World's oldest wall painting unearthed in Syria

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Reuters

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - French archaeologists say they have excavated an 11,000-year-old wall painting in red, black and white in northern Syria which they describe as the oldest in the world, although it resembles a modern work.

The 2-square-metre painting was found below ground at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo, mission head Eric Coqueugniot told Reuters.

"It looks like a modernist painting. Some of those who saw it have likened it to work by Klee. Through carbon dating we established it is from around 9000 B.C.," Coqueugniot said.

"We found another painting next to it, but that won't be excavated until next year. It is slow work," said Coqueugniot, who works at France's National Centre for Scientific Research.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSOWE14539320071011?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[Hand]

1. "Kilroy was here." nt

:rofl:

[Roland99]

8. Signed by Osama.

[Donnachaidh]

11. beat me.

But I was also trying to remember a name or two from graffiti artists who hit the NY subway trains. :rofl:

[SyntaxError]

21. hah :D

[Canuckistanian]

39. King Ashurnasirpal rules, OK

:rofl:

[Hand]

40. Ashurnasirpal SUX! Ashubanirpal RULES!

[TheDebbieDee]

2. But....but... the world is only 6,000 years old!

[Hugin]

4. 4,500...

Why do you insist on bringing the wrath of GAWD upon us? :)

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. both wrong. 7,019 as of last month. GET IT RIGHT, or ELSE!

where did I put that lightning and earthquake switch?

[Hugin]

12. I was excluding the 'Flintstonian Epoch'...

It was a hoax, anyway.

My but our maker has a sublime sense of humor.

[Hugin]

3. Very interesting.

9,000 years ago.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. Beware the US airforce.

they destroyed similar findings in Iraq, with Rummie scoffing about who needs that old stuff?

[monktonman]

17. Yeah, I thought that was odd as well.

Dont forget the museum lootings.
It's been said there were texts and other artifacts that go
way back to the founding of civilization that hadnt even been read yet.
Writings that pre-date the torah, the bible, the koran etc.
Call me a tin-hatter but I wonder who would have an interest in seeing
things like that destroyed?
just sayin.

[The Stranger]

38. The Neocons wanted to destroy Iraqi culture.

It makes it easier to demonize the Iraqis as "terrorists," a/k/a savages. That, in turn, makes it easier to bomb, shock and awe, rape, torture, and murder them.

[mike_c]

7. "It looks like a modernist painting."

"Nice painting, Bork. Very realistic, subtle brushwork, a real sense of motion in the composition."

"Gee, thanks, Glug!"

"Where do you wipe off your brushes, since we haven't invented weaving yet and don't have palette rags?"

"Over there on the wall...."

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. .

Very funny! :rofl:

[aquart]

10. Oldest found so far.

I wish they'd be honest about that sort of thing.

[Hugin]

13. Yeah, that bugged me a mite too...

It may be the oldest wall painting in an artificial structure, but, there are many
much older cave paintings.

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. It looks like a tally of some kind

of a population? Of those killed, maimed or survivors of war? Of games? Of meetings within the community, and meetings with other tribes who were allies, and meetings with enemies? Of a way of counting coup on humans, on hunts?

[soothsayer]

15. A calendar? Interestng to see a checkerboard. I wasn't expecting that!

[havocmom]

18. Exit poll!

:hi:

[Whoa_Nelly]

19. I like your point of view..as always!

:rofl:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. nope. the # of ET contacts in the last month.

before we became so "civilized"

[Whoa_Nelly]

25. It's the Master StarChart!

From the article: "There was a purpose in having the painting in what looked like a communal house, but we don't know it. The village was later abandoned and the house stuffed with mud," he (mission head Eric Coqueugniot) said.

A large number of flints and weapons have been found at the site as well as human skeletons buried under houses.



And that's why those who lived there before are no longer there! They've gone on a long celestial trip with their ET pals!

No wonder they stuffed the hut with mud and buried the non-believers! And now the secret has been revealed!

:rofl:

[daleo]

31. Perhaps a very early hard drive

With a bit-mapped image. State of the art, in 9000 BC.

[XemaSab]

32. Or maybe it's PRON and they pixellated it

:P

[alfredo]

34. Matrix screen saver

[daleo]

35. Actually, it looks a lot like the screen when you defrag a hard drive

The one that shows how far the defrag has gone, bad sectors, etc.

The Matrix screen saver is good too.

[alfredo]

41. Defrag, that something I don't have to do. My OS defrags on the fly.

[blogslut]

43. I was thinking it might be a map

But I like your theory better. :)

[Duncan]

16. oldest?!

The paintings in Lascaux are from at least as far back as 13000 BC.

Also, photo captions say 11th centruy BC. Only 7900 years off from the article. OOPS!

[Gamey]

26. Oldest "WALL" painting...always watch for play on words

Not a cave wall but a man-made wall.

[xchrom]

22. beautiful painting -- whether it's the oldest or not.

and it's still very old -- and shows some remarkable qualities.

[SyntaxError]

23. I'd love to go back in time and impress those people with the power of the internets.

[slackmaster]

24. I hope they keep it under guard so Islamists don't paint over it

:scared:

[KansDem]

27. "...wall painting in red, black and white"

9,000 BC for wall paintings must be like the early 1960s for TeeVee. Glad no one had to paint a peacock...

[McCamy Taylor]

28. I see a dark figure (face) with a crown like Inanna (Ishtar's) on both paintings.

I think Inanna's crown is made of horns. If only three colors of chalk are used, then black would be the obvious choice for skin tone and white for the bone crown. This painting is much older than most Sumerian art, so this could be a proto-Inanna, some early version of Inanna/Persephone/Isis.

Here are some Inanna images

[XemaSab]

33. Don't assume those were the only original colors

I've heard that a lot of ancient artists used greens too, but since they were made from plants they faded out more readily than charcoal and ochre and other earth-based colors.

[hedgehog]

29. I bet the decorator found it to be very tacky!

Did they find the couch underneath the painting?

[enlightenment]

30. Fantastic painting, but I have to admit I liked this

sentence in the article even better than artwork:

"The inhabitants of Djade al-Mughara lived off hunting and wild plants. They resembled modern day humans in looks but were not farmers or domesticated, Coqueugniot said."

(my emphasis)

[MilesColtrane]

36. Who here thinks the unexcavated painting is going to turn out to be "Dogs Playing Poker"? n/t

[roguevalley]

37. wonderful

[David Zephyr]

42. Thanks for this story, Lone_Star_Dem

:thumbsup:

[yardwork]

44. Imagine how many ancient objects have been destroyed in Iraq.

[ozone_man]

45. The cradle of civilization.

Or one of them. Yes, what a shame.