Part 1: Mysterious, Ancient Stone Circles in Middle East Visible Only from Air
“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.”
- David Kennedy, Ph.D., Univ. of Western Australia
The area near the Azraq Oasis a little south of Azraq ed Duruz, Jordan (east of Amman) has hundreds circular structures made of stone that date back at least 2,000 years old - and perhaps even 9,000-years-old. These wheel structures are often found on lava fields and range from 82 feet to 230 feet (25 meters to 70 meters) across. Archaeologists used to believe that the Azraq Oasis wheels were used as a cemetery, but that is now in doubt. None of the stone patterns can be seen from the flat ground, only from the air. Aerial image by David L. Kennedy, Ph.D., Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME).The Harrat Ash Shaam (also known variously as the Harrat Ash Shamah and the Harrat e-Shamah) is a volcanic field covering a total area of some 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles). This massive alkaline volcanic field extends from southern Syria, across Jordan east of Amman near Azraq ed Duraz, and into northwestern Saudi Arabia. Thousands of circular patterns in the black lava rocks date back between 2,000 and 9,000 years ago, but functions are unknown.
September 16, 2011 Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia - Scientists at the University of Western Australia have taken almost 45,000 aerial images of mysterious stone circles, or “wheels,” they have found by satellite-mapping technologies in Syria and Saudi Arabia and an aerial photography project in Jordan. The number of stone patterns in only the region of Harrat ash-Shaam of Jordan are 1,000 or more.
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