Editing Nineveh (section)

=== Archaeological remains ===
[[File:Humvee down after isis attack.jpg|thumb|Humvee down after ISIL attack]]
The site is marked by two large mounds, Tell Kuyunjiq and Tell ''Nabī Yūnus'' "Prophet [[Jonah]]", and the remains of the city walls (about {{convert|12|km|mi|0}} in circumference), enclosibg a vast lower town extensively encroached by modern buildings. The Neo-Assyrian levels of Kuyunjiq have been extensively explored. The other mound, ''Nabī Yūnus'', has not been as extensively explored because there was an Arab Muslim shrine dedicated to that prophet on the site. On July 24, 2014, the [[Islamic State]] destroyed the shrine as part of a [[Destruction of cultural heritage by the Islamic State|campaign to destroy]] religious sanctuaries it deemed "un-Islamic",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/iraq-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 |title=Officials: ISIS blows up Jonah's tomb in Iraq |work=CNN |date=2014-07-24 |access-date=2014-07-24}}</ref> but also to loot that site through tunneling.

The ruin mound of Tell Kuyunjiq rises about {{convert|20|m|ft|0}} above the surrounding plain of the ancient city. It is quite broad, measuring about {{convert|800|x|500|m|ft|0}}. Its upper layers have been extensively excavated, and several Neo-Assyrian palaces and temples have been found there. A deep sounding by Max Mallowan revealed evidence of habitation as early as the 6th millennium BC. Today, there is little evidence of these old excavations other than weathered pits and earth piles. In 1990, the only Assyrian remains visible were those of the entry court and the first few chambers of the Palace of Sennacherib. Since that time, the palace chambers have received significant damage by looters and by the removal of the protective roof. Portions of relief sculptures that were in the palace chambers in 1990 were seen on the antiquities market by 1996. Photographs of the chambers made in 2003 show that many of the fine relief sculptures there have been reduced to piles of rubble and a conservation effort ensued. In 2016 Sennacherib's throne room was bulldozed by Daesh and the sculpted fragments were left exposed until 2022.

[[File:Nineveh Nebi Yunus Excavation Bull-Man Head.JPG|thumb|right|[[Lamassu|Winged Bull]] excavated at Tell Nebi Yunus by Iraqi archaeologists]]

Tell Nebi Yunus is located about {{convert|1|km|mi|1}} south of Kuyunjiq and is the secondary ruin mound at Nineveh. On the basis of texts of Sennacherib, the site has traditionally been identified as the "armory" of Nineveh, and a gate and pavements excavated by Iraqis in 1954 have been considered to be part of the "armory" complex. Excavations in 1990 revealed a monumental entryway consisting of a number of large inscribed [[Megalithic architectural elements#Orthostat|orthostats]] and "bull-man" sculptures, some apparently unfinished. Following the [[Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)|liberation of Mosul]], the tunnels under Tell Nebi Yunus were explored in 2018, in which a 3000-year-old palace was discovered, including a pair of reliefs, each showing a row of women, along with reliefs of ''[[lamassu]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/isis_tunnels|title=Explore the IS Tunnels|website=BBC News|date=22 November 2018}}</ref>[[File:Nineveh map city walls & gates.JPG|thumb|Simplified plan of ancient Nineveh showing city wall and location of gateways]]
[[File:Nineveh Adad gate exterior entrance far2.JPG|thumb|Photograph of the restored [[Adad]] Gate, taken prior to the gate's destruction by [[Islamic State|IS]] in April 2016<ref name=Romey2016 />]]
[[File:Nineveh walls east Shamash Gate from rampart.JPG|thumb|Eastern city wall and [[Shamash]] Gate]]

The ruins of Nineveh are surrounded by the remains of a massive stone and mudbrick wall dating from about 700&nbsp;BC. About 12 km in length, the wall system consisted of an ashlar stone retaining wall about {{convert|6|m|ft|0}} high surmounted by a mudbrick wall about {{convert|10|m|ft|0}} high and {{convert|15|m|ft|0}} thick. The stone retaining wall had projecting stone towers spaced about every {{convert|18|m|ft|0}}. The stone wall and towers were topped by three-step [[merlon]]s.

