reign of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty in this region), although he does note Mepsila.
In its current Islamic form and spelling, the term Mosul, or rather "Mawsil" stands for the "linking point" � or loosely, the Junction City, in Arabic. Mosul should not be confused with the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh which is located across the Tigris from Mosul on the eastern banks, at the famed archaeological mound of Kuyunjik (Turkoman for "sheep's hill"). This area is better known today as the town of Nebi Yunus ("prophet Jonah"). The site contain the tomb of the Biblical Jonah as he lived and died in Nineveh, then the capital of ancient Assyria. Today, this entire area has been absorbed into Mosul metropolitan area. The surviving Assyrians, refer to entire city of Mosul as Nineveh (or rather, Ninweh).
It is also named al-Faiha ("the Paradise"), al-Kha?rah ("the Green") and al-Hadbah ("the Humped"). It is sometimes described as "The Pearl of the North"
