Visible only from the air, previously unseen lines stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia in what are being dubbed the Middle East’s own Nazca lines. The ancient “geoglyphs” are similar to those in the Peruvian desert and with the latest satellite imagery and aerial photography from Jordan, researchers have discovered perhaps thousands of lines in the desert in the Middle East. Referred to by archaeologists as “wheels,” these stone structures have a wide variety of designs, with a common one being a circle with spokes radiating inside. Researchers believe that they date back to antiquity, at least 2,000-years-ago. They are often found on lava fields and range from 82 feet to 230 feet across. “In Jordan alone we’ve got stone-built structures that are far more numerous than (the) Nazca Lines, far more extensive in the area that they cover, and far older,” said David Kennedy, a professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Western Australia. Source: Bikya Masr, Image: flickr.com
Monday, 10 October 2011
Middle East’s ‘Nazca lines’ discovered
Visible only from the air, previously unseen lines stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia in what are being dubbed the Middle East’s own Nazca lines. The ancient “geoglyphs” are similar to those in the Peruvian desert and with the latest satellite imagery and aerial photography from Jordan, researchers have discovered perhaps thousands of lines in the desert in the Middle East. Referred to by archaeologists as “wheels,” these stone structures have a wide variety of designs, with a common one being a circle with spokes radiating inside. Researchers believe that they date back to antiquity, at least 2,000-years-ago. They are often found on lava fields and range from 82 feet to 230 feet across. “In Jordan alone we’ve got stone-built structures that are far more numerous than (the) Nazca Lines, far more extensive in the area that they cover, and far older,” said David Kennedy, a professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Western Australia. Source: Bikya Masr, Image: flickr.com