Who You Calling a Nimrod?

Nowadays the word "nimrod" is most commonly used to describe someone who is an idiot. This is the word that has come to mind since my last blog entry, in which I named some Texans (Willie Nelson, ZZ Top and Dan Rather) who I thought had a legitimate claim to the title of greatest Texan since Davy Crockett (of Tennessee). Soon after posting the blog entry, it was brought to my attention that I had neglected to mention the one person who truly is the greatest Texan since old Davy: my sister Catherine who was born at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, TX. So let this blog posting set the record straight once and for all. Case closed!

Nimrod was on my mind for other reasons this week, too. Three other fellows and I made a trip north to Tel Dan (my last visit of the year to the site), and afterwards we continued north to a Crusader period castle, which is called Nimrod, after one of Ham's descendants who was well-known for his hunting expertise (see Genesis 10:8-9).

Here is a view of the castle from Tel Dan:

And then here is our group: me, Rodney, Christine and John. The castle is built on a long ridge with two large tower complexes on either end. We are standing on one and you can see the second in the distance.
Here is the cistern which collected water for the castle. I'm not sure if it's still potable. (Rodney was afraid to try it.)
One of the best parts of the visit was getting to the top of the second tower from which we could see Mount Hermon, the highest peak in Israel. It is the brown mountain rising from my right arm. The peak itself if slightly obscured, but if you follow the brown until it ends, that last part is the peak.
On our way back to Jerusalem, we drove down through the Golan Heights from which you can see Syria. Here is a shot of the only border between Israel and Syria; it is actually a UN outpost, and UN workers are the only ones who are allowed to pass through. Beyond this compound is Syria.