DAMASCUS -- Archaeologists claim they have discovered an 11-millennium-old building on the banks of the Euphrates River in northern Syria. A remarkable discovery has just been uncovered of a large circular building dating back to 8,800 BC near [the locality of] Ja'de," the head of the French archaeological team that made the find said. The building, much larger than normal houses, "had a collective use, probably for all of the village or a group," Eric Coqueugniot said. "A part of this community building takes the shape of the head of a bull and retains painted decorations, the oldest known in the Middle East," he said.

"The multi-colored geometrical paintings" that decorate the building would be displayed at the museum of Aleppo, in northern Syria, he added. "Many hunting weapons, domestic tools ... were discovered at this level. The majority of these tools are made of flint and very few are of obsidian [volcanic stone]," he said. Coqueugniot heads the team of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France's largest scientific establishment, which has led the excavation work at the site for the past 15 years.

You should read After the Ice by Steven Mithen.

The Middle East is full of ancient settlements with a number of example of 2 story houses with white plaster lined wall, dating to over 10,000 year ago. Houses much better than many Englishmen were living in just 500 year ago ....

yeah i geuss you COULD get used to your digs smelling like shi.....but why would you?

http://powerballplace.blogspot.com/2006/11...ises-syria.html

in a video posted on YouTube but removed today, titled "Building Bridges," Warren is shown walking down a Damascus street commenting on political and social life in Syria, saying Christians and Muslims get along with each other.

The reports from the official Syrian news agency included statements that:

"Pastor Warren hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people."

"Syria wants peace, and Muslims and Christians live in this country jointly and peacefully since more than a thousand years, and this is not new for Syria."

Ive always like stone work though, it portrays permanency and strength, the best phalic symbol ever.

The Canaanite Phoenicians, particularly those inhabitants of Aradus, Sidon, Tyre and Byblos were mariners. They literally sailed the world, charting the uncharted waters, discovering the Atlantic, circling the African continent about 500 B.C. They set course by the stars, developing and refining the sciences of astronormy and navigation.

The Phoenicians were merchants and traders, selling pottery, glass, woven products, paints, varnishes, cedar and wine. From Mediterranean waters they netted a shell fish, the murex, and extracted its essence to make their purple dyes.

During their centuries of travel, they colonized new cities and fathered descendants to populate them. (Legend says that Elissa, sister of the king of Tyre, angered by male domination during the 8th century B.C., crossed to Africa with a party of her supporters and founded Carthage - New City, and a new kingdom ). Gaza, Tripoli, Joppa, Ascolon, and Ashdod, Tarsus, Hebron and Samaria were once Phoenician cities.





For centuries the goods from all countries of the known world had floated on the waters of the Mediterranean, the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea and trade served as a bridge for the exchange of arts between east and west. The Phoenician King, Hiram of Tyre, sent cedars and mountain stone from The Lebanon to his friend, the Hebrew King, Solomon of Jerusalem, to build the Temple. In addition, he sent artisans skilled in the crafting of bronze and gold to create the magnificent designs for this wonder that Solomon was raising to the Lord. Solomon, in turn, sent Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat and twenty thousand measures of pure oil each year for his household. The two kings enjoyed a close friendship, exchanging tests of wisdom and placing bets against each other.

The Phoenicians travelled as far as Cornwall for tin.

The record shows that Phoenicians travelled, in the years before the birth of Christ, even to the New World. A stone, marking the year 531 B.C., was discovered several years ago on the banks of the Paraiba River along the coast of Brazil, at a point about a hundred miles north of Rio De Janeiro.

As these great public works of cleaning silt out of canals were interrupted from time to time by internal revolutions and by foreign invaders, the peoples of Mesopotamia were brought face to face with disaster in canals choked with silt. Stoppage of canals by silt depopulated villages and cities more effectively than the slaughter of people by an invading army.

On the basis of an estimate that it was possible in times past to irrigate 21,000 square miles of the 35,000 square miles of the alluvium of Mesopotamia, the population of Mesopotamia at its zenith was probably between 17 and 25 million. The present population of all Iraq is estimated to be about 4,000,000 including nomadic peoples. Of this total not more than 3,500,000 live on the alluvial plain.

http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/0...k.usda/cls.html The mountains of ancient Phoenicia were once covered by the famous forests of cedars of Lebanon. An inscription on the temple of Karnak as translated by Breasted, announces the arrival in Egypt before 2900 B.C. of 40 ships laden with timber of cedar out of Lebanon. You also recall that it was King Solomon, nearly 3000 years ago, who made an agreement with Hiram, King of Tyre, to furnish him cypress and cedars out of these forests for the construction of the temple at Jerusalem. Solomon supplied 80,000 lumberjacks to work in the forest and 70,000 to skid the logs to the sea. It must have been a heavy forest for such a woods force. What has become of this famous forest that once covered nearly 2000 square miles?

