Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/672

* NINEKILLER. 573 NINEVEH. NINEKILLER. One of several similar names ainiliid to shrikes, this one expressing a German rustic notion that the bird murders nine victims in a series. Compai'e Bltcuer-Bibd. NINETY-SIX. A village in Abbeville Coun- ty, S. (.'., about 80 miles southwest of Camden, said to liave been so named from its having been located ilti miles from Keowee, the principal town of the C'herokees. During the Revolutionary War, it was an important strategic point, and in 1781, while occupied by a Loyalist force of about 550. under Lieutenant-Colonel C'ruger, was unsuccessfully besieged by a force of Americans, under (Jeneral (Jrcene, from May 21st to Jime litth, wheii, on receiving news of the near ap- proach of a greatly superior British force under Lord Rawdon. (ieneral tJreene withdrew. The loss of tile Americans, incurred chicHy during an assault on .lune ISth. was about 1S5 in killed and wounded; that of the Loyalists was about 85. On June 2'Mh the place was evacuated by Lord Raw- don. Consult Dawson. Bailies of the United States (New York, 1858). NIN'EVEH. The later capital of the great Assyrian Knipire. The etymology of the name (written Mmia and SinO in cuneiform inscrip- tions) is unknown. A popular etymology con- nected it with iiilnii, "fish.' and made Nineveh the 'tish-city.' rresumably the word is connected in some way with Xiin'i, a Babylonian goddess, subsequently identilied with Islitar (q.v.). Nine- veh was situated on the east bank of the Tigris, opposite the present Mosul (Map; Turkey in Asia, K 4), where for centuries its ruins were indicated by a number of mounds, the two prin- cipal ones being known as loyinjik and Nebi Yunus, the hitter the traditional site of the preaching of the prophet .Jonah and crowned by a famous Mohannnedan shrine. References in Arabic geographers and early European travelers show that the location was ;ilw;iys preserved in local tradition, although the value of this tradi- tion was called in (piestion in the eighteenth cen- tury. Its trustworthiness was established by Claudius .Tames Rich, whose examination of the mounds in 1821 marks the beginning of scientific investigation; he gave the first accurate descrip- tion and prepared excellent ma|is (published, after his death, in lH:!(i). The first exc;ivations were made at Koyunjik by I'aul Botta in 1S42-43. At this early stage of .Vssyriological investiga- tion sculptures or other large objects which could be sent to Europe and arouse popular wonder were the main desiderata ; and when three months' labor had brought to light nothing but friigments of reliefs and inscriptions, Bolta con- sidered the work disappointing and abandoned .Koyunjik for Khorsabad (q.v.). l.ayard. while excavating at Ninirud (q.v.) in 1S45-47. dug a few trenches at Koyunjik ;in(l made a (dilative examination which located the so-called south- west palace (Sennacherib's). During his second expedition (184II-51) he made a more thorough examination of this palace, brought to light numerous valuable sculptures, and discovered the famous library of Assurbanipal. After Layard's departure operations were continued by Rassam I IH52-54I, while 'ii'tor I'lace was also attempt- ing to I'xcavate at the ,.ame mounil, the work of the two investigators nol always proceeding in a spirit of frien<lly eoiiperation. Hassam discovered the north palace ( Assurbanipal's i. the sculp- tures of which belong to the finest specimens of Assyrian art. He also found here the second half of Assurbanipal's library, including the Babylonian account of the deluge. The examina- tion of the palace was continued for a short time after Rassam's departure by Loftus and Boutcher. The next attempt at Koyunjik was made by (Jeorge Smitli during two brief periods aggregating not more than three montlis together in 187.3-74. and resulted mainh' in the recovery of inscriptions from .Xssurbanipal's library, pop- ularly considered disappointing after the bril- liant successes of Layard and Rassam, but in reality as important as any discoveries j'ct made. Rassam, during his four campaigns in 1878-82, made further excavations at Koyunjik; owing to the unfortunate attempt to do too much and the unsystematic and unscholarly methods fol- lowed, the results were not all tiiat could have been desired. Rassam also excavated at this time at Balawat (q.v.), about fifteen miles east of Mosul, like Khorsabad and Nimniil one of the many cities grouiied arotmd Nineveh, and at- tempted without success to examine Nebi Yunus. It is known that the latter mound contains me- morials of Adadnirari 111. (B.C. 812-783) and palaces of Sennacherib ( u.c. 705-(Sl) and Esar- liaddon (n.c. tiSl-bllSi, but this mound has not yet been examined. Much also still remains to be ilone at Koyunjik. The earliest ex|ilorations of Layard were carried on at the expense of Sir Stratford Canning and Layard himself; other investigations have been supported by the British Museum, where most of the anti(iuities discov- ered are now stored. Besides ornaments, seals, and similar small objects of great importance as works of art. colossal statues were found, and small bas-reliefs representing incidents of war, hunting scenes, sacrificial rites, religious proces- sions, building operations, and other events of daily life. The inscriptions on clay cylinders, obelisks, .slabs, statues, and tablets of stone and other material have furnished data for tracing the history of the Assyrian empire with consider- able detail from about B.C. 1 100 to the fall of Nineveh. The ancient city was a strongly fortified towni, an irregular tra]ie/.ium in shape. The walls have been traced and found to have been about a mile ajid one-quarter in Icngtli on the north, something less than three miles on the east, about half a mile on the south, and two and one-half miles along the Tigris on the west. A reiuiirkable gate was discovered by Layard near the centre of the northern wall ; on the city side there were co- lossal man-headed bulls anil winged human fig- ures. The river Khosar llowcd through the city from west to east, dividing it into two nearly equal parts. The superficial area was aboul ISOO acres. According to a stalciiicnt of the Hook of .lonah (iv. II), the population when the city was at the height of its glory has been estimated at GOO.onO. This is probably too great. Com- mander .Tones calculated in 1852 that the popula- tion of the city and suburbs cannot have ex- ceeded 350.000.' while the cHy itself may have been the home of about 175,000 souls. The state- ment that "Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey" (.Tonah iii. 3) does not seem greatly exaggerated, if the suburbs be taken into account. The first certain mention of Nineveh is in the code of Hammurabi — latter half of the twenty- I