Six of the gateways have been explored to some extent by archaeologists (besides the possible [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] Gate at the north-west end of the site):
* Mashki Gate ''Masqi Gate'' (Arabic: بوابة مسقي Derived from the passive participle of سَقَى saqā, "to give (sb) a drink, to water, to irrigate")<ref name="main" /> was perhaps used to take livestock to water from the Tigris which currently flows about {{convert|1.5|km|mi|1}} to the west. It has been reconstructed in fortified mudbrick to the height of the top of the vaulted passageway. The Assyrian original may have been plastered and ornamented. It was bulldozed along with the Nergal and Adad Gates during [[Islamic State|IS]] occupation.<ref name=Romey2016>{{citation|last=Romey|first=Kristin|date=19 April 2016|title=Exclusive Photos Show Destruction of Nineveh Gates by ISIS|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160419-Islamic-State-ISIS-ISIL-Nineveh-gates-Iraq-Mosul-destroyed/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419200512/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160419-Islamic-State-ISIS-ISIL-Nineveh-gates-Iraq-Mosul-destroyed/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 19, 2016|magazine=National Geographic|publisher=The National Geographical Society}}</ref> During the restoration project, seven damaged alabaster carvings from the time of Sennacherib were found at the gate in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hadani Ditmars |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/25/archaeologists-restoring-monument-damaged-by-islamic-state-discover-ancient-stone-carvings-unseen-for-millennia |title=Archaeologists restoring monument damaged by Islamic State discover ancient stone carvings unseen for millennia |website=The Art Newspaper |date=25 October 2022 }}</ref>
* Nergal Gate: Named for the god [[Nergal]], it may have been used for some ceremonial purpose, as it is the only known gate flanked by stone sculptures of winged bull-men (''[[lamassu]]'').<ref>{{Cite book |title=Architecture: a world history |date=2008 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-0-8109-9512-3 |editor-last=Borden |editor-first=Daniel |location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|30}} The reconstruction is conjectural, as the gate was excavated by Layard in the mid-19th century and reconstructed in the mid-20th century. The lamassu on this gate were defaced with a jackhammer by [[Islamic State|IS]] forces and the gate was utterly destroyed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rappler.com/world/middle-east/isis-nirmrud-iraq|publisher=Rappler|title=ISIS 'bulldozed' ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, Iraq says|date=March 5, 2015|access-date=July 7, 2020|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724194400/https://rappler.com/world/middle-east/isis-nirmrud-iraq|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Adad Gate: Named for the god [[Adad]]. A roofing above it was begun in the late 1960s by Iraqis but was not completed. The result was a mixture of concrete and eroding mudbrick, which nonetheless does give some idea of the original structure. The excavator left some features unexcavated, allowing a view of the original Assyrian construction. The original brickwork of the outer vaulted passageway was well exposed, as was the entrance of the vaulted stairway to the upper levels. The actions of Nineveh's last defenders could be seen in the hastily built mudbrick construction which narrowed the passageway from {{convert|4|to|2|m|ft|0}}. Around April 13, 2016, [[Islamic State|IS]] demolished both the gate and the adjacent wall by flattening them with a bulldozer.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/08/29/iraqi-digital-investigation-team-confirms-isis-destruction-gate-nineveh/ |publisher=Bellingcat | title=Iraqi Digital Investigation Team Confirms ISIS Destruction of Gate in Nineveh|date=August 29, 2016|access-date=August 30, 2016}}</ref><ref name=Romey2016/> It has been reexcavated (including a 7 m deep stair-well), conservated and presented to the public by the Iraqi-Italian expedition between 2019 and 2023.
* Shamash Gate: Named for the sun god [[Shamash]], it opens to the road to [[Erbil]]. It was excavated by Layard in the 19th century. The stone retaining wall and part of the mudbrick structure were reconstructed in the 1960s. The mudbrick reconstruction has deteriorated significantly. The stone wall projects outward about {{convert|20|m|ft|0}} from the line of main wall for a width of about {{convert|70|m|ft|0}}. It is the only gate with such a significant projection. The mound of its remains towers above the surrounding terrain. Its size and design suggest it was the most important gate in Neo-Assyrian times. It is now being excavated by the University of Chicago expedition.
* Halzi Gate: Near the south end of the eastern city wall. Exploratory excavations were undertaken here by the [[University of California, Berkeley]] expedition of 1989–1990 and again in 2022 and 2023 by the Iraqi-Italian Expedition. There is an outward projection of the city wall, though not as pronounced as at the Shamash Gate. The entry passage had been narrowed with mudbrick to about {{convert|2|m|ft|0}} as at the Adad Gate. Human remains from the final battle of Nineveh were found in the passageway.<ref>Diana Pickworth, "Excavations at Nineveh: The Halzi Gate, Iraq", vol. 67, no. 1, Nineveh. Papers of the 49th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Part Two, pp. 295–316, 2005</ref> Located in the eastern wall, it is the southernmost and largest of all the remaining gates of ancient Nineveh.<ref name="main">{{cite web |title=Gates of Nineveh|url=https://madainproject.com/gates_of_nineveh |website=Madain Project |access-date=10 May 2019}}</ref>
* A new gate has been discovered in 2021 to the north of the Shamash Gate and south of the Khosr river (in the area labeled as N by the Iraqi-Italian expedition), next to a spectacular water tunnel running for 42 m under the 31m-thick city wall (area G, excavated in 2020 and 2021).