Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Imagine... ancient people crossing the *whole Red Sea*. Why, next thing ya know, someone will claim that the Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa, or that people had just as many brains and abilities as people do today. How outlandish. Here's a dead link. Even the Web Archive doesn't have a copy.
Stonehenge in Yemen?
by Mike Stowe, Editorial Director

Wandering the desolate landscape near Yemen’s Red Sea coast, archaeologists stumbled upon remarkable remnants of a lost Bronze Age civilization. A Stonehenge-like enclosure of granite and basalt monoliths, each more than 3 meters (10 feet) tall and weighing seven tons, is all that remains. But it suggests a complex, well-organized culture that thrived roughly 4,000 years ago.

The huge stones are arranged in a pattern strikingly similar to that of the Neolithic site of Stonehenge in England. Archaeologists believe the stone used to make the pillars originated in the Surat Mountains about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the site and was probably floated on rafts across the Red Sea.

Beneath one of the splintered monoliths, the remains of a male skeleton were found among several layers of charred earth, possibly signifying some sort of commemoration.

"We located a cache consisting of copper dagger blades, adze heads, razors, and javelin points arranged around a large chunk of obsidian," says Edward Keall of the Near Eastern and Asian Studies Department at the Royal Ontario Museum. "Clearly, this was a votive offering of great significance." Also recovered were the skeletons of three children, each found beneath a basalt pillar.

"Sometime around 2000 B.C., this early Bronze Age ‘Stonehenge’ culture disappeared suddenly without a trace," Keall said. But understanding the culture that built this monument should shed new light on "other unknown civilizations of the Arabian Peninsula, who set up similar stones and pillars throughout the region."
"Other unknown" groups? Sounds like all the same culture. Interesting that they couldn't find any stone to use in their vicinity and had to move seven ton stones across the Red Sea. : )

FR Lexicon·Posting Guidelines·Excerpt, or Link only?·Ultimate Sidebar Management·Headlines
Donate Here By Secure Server·Eating our own -- Time to make a new start in Free Republic
PDF to HTML translation·Translation page·Wayback Machine·My Links·FreeMail Me
Gods, Graves, Glyphs topic·and group·Books, Magazines, Movies, Music


1 posted on 03/24/2005 11:37:24 PM PST by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]


To: blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; SunkenCiv; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 4ConservativeJustices; ...
G'night all.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest
-- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

2 posted on 03/24/2005 11:38:15 PM PST by SunkenCiv (last updated my FreeRepublic profile on Sunday, March 13, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: SunkenCiv
I read somewhere that the ancient Egyptians built ships superior to those Columbus sailed. There are also reports of them lowering sealed pots into the depths of the sea in nets, and bringing them back up filled with fresh water. (Reverse osmosis?) Couple oceangoing ships with Egyptian knowledge of the stars and a supply of fresh water, and the possibilities become interesting.
3 posted on 03/25/2005 12:44:31 AM PST by Jeff Chandler (Tagline schmagline.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

related:

Stone Circles In Saudi Arabia
Science Frontiers | No. 3: April 1978 | William R. Corliss
Posted on 08/25/2004 11:42:13 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1199778/posts
al-Midamman

5 posted on 03/25/2005 11:33:57 AM PST by SunkenCiv (last updated my FreeRepublic profile on Sunday, March 13, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: SunkenCiv

Another copy of the Stowe piece:

http://www.earthchangestv.com/breaking/February2001/0210Stonehenge.htm


6 posted on 04/01/2005 12:09:50 PM PST by SunkenCiv (last updated my FreeRepublic profile on Friday, March 25, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson