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Nimrod’s Fortress

If I ever made a list of best places to visit in Israel, the site that would probably take the award for “best place to explore” would be Nimrod’s Castle. Also known as Subeibeh and Banias Fortress, the castle on the slopes of Mount Hermon was long believed to be one of a string of Crusader castles found throughout the Levant. More recent archaeological investigation has determined that the fortress was built by the Ismali’is (c. 1130) and then expanded by Malik el-Aziz Uthman (c. 1230).

The Crusaders held the castle for a brief time, but they were not responsible for its initial construction or its later expansion.

Nimrod’s Fortress from the east

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg has written a good summary of the castle’s history and beauty in the Jerusalem Post this week.

The best way to tour the extensive castle is to follow a path along the walls, which passes all sixteen towers, each one bearing a different, elaborate, stonework design. At first glance, the architecture looks to be styled by the Crusaders, but further examination reveals that the arches do not bear the vintage pointed, gothic trademark, and the lintels over the doorways have double corbels and decorated relieving arches, which is typical Arab style. However, obvious similarities inevitably exist given that Muslim work is contemporary with that of the Crusaders, and the locals clearly absorbed some of the fine French designs of their enemies.
Of the sixteen towers, the large, semi-circular structure on the southern wall – appropriately dubbed, the “Beautiful Tower” – is of particular note. The massive central pier is asymmetrical and octagonal, and reconciles the outer semicircle, composed of five sides, to the inner rectangular plan of three sides. The vaults from the pier to the outside walls, although now partly destroyed, reflect the complicated curved surfaces that had to be cut in stone to achieve the precise reconciliation between the curved and rectangular layout of the tower.
Visiting the site with children can be enormously enjoyable, given the many strange and interesting staircases, as well as the stepped, “secret passage” which serves as an exit on the west end. The passage was either an elaborate postern or hidden pedestrian entrance, and was uncovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 1994. Some of the towers, as well as the keep, have retained their original stone roofing, and from there one can appreciate the extensive view over the deep, adjoining valleys of the Sa’ar and Guvta wadis. Those who launched attacks against the fortress from these low points must have either been intensely brave or profoundly insane.

The full article is here.

HT: Joe Lauer

Nimrod’s Fortress, 1900-1920

View of Nimrod’s Fortress from the keep with Huleh Basin and mountains of Upper Galilee

Black and white photo from Northern Palestine CD, volume 1 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. Photo: Library of Congress, LC-matpc-01121. Color photographs from Galilee and the North CD of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Galilee

New Series: Ancient Context, Ancient Faith

I recently received from the publisher two books in a new series that will be of interest to readers here. The series is entitled “Ancient Context, Ancient Faith,” and the first two books in the series were released this summer. The writer of both of these books is Gary M. Burge, but it’s not clear to me if he will author the entire series.

Both books are very attractive and once you pick the books up, you’ll immediately be impressed by the beautiful maps and photos (disclosure: some are mine). I like the books’ handy size, layout, and logical presentation of these important subjects.

The Bible and the Land. I’ve taught a course similarly titled (flip the order of the words) for years, but this book is not a historical geography of Israel.

Instead, you get a sense for the contents from the one word titles of the chapters: Introduction, Land, Wilderness, Shepherds, Rock, Water, Bread, Names. These are subjects that are often not carefully dealt with in a Bible atlas, geography course, or tour of Israel, but are very much part of the fabric of the biblical world.

Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller. This book is dedicated to Kenneth E. Bailey, “who taught me [Burge] how to read a parable.” Those familiar with Bailey’s excellent work will see similarities, even in the fact that all but one of the parables studied are from the Gospel of Luke. Like Bailey, Burge seeks a more accurate understanding of Jesus’ parables by considering cultural elements from the 1st century land of Israel. The chapter titles indicate the parables included: the Friend Who Came at Midnight, Stories about Excuses, Stories about Compassion, Stories of Forgiveness (Matt 18), Finding the Lost, and the Foolish Builder.

The books are not long (c. 100 pages each), and they quite possibly will whet your appetite for deeper study. I think that many will find them welcome gifts for birthdays or Christmas. More advanced readers will want to continue with Bailey’s latest work, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels.

Another beautiful book that came out this year that was co-authored by Burge is The New Testament in Antiquity, which was positively reviewed a few days ago by my colleague at The Master’s College, Dr. William Varner, on his new blog.

Tagged Resources

Gordon’s Calvary, Then and Now

General Charles Gordon was a well-known British leader when he came to live near Jerusalem in 1882, often visiting the home of Horatio and Anna Spafford, founders of the American Colony. From their quarters atop the northern wall of the Old City, Gordon had a view of a rocky escarpment in which he identified the features of a skull. He identified this location as the “Place of the Skull” (Aramaic: Golgotha; Latin: Calvary). Around the corner was an ancient tomb which he believed was the empty tomb of Christ. A decade later, the property was purchased by a concerned group of Christians in England and the Garden Tomb Association was formed.

The area known as “Gordon’s Calvary,” early 1900s

In this photo, taken between 1898 and 1914, the view is similar to the one that Gordon had from the American Colony home. The caves that form the eye sockets of the skull are visible just left of center. The tomb is out of view behind the wall on the left side. On the top of the hill some tombs of the Muslim cemetery can be seen. The camels are walking east along what is today a busy four-lane street.

The photo below was taken in 2006 and the most prominent feature is the bus station. The two “eye sockets” are visible, but most of the rest of the landscape is covered. If you believe that Jesus was crucified in this area, you’ll do better using the black and white photo to visualize the event.

