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SITE ID - NAME :	N2	Nineveh
ANCIENT NAME :	-
OTHER NAME :	Kuyunjik, Nebi Yunus
LOCATION :	North Iraq, Mosul
CHRONOLOGY :	Neolithic; Protoliterate; Early Historic
PERIOD CODE :	3 6 8 12
DESCRIPTION :	A huge, 750 ha, walled largely Neo-Assyrian city. As was standard in Assyrian cities (see Nimrud), the city was marked by separate citadel and arsenal compounds. Most archaeological attention has been paid to the citadel (Kuyunjik), where the palaces of Sennacherib (704-681 BC) and Assurbanipal (668-627 BC) were uncovered. Mallowan made a deep sounding at the Ishtar temple, revealing a long sequence starting with the Hassuna period, and defining the famous Early Dynastic 'Ninivite 5' painted pottery style (ca. 2900-2500 BC). A wealth of Neo-Assyrian art has been recovered from Nineveh, including a series of magnificent alabaster reliefs with fighting and hunting scenes from the North Palace of Assurbanipal. Moreover, the large number of clay tablets found in the monumental buildings during the early excavations (1842-1932), especially of 'Assurbanipal's Library', contributed to the rise of Assyriology at the end of the nineteenth century AD.
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