The site of this famous city has been much discussed,[48] but at last the question appears to be settled. Nineveh was built on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite to the site occupied by modern Mossoul. Two great mounds rising some five-and-thirty feet above the level of the plain, represent the substructures upon which the royal homes of the last Assyrian dynasty were raised; they are now famous as Kouyundjik and Nebbi-Younas. Like the mound of Khorsabad these two artificial hills were in juxtaposition with the city walls, which may still be traced in almost their whole extent by the ridge of earth formed of their materials (Fig. 18).
Fig. 17.—Upper chambers excavated at Nimroud; from Layard.
The mound of Nebbi-Younas has so far remained almost unexplored. It is fortified against the curiosity of Europeans by the little building on its summit and the cemetery covering most of its surface. The inhabitants of the country, Mussulman as well as Christian, believe that Jonah lies under the chapel dome, and they themselves hope to rest as near his body as possible. Some slight excavations, little more than a few strokes of the pick-axe, have been made in the scanty spots where no graves occur, but enough evidence has been found to justify us in assuming that Nebbi-Younas also hides its palaces. They too will have their turn. Thanks to the prestige of the prophet they are reserved for excavations to be conducted perhaps in a more systematic fashion than those hitherto undertaken on the site of Nineveh.
Fig. 18.—Map of the site of Nineveh; from Oppert.
Fig. 19.—Plan of the mound of Kouyundjik; from Rassam’s Transactions.
At Kouyundjik, on the other hand, no serious obstacle was encountered. The village transported itself to the plain; it was not necessary to persuade the inhabitants to quit it, as it had been at Khorsabad. When Botta, who had begun certain inquisitions at this spot, abandoned his attempts, the English explorers were left free to sound the flanks of the artificial hill at their leisure, and to choose their point of attack. If they had gone to work in the same fashion as Botta and Place, they might have laid bare palaces excelling that of Sargon in the scale and variety of their arrangements. Of this we may judge from Mr. Rassam’s plan (Fig. 19). But after the departure of Mr. Layard the excavations, frequently interrupted and then recommenced after long intervals, aimed only at discovering such objects as might figure in a museum. A trench was opened here and another there, on the inspiration of the moment. The explorers often neglected to measure the buildings in which they were at work, so that we have only partial plans of the two principal buildings of Nineveh, those palaces of Sennacherib and Assurbanipal from which so many beautiful monuments have been taken to enrich the British Museum.
