Human bones and military gear were carefully buried in Syria’s White Monument. Credit: Euphrates Salvage Project
Archaeology
Pyramid made of dirt is world’s oldest known war memorial
People living some 4,500 years ago in what is now Syria built what might be the world’s first memorial to war dead.
Anne Porter at the University of Toronto in Canada and her colleagues re-analysed bones and artefacts found in a 22-metre-high artificial mound near the Euphrates River. The mound, called White Monument because the materials used in its construction cause it to glisten in sunlight, was used for rituals and burials for some 300 years until around 2450 BC. Then, between 2450 and 2300 BC, a series of horizontal steps were built over the original mound, turning it into a stepped pyramid that would have been visible over long distances.
The researchers found that the remains of at least 30 people, mostly male, were buried in the steps. The bodies seem to have been carefully interred along with earthen pellets that might have been fired on foes, as well as the skins and bones of donkey-like animals that were used to pull battle carts.
The burials suggest that the White Monument celebrated the community’s warriors rather than serving as a mass grave for slain enemies, the authors say.
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June 02, 2021 at 11:30PM
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