Sunday, November 17, 2013

Nimrod Fortress in the Golan Heights

 There are LOTS of mediaeval castles scattered around Israel.  This is a Muslim castle that belonged to the nephew of Saladin.  Begun about 1229, it was built to withstand a Christian onslaught against Damascus when the Muslims were anticipating trouble about the time of the 6th crusade.  It was in use only a little over 175 years, when the Muslims kicked the Crusaders out of Acco at the end of the 13th century.  It started out as a smallish castle and eventually encompassed the entire mountain top and is many acres in size.
 Hmmm... where's waldork?
How did they get those small stones to stay up in the upper arch, for almost a 1,000 years?  It is easy to see the structure in the doorway of the shaped stones and the keystone.  It is not so easy to see in the upper arch.
 This is standing at one end of the complex and looking towards the other end.  Probably a 1/2 mile walk!  By the way this complex is just south of Mt. Hermon.
 Another view looking back at where the last photo was shot.
 One of the big cisterns.  Water is always an issue in the Middle East.
This is over the main gate.  

The Hyraxes LOVE abandoned medieval castles

 Aren't they CUTE!?!?!
The Hyraxes are about the size of a cat.

 They look so snugly, but they are shy and scamper away if you try to approach them.
They apparently live in large communities... like prairie dogs.  Thankfully they seem to prefer rocky embankments and abandoned castles, instead of rolling prairies.   They are herbivores although I am not sure what they eat.
They seemed to be as interested in us, as we were of them.  The dictionary says that they are related to otters and are fully aquatic if found around rivers and lakes.  Instead of the long skinny bodies of otters however, Hyraxes are round and furry.  We saw lots of them from basically Bet She'an to Lebanon.