Archaeologists unearth 9000-year-old shrine in Jordan 

Amman: A team of archaeologists has unearthed a perfectly preserved 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan’s eastern desert. 

According to details, the ritual complex was found in a Neolithic campsite near large structures known as "desert kites," or mass traps that are believed to have been used to corral wild gazelles for slaughter. 

Such traps consist of two or more long stone walls that converge towards an enclosure and can be found scattered across the deserts of the Middle East. 

The finding amazed the archeologists because it’s ancient, yet in good condition. 

On Tuesday, the researchers stated that the shrine “sheds an entire new light on the symbolism, artistic expression as well as spiritual culture of these hitherto unknown Neolithic populations”.

The researchers revealed that the proximity of the site to the traps suggests the inhabitants were specialised hunters and that the traps were the centre of their cultural, economic and even symbolic life in this marginal zone. 

The site was excavated during the most recent digging season in 2021.

Within the shrine were two carved standing stones bearing anthropomorphic figures, one accompanied by a representation of the “desert kite”, as well as an altar, hearth, marine shells and miniature model of the gazelle trap. 

“The site is unique, first because of its preservation state,” said Jordanian archaeologist, adding that it’s 9,000 years old and everything was almost intact.

Moreover, the oldest temple in the world, the Gobekli Tepe, is 11,000 years old.