Editing Ninus (section)

==In Hellenic historiography==
Many early accomplishments are attributed to Ninus, such as training the first hunting dogs, and taming horses for riding.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} For this accomplishment, he is sometimes represented in Greek mythology as a [[centaur]].

The figures of King Ninus and Queen [[Semiramis]] first appear in the history of Persia written by [[Ctesias of Cnidus]] (c. 400 BC), who claimed, as court physician to [[Artaxerxes II]], to have access to the royal historical records.<ref>''"Like a Bird in a Cage": The Invasion of Sennacherib'', Lester L. Grabbe (2003), p. 121-122</ref> Ctesias' account was later expanded on by [[Diodorus Siculus]].  Ninus continued to be mentioned by European historians (e.g. [[Alfred the Great]]), until knowledge of [[cuneiform]] enabled a more precise reconstruction of Assyrian and Babylonian history from the mid 19th century onwards.

He was said to have been the son of [[Belus (Assyrian)|Belus]] or [[Bel (mythology)|Bel]], a name that may represent a Semitic title such as [[Ba'al]], "lord" (the famous name of a "god" whom [[Elijah]] opposed in [[1 Kings]] 17ff). According to [[Castor of Rhodes]] (''apud [[George Syncellus|Syncellus]]'' p.&nbsp;167), his reign lasted 52 years, its commencement, according to Ctesias, corresponding to 2189 BC. He was reputed to have conquered the whole of western [[Asia]] in 17 years with the help of Ariaeus, king of [[Arabia]], and to have founded the first empire, defeating the legendary kings Barzanes of [[Armenia]] (whom he spared) and Pharnus of [[Media (region)|Media]] (whom he had crucified). 
[[File:Ninus.png|thumb|left|300px|Ninus' Empire according to [[Diodoros]]]]

As the story goes, Ninus, having conquered all neighboring Asian countries apart from India and [[Bactriana]], then made war on Oxyartes, king of Bactriana, with an army of nearly two million, taking all but the capital, [[Bactra]]. During the siege of Bactra, he met Semiramis, the wife of one of his officers, [[Onnes (general)|Onnes]], whom he took from her husband and married. The fruit of the marriage was [[Ninyas]], said to have succeeded Ninus.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ninus|title=Ninus {{!}} Greek mythology|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-04-25|language=en}}</ref>

Ctesias (as known from Diodorus) also related that after the death of Ninus, his widow Semiramis, who was rumored to have murdered Ninus, erected to him a temple-tomb, 9 [[stadia (length)|stadia]] high and 10 stadia broad, near [[Babylon]], where the story of [[Pyramus and Thisbe]] (Πύραμος; Θίσβη) was later based. She was further said to have made war on the last remaining independent monarch in Asia, king Stabrobates of India, but was defeated and wounded, abdicating in favour of her son Ninyas.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyantiquit09duncgoog|title=The History of Antiquity|last=Duncker|first=Max|date=1882-01-01|publisher=R. Bentley & son|language=en}}</ref>