Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/673

* NINEVEH. 573 NINIAN. third century B.C. (St'f HAMMiKAnr. ) The name oiiurs in i.eilain Babylonian inscriptions whieli arc at least 500 years older, but it is not certain that the reference is to the Assyrian cap- ital. The earliest seat of the Assyrian rulers was at Asshur (Kilch Sbergat, on the west bank of the Tigris, about 50 miles below JIosul). The .seat of government was lirst transferred to Calah (Ximrud, q.v.). Shalmaneser 1. (c.1300 B.C.), who calls himself the builder of the latter city, is known to liave restored a temple of Ishtar at Xineveh, which is also mentioned in an inscrip- tion of Shamshiadad (c.1800 B.C.) and in the code of Hammurabi. From the time of Asshur- belkala (c.lOOO B.C.) to the reign of Assur- nazirpnl (B.C. 885-SGO) Xineveli was the capital. The latter King returned to Calah, but in the days of Sennacherib (B.C. TOo-tiSl) Xineveh re- gained its position. Sennacherib's predecessor, Sargon II. (B.C. 722-705). seems to have given tlic jireference to Khorsabad. Under Sennacherib and his successors Xineveh attained to its great- est jirosperity and fame. It fell before the com- bined efforts of Medes and Babylonians, the Jle- dian King, CVaxares (r.c. G25-585), entering into an alliance with the Babylonian King, Xabopolas- sar (B.C. 025-005), for the destruction of the As- syrian Empire. The last days of Xineveh are ob- scure. That the city held out for a considerable time by virtue of its strong fortifications is prob- able. The year of its fall is uncertain; a probable date is B.C. 007. According to tradition its King, Sinsharishkun, ended his life in the tlames -which consumed his capital. The destruction of the city was comjilete. Xenophon with the Ten Thousand Greeks passed by its site about two centuries later, and does not even mention its name. It is probable, however, that the 'great uninhabited cities' which he calls Jfespila and Larissa {Aiiab. iii. 4, 7-12) were Koyunjik and X^ebi Yunus, respectively. BiBLTOORAPHY. All that was known about Nineveh before the beginning of e.xcavatiors may be found in Tuch, Cominrntationcs Gcograpliicw (le ino I'rhe (Leipzig, 1845), and JIarcus von Xiebuhr. (Icschichtc Assiirs und Bahelf! (Berlin, 1857). The aiitlioritative accounts of the ex- cavations are: Layard. Xincvrh niid /(.« Remains (London, 1848) : id., T)te Moiniini-nls of Nineveh, series i., 100 plates, .series ii., 71 plates (ib., 1840-53) ; id.. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Bahylon (ib., 185.3): Smith, Assyrian Dis- coveries ' {ih.. 1875: 3d ed., Xew York, 1876); Rassam, Asshur and the Land of Nimrod (Cin- cinnati. 1807). For the topography, consult Rich, Narrative of a Residence in Koordi.itan and on the f>Hc of Ancient Nineveh (London, 1830) ; .Tones, "Topography of Xineveh. with ^laps." in the ■Journal of the Roi/al .^■'^i^ltic Soeieti/, vol. xv. (London. 1855). For the inscriptions consult Layard. Inscriptions in. the Cuneiform Character from .Assyrian Monuments (London, 1851); Rawlinson and Pinches, The Cuneiform Inscrip- tions of ^yeslern .Asia (ib.. 1801-01); Bezold. Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tahhis in the Kouy- iin'iik CcjUection of the lirili.th Mus(um ( ib.. 1889- Ofl). The following works are also reconunended: Rich, Collected Memoirs (London. 1830) ; Loftus, Travels and Researches in Chahhra and f^usiana (ib.. 1857) : Layard. Early .Adventures in I'ersia, fiusiana. and Baht/lonia ( ib.. 1887 : 2d ed.. abridged, 1804) : the British Museum Cuide to the .Assyr- ian Antiquities (new ed., ib., 1000) ; vol. i., parts 1.3 of the photographs of the antiquities in the British Museum pul)lished by Stephen Thompson ( ib.. 1872); Masjiero. The Slruyfile of the Na- tions (ib., 1890) and The I'assiny of the f^mpires (ib., inOO). both profusely illustrated: Billerbeck and .leremias. '"Der Untergang Xinevehs und die Weissagungsschrift des Xahum von KIkosch," in Beilriige zur Assyriologie, vol. iii. (Leipzig, 1898), a description of the defenses and fortifi- cations with maps and illustrations: Kaulen Assyrien und Babylonien (5th ed., Freiburg, 1899) ; Goodspeed, A History of the Babyloniatis and Assyrians (New York, 1903) ; Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das alte Testament (Giessen, 1883; Eng. trans.. London. 1897) ; Pinches, The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of .Assyria ami Babyloiiia (London. 1902) ; Hilprecht, Explorations in Bible Lands During the Nineteenth Century (Phila- delphia. 190.3) ; and the works mentioned in the article Assyria. See also Assyrian Art; CrxEiFORM Inscriptions, and the biographical notices of the different excavators. NINE WORTHIES, TiiE. Nine heroes of history and romance, long popular in medi-fval art and story. They are mentioned in the preface to Caxton's Malory's Morte d'Arthur, as the "X^ine Worthy and the best that ever were;" to wit, three Paynims, three .Jews, and three Chris- tian men. These are Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, .Joshua, David, .Judas Maccabaeus, King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon. These heroes were a familiar and popular subject in tapestries and paintings, and figured also in masks and pageants. Dunlop mentions in History of Prose Fiction a rare ro- mance, the "Triumphes des neuf Preux," in which the author had a vision of the nine worthies. Brunet intimates that the original was of Spanish origin. The nine are mentioned also in English literature. Shakespeare parodies them in Love's Labor's Lost, and Dryden alludes to them in The Flower and the Leaf. NING-PO, ning'p(5' (Chin.. Calm AVaves). A treaty port in the Province of Che-kiang. China, on the river Tatsish, 12 miles from the sea (Map: China, F 6). The inclosed space is about five miles in circumference. The brick walls, 25 feet high and 22 feet thick at the base, are pierced by six gates. The city is f:unous for its temples, pagoda, stone bridges, and a library, the fourth in point of number of volumes in the Empire. The gold and silver work, confectionery, lacquer work, and carving are noted all over China. The Portuguese settled in 1522 in Ning-po, but were driven out in 1545 after a massacre, in which 800 out of 1200 Europeans were slain. The city was occupied by the British forces for six months in 1841-42, and was opened to foreign trade in 1842. It is an important centre of Christian missions. Ning-po has little direct trade and is principally a distributing station for Shanghai. Its total trade, chiellv imports, amounted in 1900 to more than .$10,000,000. The principal articles of connnerce are green tea, cotton, opium, silk, and sugar. Population, esti- mated at 255,000. NIN'IAN, Saint. The .-postle of the Picts. He lived in the latter half of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century. Whether Chris- tianity had been introduced among the Picts be- fore the time of Xinian has been a subject of