Location
Overview
Nineveh, on the east bank of the Tigris, was the great capital of the Assyrian Empire — "that great city" (Jonah 1:2). Its story in Scripture is one of warning, mercy, and judgment.
Founded in antiquity
Nineveh is traced back to Nimrod in the table of nations (Genesis 10:11). By the height of Assyria it was an enormous fortified city, the seat of kings like Sennacherib.
Jonah and the city's repentance
God sent the reluctant prophet Jonah to cry against Nineveh's wickedness. When he preached, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown," the whole city — from the king to the cattle — fasted and repented, and God spared it (Jonah 3:4–10). Jesus later cited "the men of Nineveh" as a witness against his own generation (Matthew 12:41).
The fall foretold
A century later Nineveh returned to violence, and the prophet Nahum announced its doom: "Nineveh is laid waste" (Nahum 3:7). The city fell to the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC.
Events Here
Jonah preaches and Nineveh repents; the city is spared
Nahum's prophecy of Nineveh's overthrow
Scripture References
17 versesGenesis2 verses
Genesis 10:11
Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, went: or, he went out into Assyria the city: or, the streets of the city
Genesis 10:12
And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
2 Kings1 verse
2 Kings 19:36
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
Isaiah1 verse
Isaiah 37:37
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
Jonah8 verses
Jonah 1:2
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah 3:2
Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Jonah 3:3
So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. exceeding: Heb. of God
Jonah 3:4
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jonah 3:5
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Jonah 3:6
For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Jonah 3:7
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: published: Heb. said nobles: Heb. great men
Jonah 4:11
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?
Nahum3 verses
Nahum 1:1
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Nahum 2:8
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back. of old: or, from the days that she hath been look back: or, cause them to turn
Nahum 3:7
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Zephaniah1 verse
Zephaniah 2:13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
Matthew1 verse
Matthew 12:41
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Archaeology & History
The ruins of Nineveh lie across the Tigris from modern Mosul in northern Iraq, marked by the great mounds of Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus. Excavations uncovered Sennacherib's "palace without rival" and the famous library of Ashurbanipal, whose tablets include Mesopotamian flood and creation accounts.
People who appear here
Frequently asked about Nineveh
Where is Nineveh today?
Today, Nineveh corresponds to Opposite Mosul, Iraq.
What happened at Nineveh in the Bible?
Key biblical events at Nineveh include jonah preaches and nineveh repents; the city is spared; nahum's prophecy of nineveh's overthrow.
Where is Nineveh first mentioned in the Bible?
Nineveh is first mentioned in Genesis 10:11.
How often is Nineveh mentioned in the Bible?
Nineveh is mentioned in 17 verses across 7 books: Genesis, 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jonah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Matthew.
Why was Jonah sent to Nineveh?
God sent Jonah to warn the great Assyrian capital of judgment for its wickedness. When the city repented at his preaching, God spared it.
Where was Nineveh?
On the east bank of the Tigris River in what is now northern Iraq, across the river from the modern city of Mosul.