This forest was protected in Roman times to grow timber for the Roman fleet as told by inscribed monuments. In the mountains or Lebanon, many monuments were round marked with the letters, "H.D.S." Their meaning was not understood until a stone was found and carried to the museum or the American University at Beirut. The inscription is interpreted to read: "Emperor Hadrian Augustus, Forest Boundary" (Emp. Hdn. Aug. Definitie Silvarum), indicating that in the time or Emperor Hadrian the boundaries of these forests were marked for protection.

This large grove of olive trees are thriving on the plains near Sfax, Tunisia. The scattered groves of this kind that may be found in North Africa today show that the climate is still suitable for agriculture where productive soil is still on the land.

Since discovery of the site, the French Government has been excavating this great center for 30 years and has disclosed remarkable examples of building, of art, and of ways of living during Roman times in North Africa, all supported by the agriculture of the "Granary of Rome." The mosaics that lined the public baths were beautiful in design. Within the city we found ruins of a great bakery with its many grist mills turned by slaves to grind the wheat that grew on the plains. But today this great center of power and culture of the Roman empire is desolation; it is represented by a modern village of only a few hundred inhabitants who live in squalid structures, the walls of which are for the most part built of stone quarried from the ruins of the ancient city.

We saw also where water erosion cut a gully down into the land and exposed an ancient aqueduct that supplied water to the city of Timgad from a great spring some 3 miles away. Within and surrounding Timgad, we studied remarkable ruins of great olive presses where today there is not a single olive tree within the circle of the horizon.

makes you wonder sometimes don't it?

Hey!

If willow sticks and cow manure was good enough for my great-grandfather, it's good enough for me!

--Jaylemurph

Mari, Syria

Mari was one of the major centers of Mesopotamian culture from the mid-third millennium to the eighteenth century BCE. In this class we talked particularly about the Old Babylonian period at Mari and the archives of tablets discovered in the great royal palace. Here we will look at the Zimri-Lim palace from the 20th-18th centuries BCE, the high terrace to its east, which was part of a religious area of the city, and the Temple of Dagan (also called the Temple of the Lions). We will then look at the well preserved Sacred Precinct of the earlier third millennium palace discovered under Zimri-Lim’s.

The palace was excavated by Andre Parrot in the 1930s. It was extraordinarily well preserved, with walls standing over 16 feet high in some places. Nearly 20,000 tablets were eventually discovered in the palace, mostly from the second millennium, and mostly from four archive rooms in the palace. In addition to the tablets, the excavators found large numbers of sculptures and wall paintings, cult objects, as well as hundreds of items for everyday use.

Much older structures have been found in the Mid East.

There are structures at Jericho that date to 12,000 years ago. Stone buildings.

Harte

that pretty much debunks theory of our civilization started about 6000 years ago, doesn,t it?

Found the above interesting bit of the latest Syrian archeological finding... also...when looking it up further... I found that Syria has been bombed recently!!! When will the so called leaders of the world GROW *UP!!!!!

Not really unusual actually.
Who said that anyway?

Not really unusual actually.
Who said that anyway?

the same guys who tried to burn galileo at the stake said that. aka the mainstream thinkers

http://www.holiday-travel.ca/web2/reports/syria/syria.shtml
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/_/viewer.as...me=3453n056.jpg


http://www.thetravelrag.com/docs/10060.asp

...There are at least a hundred cities still to be excavated....

and they are bombing this place.... why?????

Shouldn't there be some preservation order put to the land????

I am sure that combined the history of whole world will benefit.....will find important connections to the discoveries. here....
t

http://www.holiday-travel.ca/web2/reports/syria/syria.shtml
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/_/viewer.as...me=3453n056.jpg


http://www.thetravelrag.com/docs/10060.asp

...There are at least a hundred cities still to be excavated....

and they are bombing this place.... why?????

Shouldn't there be some preservation order put to the land????

I am sure that combined the history of whole world will benefit.....will find important connections to the discoveries. here....
t

that pretty much debunks theory of our civilization started about 6000 years ago, doesn,t it?

that pretty much debunks theory of our civilization started about 6000 years ago, doesn,t it?

or that there was no farming before 7000 years ago....

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/April2007/29-04.htm



LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeological excavations in Pardis Tappeh prehistoric hill resulted in identifying the most ancient industrial site in the Middle East which dates back to 7000 years ago. Archaeologists

believe that this prehistoric hill existed concurrent with Cheshmeh Ali region in Ray city, southern Tehran and northern and southern Sialk Tappeh in Kashan.



