur, the founder of Nineveh. [[Sir Walter Raleigh]]'s notion that Nimrod built Nineveh has been disputed by eighteenth century scholar [[Samuel Shuckford]].<ref>{{citation|title=The sacred and profane history of the world connected|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8zV9AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA106|year=1858|first1=Samuel|last1=Shuckford|author2-link = James Talboys Wheeler|author2=James Talboys Wheeler|volume=1|pages=106–107|author1-link = Samuel Shuckford}}</ref> The discovery of the fifteen [[Book of Jubilees|Jubilees]] texts found amongst the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] has since shown that, according to the [[Jews|Jewish]] sects of Qumran, Genesis 10:11 affirms the apportionment of Nineveh to Ashur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/jubilees/9.htm|title=Jubilees 9|website=www.pseudepigrapha.com|access-date=17 November 2017}}</ref><ref>VanderKam, "Jubilees, Book of", in L. H. Schiffman and J. C. VanderKam (eds.), ''Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Oxford University Press (2000), Vol. I, p. 435.</ref> The attribution of Nineveh to Ashur is also supported by the [[Septuagint|Greek Septuagint]], [[King James Version|King James Bible]], [[Geneva Bible]], and by Roman historian [[Josephus|Flavius Josephus]] in his ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' (Antiquities, i, vi, 4).<ref>{{cite book|title=Greek Septuagint}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Geneva Bible}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=1611 King James Bible}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|10:11}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=June 2018}}

[[File:Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - The Prophet Jonah before the Walls of Nineveh, c. 1655 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''The Prophet Jonah before the Walls of Nineveh'', drawing by [[Rembrandt]], {{circa|1655}}]]
Nineveh was the flourishing capital of the Assyrian Empire<ref>{{Bibleverse|2|Kings|19:36|NKJV}}</ref> and was the home of King [[Sennacherib]], King of Assyria, during the Biblical reign of King [[Hezekiah]] ({{lang|he|חִזְקִיָּהוּ}}) and the lifetime of Judean prophet [[Isaiah]] ({{lang|he|ישעיה}}). As recorded in Hebrew scripture, Nineveh was also the place where Sennacherib died at the hands of his two sons, who then fled to the vassal land of ''`rrt'' ([[Urartu]]).<ref>{{Bibleverse||Isaiah|37:37–38|NKJV}}</ref> The book of the prophet [[Nahum]] is almost exclusively taken up with prophetic denunciations against Nineveh. Its ruin and utter desolation are foretold.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Nahum|1:14|NKJV}}</ref><ref>{{Bibleverse||Nahum|3:19|NKJV}}</ref> Its end was strange, sudden, and tragic.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Nahum|2:6–11|NKJV}}</ref> According to the Bible, it was God's doing, his judgment on Assyria's pride.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Isaiah|10:5–19|NKJV}}</ref> In fulfillment of prophecy, God made "an utter end of the place". It became a "desolation". The prophet [[Zephaniah]] also<ref>{{Bibleverse||Zephaniah|2:13–15|NKJV}}</ref> predicts its destruction along with the fall of the empire of which it was the capital. Nineveh is also the setting of the [[Book of Tobit]].

The [[Book of Jonah]], set in the days of the Assyrian Empire, describes it<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:3|NKJV}}</ref><ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|4:11|NKJV}}</ref> as an "exceedingly great city of three days' journey in breadth", whose population at that time is given as "more than 120,000". Genesis 10:11–12 lists four cities "Nineveh, [[Rehoboth (Bible)|Rehoboth]], [[Nimrud|Calah]], and [[Resen (Bible)|Resen]]", ambiguously stating that either Resen or Calah is "the great city".<ref>{{Bibleverse||Genesis|10:11–12|KJV}}</ref> The ruins of Kuyunjiq, [[Nimrud]], [[Karamlesh]] and [[Dur-Sharrukin|Khorsabad]] form the four corners of an irregular quadrilateral. The ruins of the "great city" Nineveh, with the whole area included within the parallelogram they form by lines drawn from the one to the other, are generally regarded as consisting of these four sites. The description of Nineveh in Jonah likely was a reference to greater Nineveh, including the surrounding cities of Rehoboth, Calah and Resen<ref>{{Cite book|title=The NIV Study Bible|date=1995|publisher=Zondervan|editor1-last=Barker |editor1-first=Kenneth L. |editor2-last=Burdick |editor2-first=Donald W.|isbn=0-310-92568-1|edition=10th anniversary|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|pages=1361|oclc=33344874}}</ref> The Book of Jonah depicts Nineveh as a wicked city worthy of destruction. God sent Jonah to preach to the Ninevites of their coming destruction, and they fasted and repented because of this. As a result, God spared the city; when Jonah protests against this, God states he is showing mercy for the population who are ignorant of the difference between right and wrong ("who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1704.htm|title=Jonah 4 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre|website=www.mechon-mamre.org}}</ref>) and mercy for the beasts in the city.

Nineveh's repentance and salvation from evil can be found in the Hebrew [[Tanakh]], also known as the [[Old Testament]], and referred to in the Christian [[New Testament]]<ref>{{Bibleverse||Matthew|12:41|NKJV}}; {{Bibleverse||Luke|11:32|NKJV}}</ref> and Muslim [[Quran]].<ref>Surah [https://quran.com/37/139-148 37:139–148].</ref> To this day, [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] and [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] churches commemorate the three days Jonah spent inside the fish during the [[Fast of Nineveh]]. Some Christians observe this holiday fast by refraining from food and drink, with churches encouraging followers to refrain from dairy products, fish and other meats.<ref name=SycOrth>{{cite web|title=Three Day Fast of Nineveh|url=http://syrianorthodoxchurch.org/news/2011/02/10/three-day-fast-of-nineveh/|publisher=Syrian Orthodox Church|access-date=1 February 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025123007/http://syrianorthodoxchurch.org/news/2011/02/10/three-day-fast-of-nineveh/|archive-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>