We do not normally associate Greek mythology with lands as far away as the Middle East. Nonetheless, ancient Greek records speak of a mysterious king of Assyria named Ninus. Who was he? Did he even really exist? One would have to look at the available evidence.
Who was King Ninus of Assyria?
King Ninus of Assyria appears in the writings of Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the first century BCE. However, Diodorus was actually summarizing the writings of Ctesias, a Greek historian who wrote around 400 BCE.
Ctesias’ history of Assyria begins with the story of Ninus. He does not explicitly say Ninus was the first king of the Assyrians, but he suggests he was the first significant king. In fact, Ctesias presents him not merely as a king but as an emperor. According to the Greek historian, King Ninus massively expanded the borders of Assyria.
One notable achievement of Ninus was the conquest of Babylonia in the southeast. Furthermore, he conquered as far as Anatolia in the west. He also had political influence over Arabia in the southwest. Finally, he conquered as far as India in the east. Thus, Ninus transformed Assyria into a great empire.
A further detail is that Ninus constructed a city, which he named after himself. Ctesias also explains that Ninus’ wife was Semiramis, who took power after his death, and that their son was Ninyas.
Was King Ninus of Assyria a real person?
Some researchers believe King Ninus of Assyria was simply a fictional creation of Greek historians. On the other hand, there are many historians who believe the account of Ninus is actually a distorted version of a historical king of Assyria.
A very helpful detail is the fact that King Ninus was the first of a line of thirty kings, which Ctesias presents as being a strict line of father-to-son descent. The twenty-second king reigned at the time of the Trojan War. The final king was the one who was overthrown at the destruction of Nineveh. Since we know who that king was, and the records of the kings of Assyria are fairly complete, it is not too difficult to work out who King Ninus must have been.
In reality, we know that the kings of the Assyrian Empire did not follow a convenient line of father-to-son descent. While many of the kings were indeed the sons of their predecessors, many were brothers or even uncles. Nonetheless, when we count back approximately thirty generations from the last king of Assyria, one king stands out as the obvious candidate for the real Ninus.
Tukulti-Ninurta was the real Ninus
The king in question was named Tukulti-Ninurta I. He lived in the thirteenth century BCE. We can see that he had a name that could plausibly be the origin of ‘Ninus.’ This could be a shortening of ‘Tukulti-Ninurta,’ leaving just the second half, ‘Ninurta.’ This, in turn, could have been shortened into ‘Ninus,’ making it more palatable to the Greek ear.
As it happens, Tukulti-Ninurta I greatly expanded the borders of Assyria, turning it from a prominent state into a major regional power. His exploits are written on contemporary cuneiform tablets. One of the most important events from his reign is that he conquered Babylonia, exactly like Ninus in Greek mythology. This is significant because he was the first Assyrian king to achieve this.
Furthermore, Tukulti-Ninurta fought against the Hittites of Anatolia. While he did not conquer their territory, he did defeat them in battle in the border region between the Hittites and the Assyrians. This victory over the Hittites could plausibly have evolved into the legend of Ninus conquering the area that they ruled over.
Additionally, the Assyrian cuneiform tablets record that Tukulti-Ninurta I engaged in a military campaign into Arabia. Finally, there is also a record of him claiming to have conquered as far as northwest India, the site of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. Whether he actually did conquer that far or not is another matter.
In any case, the claimed exploits of this Assyrian king are a very close match for the legend of Ninus recorded in Greek mythology.
Ninus’ city
What about the detail regarding the city that Ninus founded? Allegedly, Ninus founded a great city on the banks of the Euphrates River, and he named this city after himself. Many researchers take this to be a confused reference to Nineveh, which was on the banks of the Tigris River.
However, we could just as easily interpret this as a different city on the bank of the Tigris. Tukulti-Ninurta I did indeed found a great city there, evidently intended as a new capital of Assyria. Furthermore, he named this city after himself, just like Ninus in the legend. The name of the city was Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta.
Therefore, not only do Tukulti-Ninurta’s military exploits match those of King Ninus of Assyria but so too do his construction projects within his empire. Thus, it is virtually certain that the legendary King Ninus of Assyria from Greek records can be identified as the historical Tukulti-Ninurta I.
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