Mysterious Structures Found in Syrian Desert - Older Than The Pyramids?



A corbelled structure (pile of rocks) with an associated circle.

CREDIT: Robert Mason



The rock at the centre of the complex: perhaps a "high place" of some significance to the people at the time.

CREDIT: Robert Mason



Archaeologist Robert Mason spoke at the Semitic Museum about the discovery of mysterious rock formations near the Syrian monastery Deir Mar Musa (above), and the need for further exploration.

Credit: Photos by Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer







Bits of tools Mason found nearby suggest the mystery he discovered in the desert is much older than the monastery. It may date to the Neolithic Period or early Bronze Age, 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, the Gazette said.



Egypt’s oldest pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza, was built about 4,500 years ago.



Mason also saw corral-like stone formations called “desert kites,” which would have been used to trap gazelles and other animals. The desert around the monastery is hardly a verdant pasture -- “very scenic, if you like rocks,” Mason reportedly said -- but was probably greener a few millennia ago, the archaeologist explained.



Like Indiana Jones exploring Italy’s museums in “The Last Crusade,” Mason hopes to return to the monastery to excavate under the church’s main altar -- he believes he’ll find an entrance to underground tombs there.



He also hopes to return to strange stone formations he found in the desert, which he dubbed “Syria’s Stonehenge.”