The area known as “Gordon’s Calvary,” present day

Concerning the tomb’s authenticity, Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister wrote in 1907:

It is a pity that so much is claimed for [this tomb]; the prejudice raised thereby is apt to blind one to the fact that it is a remarkably interesting sepulchre. . . . In conversation with tourists at the hotel in Jerusalem I constantly hear such a remark as this: ‘I came to Jerusalem fully convinced that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was the true site; but I went to the Church and saw all the “mummery” that goes on there, and I saw the Muhammadan soldiers guarding the place to prevent the Christians fighting. Then I went to that peaceful garden: and then I knew that the church was wrong, and that Gordon had found the real site.’ This is the most convincing argument that can be advanced in favor of the tomb, and it is obviously quite unanswerable (Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 1907, p. 232).

The top photo is one 15 photographs in a presentation of the Garden Tomb in the newly released Jerusalem CD, volume 2 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. The presentation includes a carefully researched history of the area. Photo: Library of Congress, LC-matpc-06666.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Jerusalem, Then and Now

BAS Lecture Series in New Orleans

The Biblical Archaeology Society is sponsoring the 12th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest in New Orleans from November 20 to 22. A full schedule is not yet out, but a preliminary posting of speakers and lecture titles is now available at the BAS website. The line-up is outstanding, and I’m planning on attending. Below are the lectures that look most interesting to me.

Anson Rainey, Tel Aviv University: Whence Came the Israelites and Their Language?

Aren Maeir, Bar Ilan University: Fleshing out the Bible at Philistine Gath: The Interface of Bible and Archaeology

Avraham Faust, Bar Ilan University: The Assyrian Peace: A Reexamination

Dan Schowalter, Carthage College: Architecture and Power: Excavations of a Roman Temple Site at Omrit in Northern Israel

James Charlesworth, Princeton Theological Seminary: Should the Gospel of John be Used in Jesus Research?

James Tabor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Media Hype, Academic Squabbles, and the James Ossuary: Getting the Facts Straight

Jim Hoffmeier, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School: Exploring David’s Strange Antics after Defeating Goliath

Leonard Greenspoon, Creighton University: Ten Common Misconceptions about Bible Translation: How I Learned to Live with—and even Love—Modern Versions of the Bible

Mark Wilson, Asia Minor Research Center: In the Footsteps of Paul in Asia Minor: Are there Still Roman Roads to Follow?

Steve Mason, York University: The Historical Problem of the Essenes

Sean Freyne, Trinity College, Dublin: The Archaeology of Roman Galilee: What we have and have not learned about Jesus the Galilean

Yosef Garfinkel, Hebrew University: *Plenary Session Speaker*: Khirbet Qeiyafa: Not Shaaraim, but Ephes-dammim.

Just kidding on that last title. (If you don’t get it, you’ll have to slog through last year’s posts on the subject, especially here, here, and here.) The true title is: Khirbet Qeiyafa: A Fortified City in Judah from the Time of King David.

Tagged Lectures

Siloam Street Excavations Extended

Excavations continue to reveal more of the large 1st century city street that ran from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has issued a press release and made available two high-resolution photographs of the street and drainage channel.

The street is beautifully paved and though only 6 feet (2 m) in width have been exposed, the full width of the street is estimated to be 25 feet (8 m).

As far as I can tell, this story is not relating a new discovery but indicates that excavation work (once halted) has continued with success. It was mentioned on this blog before in December 2005, December 2006, and September 2007. In the 2005 post, I wrote:

The archaeologist told me that he would like to reveal the entire length of the road from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. I told him he was crazy. Unless he is thinking of digging a tunnel underneath all of those houses. Then he’s still crazy :-).

Leen Ritmeyer believes that the report concerns a different street, namely a side street on the east side of the Byzantine/upper pool. He has a helpful drawing that illustrates that. In the articles I have read, it has not been clear to me that a separate street has been found, but Ritmeyer may have first-hand knowledge. (See update below.)

You can ignore any reports which describe these excavations as undermining Al Aqsa Mosque. The mosque is 1600 feet (500 m) distant. You should also ignore the ubiquitous comment in the news stories that the dig is funded by Elad. Such a note insinuates that the archaeologists distort their results, and anyone who knows Ronny Reich and Eli Shukrun knows that that is a falsehood.

Joe Lauer has sent along links to the story in various sources, including Haaretz, the Jerusalem Post, and Arutz-7. A previously mentioned IAA video of a tour of the City of David includes this street.

UPDATE (9/16): Ritmeyer has posted a correction.

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem

En Gev, Then and Now

One of my favorite places in Israel is not visited by most tourists. (Come to think of it, that’s true of most of my favorite places.) I like tells and I love panoramic vistas. But I also love to sit back, put my feet in the Sea of Galilee, and relax. Give me a book or give my kids a raft and it’s all the better. I’ve probably watched the sun set over the Sea of Galilee from here more than 200 times.

En Gev Holiday Village

The place is En Gev, and it hasn’t always been a beautiful holiday resort. In biblical times, people were settled on the tell in the middle of today’s kibbutz. Some have identified it as “Lower Aphek.”

In the 1930s, courageous Jewish pioneers settled this uninhabited area with a “tower and stockade.”

The compound became a kibbutz, and from 1948 to 1967 residents lived below the Syrian-controlled mountains of the Golan Heights. Shelling was frequent and bomb shelters became bedrooms. Since 1967, Israel has controlled the Golan Heights and Kibbutz En Gev has developed a flourishing tourist industry, including the holiday village, tourist boats, and fish restaurant.

En Gev settlement with watchtower. Date of photograph: 1934-39

As you drive along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee today, there is relatively little development. One reason for that is the hostile conditions until 1967 and the uncertainty since then of the Golan Heights’ future.

The second photograph is one of 600 high-resolution images in the newly released Northern Palestine CD, volume 1 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. Photo: Library of Congress, LC-matpc-03684.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Galilee, Then and Now