Nineveh, which was destroyed by
the Medes in c. 612 BC, and not re-discovered until the C19th AD – “Before that, Nineveh, unlike the clearly
visible remains of other well-known sites such as Palmyra, Persepolis, and
Thebes, was invisible, hidden beneath unexplored mounds” - strangely figures in the
biography of the Prophet Mohammed of, allegedly, the C7th AD.
The true
story of the ancient city of Nineveh goes something like, as according to this
article (http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2011/article/saving-ancient-nineveh):
Saving Ancient Nineveh
By Dan
McLerran Mon, Aug 22, 2011
For a time, about 2,700 years
ago, the ancient city of Nineveh ruled the Middle East. Today, it is among the
world's most endangered archaeological sites, in need of an urgent rescue plan.
After 2,700
years, the walls and gates of ancient Nineveh can still be seen near the banks
of the Tigris river just opposite the modern city of Mosul in Iraq. In ancient
times, it was the capital of the great Assyrian empire, a city of more than
100,000 people, and it was a subject of a supreme being's attention throughout
the books of the Old and New Testaments in the biblical account.
"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Ammittai,
saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their
wickedness is come up before me."[1] The prophet Jonah's efforts
there were rewarded. Nineveh, at least for a time, was saved from
destruction. But the city of Nineveh today will require a different kind
of saving. There are comparatively few people living there now. It
features mostly ruins. Even the ruins, however, will disappear unless,
according to the Global
Heritage Network's early warning system, urgent steps are
taken to arrest the elements that endanger it and to restore and protect what
is left.
Not an easy thing to do these days in a war-torn
country. War has distracted and preoccupied the energies of a people who
otherwise could be identifying and procuring the necessary resources needed to
save and protect the city.
But long before war, it has been plagued by
looting and vandalism. Artifacts have appeared on international markets
for sale, reliefs have been marred by vandalism, and chamber floors have seen
holes dug into them by looters hoping to find anything that will yield cash for
their needs. The expanding suburbs of adjacent Mosul, too, threaten it
with encroachment, with sewer and water lines having already been dug and new
settlements already established within the area once occupied by the ancient
city.
Even without looting, vandalism and suburban
encroachment, however, Nineveh will crumble and succumb to the natural
elements. Reports the Global
Heritage Fund (GHF)*, a non-profit organization that
specializes in saving and restoring archaeological sites, "without
proper roofing for protection, Nineveh’s ancient walls and reliefs are becoming
more and more damaged by natural elements every day. Exploration of the city is
an important objective at this time, but preservation measures would go a long
way as well".[2]
Historically, the
site of ancient Nineveh, which consists of two large mounds, Kouyunjik
and Nabī Yūnus ("Prophet Jonah"), has been the
subject of numerous excavations and exploratory expeditions since the mid-19th
century. Beginning with French Consul General at Mosul, Paul-Émile Botta in
1842, and most notably through the excavations of famous British
archaeologist Austen
Henry Layard …. and many others thereafter, the remains of Nineveh
became one of the sensational archaeological revelations of modern times. 
Before
that, Nineveh, unlike the clearly visible remains of other well-known sites
such as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, was invisible, hidden beneath
unexplored mounds. Even historical knowledge of the Assyrian Empire and its
capital city was sparse in the beginning, changed primarily by the great
archaeological discoveries that followed Botta's initial attempts. One palace
after another was discovered, including the lost palace of Sennacherib with its
71 rooms and enormous bas-reliefs, the palace and library of Ashurbanipal,
which included 22,000 cuneiform tablets. Fragments of prisms were discovered,
recording the annals of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, including
one almost complete prism of Esarhaddon. Massive gates and mudbrick ramparts and
walls were unearthed. The walls encompassed an area within a 12-kilometer
circumference. Many unburied skeletons were found, evidencing violent deaths
and attesting to the final battle and siege of Nineveh that destroyed the city
and soon brought an end to the Assyrian Empire.
