An ancient city located on the east bank of the Tigris, opposite the modern city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It was the oldest city of the ancient Assyrian empire and its capital during the reign of Sennacherib (704–681 bc) until it was destroyed by a coalition of Babylonians and Medes in 612 bc. A famous archaeological site, it was first excavated by the French in 1820 and later by the British; it is noted for its monumental Neo-Assyrian palace, library, and statuary and for its crucial sequence of prehistoric pottery.