Althouse: "Using Google Earth, satellite imagery and drones, researchers have discovered a monumental structure amid the world-famous ruins of Petra, Jordan."

June 10, 2016

"Using Google Earth, satellite imagery and drones, researchers have discovered a monumental structure amid the world-famous ruins of Petra, Jordan."

"It was apparently 'hiding in plain sight' — a structure the size of an Olympic-size pool 'just south of the city center, and archaeologists have missed this for 150, 200 years'...."

8 comments:

mockturtle said...: and archaeologists have missed this for 150, 200 years

LOL!; 6/10/16, 4:08 PM
Original Mike said...: I've always found Petra very strange.; 6/10/16, 5:55 PM
Quaestor said...: Most of what remains of Petra are ornate tombs, the most famous being the so-callled "monastery" which was featured in the finale of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Petra (aka Raqmu) was ostensibly the capital of the Nabatean kingdom (annexed by Rome in AD 106) but the Petrans actually spent little time there as their lifestyle was essentially nomadic. Petra was more of a cult center than functioning city, though there was a biannual perfume and incense bazaar which attracted buyers and sellers from across the known world to the that tiny and almost waterless spot.; 6/10/16, 10:51 PM
Adamsunderground said...: Fittingly, Parcak has been called a "modern-day Indiana Jones."

Very sexist. It's a dog's name.; 6/11/16, 1:17 AM
chickelit said...: If only we had a such a way to visually scan the sea floor -- imagine the history still down there -- ~3/4 of the earth's surface. We only seem to find things when we go looking for them.; 6/11/16, 1:30 AM
mockturtle said...: If only we had a such a way to visually scan the sea floor -- imagine the history still down there -- ~3/4 of the earth's surface. We only seem to find things when we go looking for them.

They still haven't found the black box.; 6/11/16, 10:30 AM
Paul Snively said...: Devil's Tower, Wyoming; Petra, Jordan... I kind of miss the old Steven Spielberg "I'll show you something extraordinary you'll swear is a model on a soundstage, but it's real" thing.; 6/11/16, 10:53 AM
mikee said...: So a large flat area with columns around it, maybe a roof of fabric or natural materials, and a small raised platform in the center?

This is where they had their farmers' markets, their square dances, their flea markets, their slave sales, their public meetings, their early morning worship services during tourist season....

It is a general purpose gathering place, useful in any place people gather.; 6/12/16, 12:17 PM