Biblical Archaeology Review - January-February 2018

STRATA

14 January/February 2018

Jonah’s Destroyed Tomb Reveals an Archaeological Secret

Reporting the loss of world

cultural heritage in the

hands of religious extrem-

ists has become a sad part of

daily news. Shortly after the

city of Mosul in modern-day

northern Iraq was taken by

ISIS in 2014, the terror group

broadcast their destruction

of one of the area’s most holy

sites, the Tomb of Jonah

mosque situated on Tell

Nabi Yunus. Venerated by

local Christians and Muslims

alike, the alleged resting

place of the Biblical prophet

(known in Arabic as “Nabi

Yunus”) was blown up pre-

cisely because of its status as

a shrine.

Last January, the east-

ern part of Mosul—located

across the Tigris River from

the ancient Assyrian city of

Nineveh, where the prophet

Jonah ministered—was liber-

ated. This allowed antiquities

experts to assess the monu-

ments and historical sites

there. When they inspected

the Jonah mosque (now

reduced to a ruin), experts

made an unexpected find.

Crawling through a laby-

rinth of narrow tunnels dug

in the mound by ISIS, they

discovered archaeological

remains of what appears to

be a palace.

This palace comes from

the seventh century B.C.E.,

a period when the Assyrian

Empire dominated the Near

East, including the kingdoms

of Israel and Judah. Archae-

ologists were aware of the

existence of a palace in the

area, but they had never

conducted proper excava-

tions under the mosque.

Paradoxically, the campaign

of destruction of religious and

archaeological sites has now

revealed the ancient palace,

which was constructed by the

Assyrian king Sennacherib

(reigned 705–681 B.C.E.) in

c. 690, expanded by his son

Esarhaddon (r. 681–669), and

renovated under Assurbanipal

(r. 669–627).

From the rubble emerged

mudbrick walls, fragments

of statues, stone reliefs (see

the image at left of a demi-

goddess sprinkling the “water

of life” to protect humans in

her care), pottery, and cunei-

form inscriptions. It is reason-

able to expect that the newly

discovered texts shed light

on Sennacherib’s campaign

against Judah. But before

archaeologists can embark

on any exploration, they first

have to make sure the site is

safe because the tunnels can

collapse at any time.

The new discovery is

overshadowed by the fact

that the tunnels were dug in

search of antiquities to sell

on the black market and to

help fund terrorism. Tellingly,

a trove of antiquities was

seized from an ISIS official

in Mosul. It is also deplorable

that many more artifacts dis-

appeared, monuments were

damaged, and the archae-

ology of the site was dis-

turbed—irreversibly.—M.D.

WHO DID IT?

Who deciphered

the language

of the Hittites?

JOEL CARILLET/ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES ANSWER ON P. 67