Nineveh

Nineveh was for a time the largest city in the world — Sennacherib's palace without rival, a canal system fed from the mountains, walls running for twelve kilometres. Jonah was sent here and resented the mercy shown to it; Nahum announced its fall; and in 612 BC the city was taken and left as a mound.

The tells of Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus lie across the Tigris from modern Mosul. Recent years have brought deliberate destruction and slow, determined restoration by Iraqi archaeologists.