Randolph journal. [volume] (Winchester, Indiana) 1865-186?, 1866-12-13
CITIES OF THE BIBLE
By JENNIE HARRISON.

I'm the prophecy of Jonah it IS said
"Nineyeh was an exceeding grea
city, Of three days journey And
what IS it now. Heaps of ruins! il
splendor is buried, and its exceedine
greatness IS gone. s..,,f.
Nineveh was the capital Of the king
dom Of Assyria, in Asia. This coun
try you will now find on your map
called Kourdistan. The city was Sit
uated on the river Tigris; and is sup
posed 10 have been one Of the most
ancient cities of the world. In the
tenth chapter Of Genesis and eleventh
verse, where we are told of the founda.
ton OF Nineveh, there is little doubt
about the translation. On the margin
/ you viii see it reads thus: "He that
is Nimrod, spoken of in the min tn
verse, went out into Assyria and
builded Eineveh," &c. Some suppose
the city 10 have been founded by AS
shur, who was son of Shem, and
others by Nimrod, who was a son OF
Cush, and "a mighty hunter before
/ the Lord.n li
After this notice of the building OF
Nineveh il Is not mentioned again
until 2 Kings, 1e: 49, Here we are
told that Sennacherib, King of Assyria,
dwelt there, and how he was slain
while worshipping an idol. In Isaiah
3Tth, the account Is exactly the same.
Then Nipeveh is not spoken of again
till the time of the prophet Jonah, who
was sent by God to warn the people
that their city should be destroyed In
forty days, because Of their wicked
ness. Af.i
"Nineveh was an exceeding great
city.n Ancient historians tell US that
it was nineteen miles long and eleven
broad, and about sixty miles in cir
cumference. Now you will under
stand the expression "of three days
jouney.n A Jewish days journey
was twenty miles; and ii would re-
quire three such Journeys to travel
round the city. 1t was surrounded by
walls 100 feet high, and so wide that
three chariots could drive abreast upon
them. These walls were fortified by
1900 towers, each 300 feet high. In
the fourth chapter of Jonah and elev-
cnth verse we are told that there were
"more than six score thousand per-
sonsn who could not "discern between
their right hand and their left hand. I"
BY these were probably meant the
young children of the city. Now, If
there were 10000 children, you viii
see that the whole population must
have been very great; about 600,O00.
Into this exceeding great city Jonah
entered, $50 years before Christ, and
"cried and said, yet forty days and
Nineyeh shall be overthrown. The
people were alarmed and began TO re-
pent of their sins, and proclaimed a
fast, and pat on saekcloth, and turned
from their evil course, in the hope that
God would turn away his angerand
not cause them to perish. And God
ever kind and merciful--saw their
works and forgave their sias, and did
not destroy them.'t8a orr .viHCds
How the prophet was displeased at
this, and how God rebuked him, you
can all read in the last chapter of
Jonah. = But alas! they returned, 10
their evil ways again; and the next
prophet, Nahum, foretold their de-
struction. The city was To DO partly
destroyed by water and partly by fire.
The eighth verse of the second chapter
of Nahum says: "Nineveh is of old
like pool of water This supposed
TO be a reference to the moats and
dams by which the water could be let
in upon the city. :, y-
The prophecies were all fulfilled; and
about 625 years before Christ the
great city" became a ruin. Her high
walls and towers, her many inhabi-
tants, her wealth and splendor could
none Of them save her when the hand
OF God was reached out TO destroy her.
"This is the rejoicing city that dwelt
carelessly, that said in heart, i am,
and there is none beside me; how is
she become u desolationl" Zeph. 2:
l5.) She was 50 utterly destroyed by
the Saracens that, for long ages, there
seemed to be no traces of even the
spot where the great city had once
stood. The ruins were SO covered with
soil that they appeared like natural
hills. .9..
About the year lSil some gentlemen
began to explore these hills ormoands;
and since then many curious and in
teresting discoveries have been made
there which prove it certainly TO be
the grave of Nineveh. The search
has brought TO light the remains of
temples and palaces covered with
sculpture and with inscriptions which
have been partly deciphered and
found to be records of the city, which
agree exactly with the accounts given
in the Bible. These inscriptions are
written in characters having the shape
of an arrowhead. Thus it is called
the arrow-headed or cuagorm writing.
1t would look very strange to you; and
no doubt many of you would think IL