Thousands of Tombs in Saudi Desert Spotted From Space

Live Science ^ | February 15, 2011 | Rebecca Kessler

[aruanan]

Judging by the sheer number of stone ruins identified in Saudi Arabia, as well as in other research in Jordan, there may well be a million such sites scattered throughout the Arabian Peninsula, said David Kennedy, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia who led the study.

Considering that Christian and Jewish kingdoms were the high tech societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the builders of the first permanent cities, these tombs are more likely than not to bear crosses or stars of David.

[mamelukesabre]

huh?

In the time of alexander the great, the interior of arabia was for the most part uninhabited...a vast wasteland. iirc.

[AGreatPer]

"They invented algebra and the number zero"

Yea right. I read that crap too. Next their gonna tell us they invented space.

"masters of horse and camel breeding...and archery"

And none of that went on before them? Dahhh.

For the amount of time these critters have been on the earth, they haven't accomplished much.

If they invented the number 0, they have stayed there since.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Jimmy Hoffa, perhaps?

[RoseyT]

He sure would be. Those are some of my favorite movies.

[aruanan]

huh?

In the time of alexander the great, the interior of arabia was for the most part uninhabited...a vast wasteland. iirc.

From the first century AD on, the Arabian Peninsula was a place of refuge for both Jews and Christians, especially trying to escape the wars between Rome and the Persians. During this time the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula hired themselves out as mercenaries to both sides. A bout of Black Death from Africa near Mohammed's time screwed over that gig big time. The Bedouins were united under Islam to exploit the weakness. Mohammed had first approached Christians and Jews with his syncretism, playing up prayers toward Jerusalem, affinity with Abraham, Jesus as a prophet, etc., and was told to pound sand. His first military actions were to wipe out both Christians and Jews from the Arabian Peninsula.

[Interesting Times]

Ping.

[married21]

I wonder if the tombs are for men or women. I read a book once about life as a Saudi princess and it said that women there bury other women out in the desert in unmarked graves. Men do not attend the burial and there is no death certificate. (Not sure about the last part. I read the book 20 years ago.)

[yup2394871293]

If the tombs didn’t pre-date Islam, I’d assume they were tombs of all the people that Mohammed (piss be upon him) beheaded.

[Windflier]

Of course, it is a proven fact that different parts of the world have advanced more then others. Some of it is because of genetics.

In short, some breeds are stupider than others.

My theory is that the people of the Middle East have had their brains baked to death for so many centuries, that it's permanently damaged their DNA.

That's not to say that there aren't some brilliant Arabs. I've met a few in my time, but I just think that humans weren't designed to withstand 130 summers indefinitely. Exposure to that sort of extreme temperature over millenia has simply got to damage the gene pool in some way.

Humans just have not thrived in those desert areas.

[ccmay]

They invented algebra and the number zero

No they didn't; the Hindus did. The concepts reached the West by way of the Arabs, but they came from India.

[Vendome]

Nope, nope and nope.

They may have done something with coffee but that history is not altogether clear.

But:
Tobacco is a plant that grows natively in North and South America. It is in the same family as the potato, pepper and the poisonous nightshade, a very deadly plant.

The seed of a tobacco plant is very small. A 1 ounce sample contains about 300,000 seeds!

It is believed that Tobacco began growing in the Americas about 6,000 B.C.!

As early as 1 B.C., American Indians began using tobacco in many different ways, such as in religious and medicinal practices.

Tobacco was believed to be a cure-all, and was used to dress wounds, as well as a pain killer. Chewing tobacco was believed to relieve the pain of a toothache!

The New World Discovered

On October 15, 1492, Christopher Columbus was offered dried tobacco leaves as a gift from the American Indians that he encountered.

http://academic.udayton.edu/health/syllabi/tobacco/history.htm

[Rocky]

Why do they assume these are burial places?

The picture in the article looks like it might have to do with the distribution of water. Perhaps a well in the central point, with distribution to several remote locations, or several remote wells funneled to a central watering spot? It’s hard to tell whether or not this is possible without knowing the relative elevations of the center (Points A and C in the picture) and extreme ends of the “canals” (Near points B and D).

[ApplegateRanch]

a wealth of archaeological remains that predate Islam and may be several thousand years old.

I can see how Islamonazis can get upset over claims that anything "predates" Islam, since (in their Koranic view) allah created the earth, as in the Bible; and then created Adam...who was the "first Muslim". Part & parcel with their belief that nobody can "convert" to Islam; only "revert", since they beleive that the natural state is Islam, from which many have fallen away.

Yet they also believe anything predating MadMo is "unIslamic", and must be destroyed.

Oh, well; just another of Satan's contradictions in his chaotic 'religion' of contradictions & hate.

Makes me wonder on occassion, when the Bible warns us to beware of cries of "peace, peace, and there is no peace", if it was, in part, alluding to the peaceless Religion of Peace?

[spokeshave]

Maybe the whiz kids at Google can take a look down the well in Quom Iran and see if the 12th imann is awake.

[BuffaloJack]

> They invented algebra and the number zero...
No they didn’t! They brought in Greek and Indian slaves. These slaves are the ones actually responsible for all the mathematics and science that the muslims claim as theirs.

[mamelukesabre]

I think everyone knows tobacco originated in the americas, but thanks for the history lesson anyway. Are you saying you’ve never heard of turkish tobacco?

[MaxMax]

historically forbid aerial photographs of the landscape and religious sensitivities have made access tricky.

Do the dead lose their souls?

[mamelukesabre]

The word “algebra” is an arabic word.

[decimon]

Do the dead lose their souls?

You should post that question to the religion forum and then run for cover. ;-)