Nimrod Fortress 0493-10 israel
The fortress was built around 1229 by Al-Aziz Uthman, nephew of Saladin and younger son of Al-Adil I, to pre-empt any attempt on Damascus by the Sixth Crusade. It was named Qala'at al-Subeiba, "Castle of the Large Cliff" in arabic. It was further expanded to contain the whole ridge by 1230, and Baibars strengthened it and added larger towers after 1260. The castle was given to Baibars's second-on-command, Bilik. The new governor started the broad construction activities. When the construction was finished, Bilik memorialized his work and glorified the name of sultan in a 1275 inscription. After the death of Baibars, his son arranged for Bilik to be murdered, apparently because he feared his power. At the end of the 13th century, following the Muslim conquest of the port city of Akko (Acre) and the end of Crusader rule in the Holy Land, the fortress lost strategic value and fell into disrepair. After the Ottoman Turks conquered the land in 1517, they used the fortress as a luxury prison for Ottoman nobles who had been exiled to Palestine. The fortress was abandoned later in the 16th century and only local shepherds and their flocks were temporary guests within its walls. The fortress was ruined by an earthquake in the 18th century. The Jews called it Nimrod Fortress after Nimrod, a biblical figure who according to tradition had lived on the summit:
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Photo credit: © yoel harel / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: fortress, nimrod,