Before
that, Nineveh, unlike the clearly visible remains of other well-known sites
such as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, was invisible, hidden beneath
unexplored mounds. Even historical knowledge of the Assyrian Empire and its
capital city was sparse in the beginning, changed primarily by the great
archaeological discoveries that followed Botta's initial attempts. One palace
after another was discovered, including the lost palace of Sennacherib with its
71 rooms and enormous bas-reliefs, the palace and library of Ashurbanipal,
which included 22,000 cuneiform tablets. Fragments of prisms were discovered,
recording the annals of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, including
one almost complete prism of Esarhaddon. Massive gates and mudbrick ramparts and
walls were unearthed. The walls encompassed an area within a 12-kilometer
circumference. Many unburied skeletons were found, evidencing violent deaths
and attesting to the final battle and siege of Nineveh that destroyed the city
and soon brought an end to the Assyrian Empire.
[End of quote]
Yet we
have found in the course of this series, and in the related “Heraclius and the
Battle of Nineveh” (Heraclius supposedly having been a contemporary of Mohammed’s),
that it is as if Mohammed had lived during the time of the powerful C8th BC neo-Assyrian
kings. This would be in favour of my view that much of the life of the Prophet Mohammed
was based on Tobias, son of Tobit, which family did actually live in ancient Nineveh:
Biography of the Prophet Mohammed (Muhammad) Seriously Mangles History.
Part Two: From Birth to Marriage
The
prophet Jonah, who had predicted the actual destruction of ancient Nineveh, and
who was contemporaneously known to Tobit and Tobias (Tobit 14:4; cf. 14:8): ‘Go to Media, my son, for I fully believe what Jonah the
prophet said about Nineveh, that it will be overthrown’, is incongruous as the “brother”
of Mohammed, as the latter is supposed to have said of Jonah when speaking to a
Christian slave supposedly from the town of Nineveh.
To make
matters even worse, the Quran has those converted by Jonah as being Jonah’s own
people (http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/jonah.html):
The Quran and the
Islamic traditions agree on Jonah being sent to Nineveh:
If only there had
been a single township (among those We warned), which believed,- so its faith
should have profited it,- except the People of Jonah? When they
believed, We removed from them the Chastisement of Ignominy in the life of the
present, and permitted them to enjoy (their life) for a while. S. 10:98
And remember Zunnün,
when he departed in wrath: He imagined that We had no power over him! But he
cried through the depths of darkness, "There is no god but Thou: glory to
Thee: I was indeed wrong!" So We listened to him: and delivered him from
distress: and thus do We deliver those who have faith. S. 21:87-88
So also was Jonah
among those sent (by Us). When he ran away (like a slave from captivity) to the
ship (fully) laden, He (agreed to) cast lots, and he was of the rebutted: Then
the big Fish did swallow him, and he had done acts worthy of blame. Had it
not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah, He would certainly have
remained inside the Fish till the Day of Resurrection. But We cast him forth on
the naked shore in a state of sickness, And We caused to grow, over him, a
spreading plant of the gourd kind. And We sent him (on a mission) to a
hundred thousand (men) or more. And they believed; so We permitted them to
enjoy (their life) for a while. S. 37:139-148
Here is Ibn Kathir on
S. 10:98:
"... The point
is that between Musa and Yunus, there was no nation in its entirety that
believed except the people of Yunus, the people of Naynawa (Nineveh).
And they only believed because they feared that the torment from which their
Messenger warned them, might strike them. They actually witnessed its signs. So
they cried to Allah and asked for help. They engaged in humility in invoking
Him. They brought their children and cattle and asked Allah to lift the torment
from which their Prophet had warned them. As a result, Allah sent down His
mercy and removed the scourge from them and gave them respite.
... In interpreting
this Ayah, Qatadah said: ‘No town has denied the truth and then believed
when they saw the scourge, and then their belief benefited them, with the
exception of the people of Yunus. When they lost their prophet and they thought
that the scourge was close upon them, Allah sent through their hearts the
desire to repent. So they wore woolen fabrics and they separated each animal
from its offspring. They then cried out to Allah for forty nights. When Allah
saw the truth in their hearts and that they were sincere in their repentance
and regrets, He removed the scourge from them.’ Qatadah said: ‘It is mentioned
that the people of Yunus were in Naynawa, the land of Mosul.’ This was also
reported from Ibn Mas'ud, Mujahid, Sai'd bin Jubayr and others from the Salaf."
….
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