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[[File: Ninveh_Map.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Map of Nineveh’s Layout]]
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Among the major events that took place in the ancient Near East, none were more earth-shattering than the fall of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. The demise of Nineveh was so important because it marked the end of the Assyrian Empire, which at its height stretched from Egypt in the west to Persia in the east and included most of Anatolia, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. The Assyrians ruled their empire with an iron fist and in doing so were able to fleece their subject peoples of their precious minerals and resources, which they then used to build Nineveh and other cities in the Assyrian heartland. Eventually, the enemies of the Assyrians grew tired of the malevolent regime and so came together temporarily to cast off the Assyrian yoke. The great city of Nineveh was destroyed in the process.
The Assyrians ruled their empire with an iron fist and in doing so were able to fleece their subject peoples of their precious minerals and resources, which they then used to build Nineveh and other cities in the Assyrian heartland. Eventually, the enemies of the Assyrians grew tired of the malevolent regime and so came together temporarily to cast off the Assyrian yoke. The great city of Nineveh was destroyed in the process. ====What was the impact of the Fall of Nineveh?====The destruction of Nineveh left such a strong impression on the psyche of ancient peoples that it was written about for several subsequent centuries in the Babylonian cuneiform annals, the writings of Greek and Roman historians, and even in the Old Testament of the Bible. Nineveh’s fall was so important because for a time it was the greatest city in the ancient world as it served as a source of inspiration and awe for Assyrians and non-Assyrians alike throughout the region. The workmanship of the city’s temples and palaces was superb and Nineveh boasted of one of the world’s first botanic gardens, which many scholars believe was the inspiration for the fabled “Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” <ref> Dally, Stephanie. “Nineveh, Babylon and the Hanging Gardens: Cuneiform and Classical Sources Reconsidered.” <i>Iraq</i> 56 (1994)</ref> But the details concerning how the city fell are as important to the city’s history as its great monuments. As great as Nineveh once was, it fell victim to a combination of internal problems within the Assyrian royal house and the ever present and large number of enemies the Assyrians managed to create during their brutal reign of terror over the Near East. In the end, the Assyrians’ enemies saw Nineveh as a symbol of their overlords so they wiped it from the face of the earth.
====What was the Assyrian Empire?====
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====Why did Nineveh Fall?====
[[File: Delacroix_sardanapalus_1828.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|1828 Painting “Death of Sardanapalus” By Eugene Delacroix Depicting the Fall of Nineveh]]
The stable and effective reigns of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal were followed by a short period of instability that was brought forth by court intrigues. Ashurbanipal’s successor was the little documented Ashur-etel-ilani (ruled 627-623 BC), whose short reign led to a succession crisis in the Assyrian royal house. Important members of the nobility opposed Ashur-etel-ilani and eventually usurped the king in favor of a royal eunuch named Sin-shum-lishir (the years of his reign are imprecise). <ref> Kuhrt, Amélie. <i> The Ancient Near East: c. 3000-330 BC.</i> Volume 2. (London: Routledge, 2010), p. 541</ref> The succession problems in the Assyrian royal house contributed to the decline of their empire and that of their capital city of Nineveh, but the final blow came from outside Assyria.
The Assyrian-Egyptian victory at Nineveh in 616 BC would prove to be ephemeral for King Sin-shar-ishkun (reigned ca. 627-612 BC) (referred to as “Sardanapalus” in the Greek and Roman histories), though, because the enemies of Assyria smelled blood in the water and were lining up to divide the spoils of the once mighty empire. In order to build an effective alliance, Nabopolassar next reached out to an assortment of Assyria’s enemies who were led by the Medes. The strategy for the final victory over the Assyrians and the destruction of Nineveh involved a classic pincer movement whereby the Neo-Babylonians attacked the city from the south and west while the Medes and their allies converged from the north and east. The victory for the allies was completed in 612 BC, as was the destruction of Nineveh, which is documented in the Babylonian Chronicle:
The classical authors offered a more dramatic version of Nineveh’s fall where Sin-shar-ishkun burned himself alive with all of his material possessions. <ref> Diodorus. <i> The Library of History.</i> Translated by C.H. Oldfather. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2004), Book II, 27</ref> Nineveh’s destruction was also briefly mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible in the book of Nahum where the prophet states, “Nineveh is of old like a pool of water; yet they shall flee away, Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.” <ref> Nah. 2:6-10</ref> Once Nineveh fell, the Assyrian Empire limped on for another three years before it was finally relegated to the dust bin of history.
