Ancient murals found near Euphrates

October 10 2007 at 02:01AM

Damascus - Mural paintings dating back 11 000 years have been found in a building on a bank of the River Euphrates in northern Syria, a French archaeologist said on Tuesday.

Eric Coqueugniot said they were the oldest murals found in the Middle East.

"Geometric paintings - black, white and red - have been found on the wall of a house in Jadeh," he said, adding that they were discovered in late September in a circular house with a diameter of about seven metres.

The house was in a riverside village dating from the start of the neolithic era in the Middle East, 9 000 years BC.

The researchers found numerous flint objects at the site along with a figurine of a man. - Sapa-AFP
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Curious .... 11000? Me goes goes digging.