With discovery of a large number of clay kilns and head spindles in this industrial site, the previous theory of Dr. Smith, head of the first archaeology team in 7000-year-old historic site of Cheshmeh Ali hill, indicating that the red clays discovered in this area are hand made, has been rejected. This new discovery has further revealed the secret about the technique which was implemented for making these unique red clays some 5000 years BCE.



In an interview with Persian service of CHN, Hassan Fazeli Nashli, director of Archaeology Research Centre and head of the excavation team in Pardis prehistoric site, who believes that the most ancient clay wheel belongs to this region said: “Three seasons of archaeological excavations in Pardis prehistoric site, 80 percent of which has been destroyed due to activities of the brick factory, brought into light the unique importance of this prehistoric site and the necessity for reorganizing its situation and protecting it against possible damages.”

Clay kilns, clay wheels, earthenware jars, and stone necklaces are among the most prominent discoveries in this historic site. However Fazeli believes that the residential settlement area of this industrial site, which could have provided archaeologists some invaluable information about people’s life during 7000 years ago in this region, has already been demolished and changed into pieces of bricks.

QUOTE(aztek @ Oct , 03:27 AM)
that pretty much debunks theory of our civilization started about 6000 years ago, doesn,t it?


or that there was no farming before 7000 years ago....

There are some fantastic legends on this site of how 'Jinns' magically created these cities overnight!!!

I believe if you look into it, there exists no claim anywhere that farming only began in 5,000 BC.

So, it's another big fat straw man by Crystal Sage.

CS,

How about trying to argue some real claims or maybe some actual facts sometimes?

Harte

The English used daub and wattle houses for centuries.
Presumably because it was cheap and the builders were poor.

--Jaylemurph

Actually, for half a millenia under the Romans, the British people lived in stone houses, had runnings water, concrete, flush toilets and bathed every day in hot water. Then the Angles, Saxons and other German barbarians conquered the land, and everybody stopped bathing and adopted the lifestyle of the Germanic conquerors, which amounted to becoming perpetually drunk. brawling among themselves, and raiding and murdering the of other villages. There was no time to cut stones, make concrete, metal pipes, etc. So people made hovels of cow dung and twigs, becasue it was quick an easy and meant more time for drinking and brawling, kind of like how derelicts are content in their cardboard boxes.

Exaggeration? Not at all. The most significatnt of the very rare literature of the early Anglo Saxons, "Beowulf" describes this lifestyle perfectly.

Actually, for half a millenia under the Romans, the British people lived in stone houses, had runnings water, concrete, flush toilets and bathed every day in hot water. Then the Angles, Saxons and other German barbarians conquered the land, and everybody stopped bathing and adopted the lifestyle of the Germanic conquerors, which amounted to becoming perpetually drunk. brawling among themselves, and raiding and murdering the of other villages. There was no time to cut stones, make concrete, metal pipes, etc. So people made hovels of cow dung and twigs, becasue it was quick an easy and meant more time for drinking and brawling, kind of like how derelicts are content in their cardboard boxes.

Exaggeration? Not at all. The most significatnt of the very rare literature of the early Anglo Saxons, "Beowulf" describes this lifestyle perfectly.

Actually, for half a millenia under the Romans, the British people lived in stone houses, had runnings water, concrete, flush toilets and bathed every day in hot water. Then the Angles, Saxons and other German barbarians conquered the land, and everybody stopped bathing and adopted the lifestyle of the Germanic conquerors, which amounted to becoming perpetually drunk. brawling among themselves, and raiding and murdering the of other villages. There was no time to cut stones, make concrete, metal pipes, etc. So people made hovels of cow dung and twigs, becasue it was quick an easy and meant more time for drinking and brawling, kind of like how derelicts are content in their cardboard boxes.

Exaggeration? Not at all. The most significatnt of the very rare literature of the early Anglo Saxons, "Beowulf" describes this lifestyle perfectly.

The germanic/scandinavian/irish settlers for some reason avoided living in the romano british settlements. Archaeologists are changing how they look at pre roman britain. they are starting to say that the roads(that supposedly the romans had built) were here before the romans came.
We can thank the germanic/scandinavian/irish invaders for unifying England under one monarch and for their forms of government.

Actually, for half a millenia under the Romans, the British people lived in stone houses, had runnings water, concrete, flush toilets and bathed every day in hot water. Then the Angles, Saxons and other German barbarians conquered the land, and everybody stopped bathing and adopted the lifestyle of the Germanic conquerors, which amounted to becoming perpetually drunk. brawling among themselves, and raiding and murdering the of other villages. There was no time to cut stones, make concrete, metal pipes, etc. So people made hovels of cow dung and twigs, becasue it was quick an easy and meant more time for drinking and brawling, kind of like how derelicts are content in their cardboard boxes.

