The Walls and Palaces of Nineveh.

The situation of the ruins of the palaces of Nineveh is well shown
by the accompanying reproduction of the plan of the city made by
Commander Felix Jones, I.N. The remains of the older palaces built by
Sargon II (B.C. 721-705), Sennacherib (B.C. 705-681), and Esarhaddon
(B.C. 681-668) lie under the hill called Nabi Yûnis, and those of
the palaces and other buildings of Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 681-626)
under the mound which is known locally as "Tall al-'Armûshîyah," i.e.,
"The Hill of 'Armûsh," and "Kuyûnjik." The latter name is said to be
derived from two Turkish words meaning "many sheep," in allusion to
the large flocks of sheep that find their pasture on and about the
mound in the early spring. These two great mounds lie close to the
remains of the great west wall of Nineveh, which in the time of the
last Assyrian Empire was washed by the waters of the river Tigris. At
some unknown period the course of the river changed, and it is now more
than a mile distant from the city wall. The river Khausur, or Khoser,
divides the area of Nineveh into two parts, and passing close to the
southern end of Kuyûnjik empties itself into the Tigris. The ruins of
the wails of Nineveh show that the east wall was 16,000 feet long, the
north wall 7,000 feet long, the west wall 13,600 feet, and the south
wall 3,000 feet; its circuit was about 13,200 yards or 7 1/2 miles.


Discovery of the Library of the Temple of Nebo at Nineveh.

In the spring of 1852 Layard, assisted by H. Rassam, continued the
excavation of the "South West Palace" at Kuyûnjik. In one part of the