8,000 Year Old Nabta Playa Stone Circle Vandalised

Astrophysicist, Thomas Brophy, has recently returned from a trip into the Nubian Desert to study the 8,000 year-old stone circle at Nabta Playa which Brophy has shown depicts the belt stars of the Orion constellation.

In Cairo yesterday, 22nd April, researcher and best-selling international author, Robert Bauval, compared photos he had taken of Nabta Playa in 2007 with those taken by Brophy in his recent trip.

It seems that the site has been ransacked by vandals. Many of the ancient standing stoones have been knowcked down whilst others have actially been stolen.

This photo shows the site in 2007 (Bauval) and recently in 2008 (Brophy):



I cannot begin to tell you all how utterly saddened and dismayed I am with this news. Yes - angry too! This is part of ALL our heritage - world heritage. It's part of where we are all descended from. That some individuals could do such a crime - for that is what this is - is beyond my comprehension.

I ask myself "Why? Why? Why?"

But I find no answer.

Scott Creighton

reply to post by Scott Creighton

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I know this is in the middle of the desert, but is it really left unsupervised? An 8000 year old relic.... what a shame

I guess so...

Sad but when we have a black market for private collectors to take advantage of this type of relics is nothing anybody can do.

I only hope that its plenty of research done and pictures of the relics before they got vandalized and stolen.

this makes me angry, how could someone do this?

I think it's complacency to blame the black market. What's really at fault here relates to our lack of judgement and the obscurity of alternative archaeology. If the connotations of ancient and megalithic monuments were taken more seriously, by the world, then perhaps even the thieves and vandals would realise that these things are far too sacred to be lost.

I'm with you Scott - since developing an interest in ancient history, I have never, ever been able to understand how some people look upon such monuments and not feel the emanating sanctity of them, not observe their incredible antiquity and not understand that they are vital pieces of a vast puzzle essential to understanding the meaning of life.

Speaking as a drystone mason, those slabs look rather delicate to have survived looking like that for 8,000 years. The wind could easily topple those if it just blew sand away from the bases of the stones. I did a quick wikipedia and google search and I am not impressed with the "sources" used to legitimise this stone monument.

Would anyone mind filling me in on the dimensions and compositions of these stones?

UN PERSONNEL VANDALISE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

nickbrooks.wordpress.com...

Scott Creighton