Exaggeration? Not at all. The most significatnt of the very rare literature of the early Anglo Saxons, "Beowulf" describes this lifestyle perfectly.

Actually, for half a millenia under the Romans, the British people lived in stone houses, had runnings water, concrete, flush toilets and bathed every day in hot water. Then the Angles, Saxons and other German barbarians conquered the land, and everybody stopped bathing and adopted the lifestyle of the Germanic conquerors, which amounted to becoming perpetually drunk. brawling among themselves, and raiding and murdering the of other villages. There was no time to cut stones, make concrete, metal pipes, etc. So people made hovels of cow dung and twigs, becasue it was quick an easy and meant more time for drinking and brawling, kind of like how derelicts are content in their cardboard boxes.

Exaggeration? Not at all. The most significatnt of the very rare literature of the early Anglo Saxons, "Beowulf" describes this lifestyle perfectly.

I only quoted that number because that was the response I got when discussing the idea of 15000 year old civiliztions in Europe I think when I first joined this forum.... can't quite remember the exact thread... but ... sure can the response!!!

I believe if you look into it, there exists no claim anywhere that farming only began in 5,000 BC.

So, it's another big fat straw man by Crystal Sage.

Actually, for half a millenia under the Romans, the British people lived in stone houses, had runnings water, concrete, flush toilets and bathed every day in hot water. Then the Angles, Saxons and other German barbarians conquered the land, and everybody stopped bathing and adopted the lifestyle of the Germanic conquerors, which amounted to becoming perpetually drunk. brawling among themselves, and raiding and murdering the of other villages. There was no time to cut stones, make concrete, metal pipes, etc. So people made hovels of cow dung and twigs, becasue it was quick an easy and meant more time for drinking and brawling, kind of like how derelicts are content in their cardboard boxes.

Exaggeration? Not at all. The most significatnt of the very rare literature of the early Anglo Saxons, "Beowulf" describes this lifestyle perfectly.

DC: I'm not getting involved again in one of your venomous, pointless attacks against the Germanic tribespeople. If you feel the need to discuss it this much , by all means start your own thread.

--Jaylemurph

Quiet right, CS. When someone mentionsthe posibility of a civilisation older then what our scientist want us to believe then we are asked for actual facts. Now that there is a discovery of a 11,000 year old settlement same people claim they never disputed this posibility.

Excavations at Tell Ramad on the outskirts of the city have demonstrated that Damascus has been inhabited as early as 8000 to 10,000 BC. It is due to this that Damascus is considered to be among the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.

Tell es-Sultan
The earliest settlement was located at the present-day Tell es-Sultan (or Sultan's Hill), a couple of kilometers from the current city. In Arabic, tell means "mound" -- consecutive layers of habitation built up a mound over time, as is common for ancient settlements in the Middle East and Anatolia. Jericho is the type site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPN A) and B.

The habitation has been classed into several phases:

construction at the site apparently began before the invention of with construction of stone of the Natufian culture structures beginning earlier than 9000 BC, virtually at the very beginning of the epoch in geologic history.

And you are right again, CS. Other civilisations, us still unknown did live in Europe way back 20,000 or more years ago.

The disputed Bosnian pyramidical structure will prove it.

Anyways, this new discovery in Syria tells me that even those 11,000 years is a young time. We will discover older buildings in this area for sure.

In any case, why assume that stone houses = farming? The earliest such dwelling do predate agriculture and, I believe, even husbandry (must dig out my Mithin again )

http://www.atlantisquest.com/prehistcity.html

Tiahuanaco is in the Bolivian Andes lying 12,500 feet (over 2 miles) above sea-level. It is located several miles from the shores of Lake Titicaca. Archeology in general dates the city at c. 200 A.D., but it was not always so. Its first investigator, Arthur Posnansky, a german engineer who dedicated fifty years to its study, dated its origins to 15,000 B.C. .........>>>



http://www.s8int.com/page9.html

More on Tiahuanacu

Tiahuanacu, an ancient city perched high in the Andes above La Paz, Bolivia -- the remains of a civilization predating the Incas which may be over 17,000 years old.





http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/lat...tiahuanaco.html
Associated with the Akapana are four temples: the Semi-subterranean, the Kalasasaya, the Putuni, and the Kheri Kala. The first of these, the Semi-subterranean Temple, was studded with sculptured stone heads set into cut-stone facing walls and in the middle of the court was located a now-famous monolithic stela. Named for archaeologist Wendell C. Bennett who conducted the first archaeological research at Tiahuanaco in the 1930's, the Bennett Stela represents a human figure wearing elaborate clothes and a crown. The ancient Tiahuanaco heartland is estimated to have been about 365,000, of whom 115,000 lived in the capital and satellite cities, with the remaining 250,000 engaged in farming, herding, and fishing.