Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Fall of Nineveh

Fall of Nineveh was a battle fought in 612 BC at Nineveh, in what is now Iraq. It was part of the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire, which ran from 626 BC to 609 BC. The recorded result: Medo-Babylonian victory.

See it on the globe Read the article

Nineveh. The Mashki Gate. Reconstructed. One of the fifteen gateways of ancient Nineveh. The lower portions of the stone retaining wall are original. The gateway structure itself was originally of mud
Nineveh. The Mashki Gate. Reconstructed. One of the fifteen gateways of ancient Nineveh. The lower portions of the stone retaining wall are original. The gateway structure itself was originally of mud. Photo by Fredarch., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought612 BC
WhereNineveh, Iraq36.359N, 43.153E
OutcomeMedo-Babylonian victory
BelligerentsNeo-Babylonian Empire; Median KingdomagainstNeo-Assyrian Empire
Part ofMedo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire626 BC to 609 BC

Where it sits in the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire

Battle of Gablini, 616 BCFall of Assur, 614 BCFall of Tarbisu, 614 BCFall of Nineveh, 612 BCFall of Harran, 610 BCSiege of Harran, 609 BC616 BC609 BCFall of Nineveh, 612 BC
6 placed engagements of the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date612 BC (year precision)
PlaceNineveh, Iraq
36.359N, 43.153E
KindBattle, ancient
Commanders
  • Sîn-šar-iškun
Fall of NinevehFall of NinevehBattle of NinevehSiege of MosulSiege of MosulSiege of MosulBattle of GaugamelaBattle of NinevehSiege of MosulKirkukIrbilZakhoUrmiaNusaybinDuhok100 km36.359N, 43.153E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Fall of Nineveh
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Fall of Nineveh today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-07-29. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 246 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 204 to 287 m, 83 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 62% built-up, 17% grassland, 8% tree cover.

built-up: 62%grassland: 17%tree cover: 8%cropland: 6%bare ground: 4%water: 3%built-up 62%grassland 17%tree cover 8%cropland 6%bare ground 4%
west to east, 10.0 km212 to 261 mnorth to south, 10.0 km210 to 282 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 5 times between 612 BC and 1743.

In the same war

Fall of Nineveh is one of 25 engagements of the 7th century BC in the atlas and one of 173 in present-day Iraq.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q612286, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Fall of Nineveh, revision 1379442153, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.