Ancient Structures That Make Us Wonder Why and How There are so many mysteries concerning ancient structures it is almost impossible to track them all down. A new one just surfaced about one of the most famous structures in the world, the Taj Mahal. I never released it but there has been an ongoing debate about what it is. Some say it is a tomb, while others say it is a temple. As of the writing of this article a petition has been filed with the government asking them to open 22 locked rooms so researchers can see if there is any evidence of the purpose of the building in any one of them. Traditionally most people think it is a tomb which was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1632. Everyone on earth knows about the Egyptian pyramids at Giza, but there is a much difference of thought among some as to the purpose of their construction and the time when they were built. Some say they are tombs, and yet no bodies have been found in them. Others think they were some sort of power stations which created electricity by combining certain chemicals. There is still more to be unearthed about them, especially the Great Pyramid which is believed to have at least one hidden room or more. Could there be another reason they were built, besides the two I listed? Some ancient structures while in ruins still display remarkable things. Gobekli Tepe in Turkey is a big mystery. One of the mysteries is how in a time of supposed nomadism did someone get so many people together to stay in one area and build on 25 acres? The time period is said to be between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, but even that is not entirely agreed on. Some think it could be far older. We were all supposed to be hunter gatherers at the time moving from place to place. Incredible carvings of animals exist there in many stone circles with six foot high walls which may have had roofs. The purpose of these circles was probably worship. It is believed these were temples. There is a structure built on the island of Malta which should have been impossible to build at the time. It is Ggantija. So far, it is the second oldest structure found. It has been dated between 3,600 to 3,000 B.C. It is believed to be a temple, but the problem is how did people with only stone age tools cut stone and haul it from other areas without the wheel. It is one of these mysteries which just doesn’t seem to make sense. Some of the stones weigh over 50 tons. How could they have been moved? This structure comes with a legend. It is said a giant goddess built the temple and did it in one day. Thus, the name Ggantija which means Giantess’s Tower. No discussion of strange structures would be complete without mentioning Stonehenge, the stone circle in England. It has been called a temple, calendar, and an observatory among other things. Perhaps it could be all three? It is believed to have been started around 4,000 B.C. and took many centuries to be completed. It was worked on for the next 1,400 years. The huge stones were said to have been brought from 17 miles away. Most archaeologists believe it was considered sacred. Archaeologists had found it in ruins and put it together the way they believed it looked originally. Could they have been wrong at least in some areas? I have to talk about the ruins at Puma Punku in Bolivia. They are some of the most mysterious ruins on the planet. The Incas were said to believe it was where the world was created. The ruins show incredible things which cannot be explained. While it is said the ruins date from 530 B.C., some believe they are far more ancient and could be even 10,000 years old or older. One of the mysteries connected with the site is some of the stones moved to the location weighed over 130 tons. As incredible as this sounds, there is even a bigger mystery. Some of the blocks show incredible precision and are exact duplicates of each other and interlock. On top of that, there are no tool marks on the stones and the edges are still so sharp you could cut yourself on the edges if not careful. Many believe aliens built this place. I have to mention the Sphinx, one of the most, if not the most, mysterious monument ever built. It deserves some sort of medal for causing more controversy that any other structure I can think of. Some believe it was built buy Pharaoh Khafre and he is given credit for building it and yet there is a stelae which clearly states he said it was already there. A stelae is a sort of plaque. The age of the Sphinx has been hotly debated for years. Some say it was already thousands of years old before the Great Pyramid was built. Then there are those scientists who say both the Sphinx and Great Pyramid are many of thousands of years older than estimated. An opening had been found under one of the paws, but the Egyptian government won’t allow anyone to investigate it. Many believe it contains an ancient library which will prove the Sphinx was there before the Egyptians. There was an impossible ancient project found in China. It is called the Longyou Caves. It was one of the greatest underground projects in ancient history and its purpose has never been found out. There was a system of ponds in Zhejiang province. One farmer decided to drain a pond and was astonished to find a hand dug grotto under the pond. The rest of the ponds were also drained and more of these hand dug grottoes were found. Some had beautiful pillars holding up the roofs which had animals carved on them. Not only has the purpose for these beautiful grottoes never been found, but there is no indication where the huge amounts of dirt went as they were being dug and who dug them. Since we are talking about ancients digging underground, I have to mention Cappadocia in Turkey. Why would ancient people dig out a complete underground city? Were they looking for protection, or was it for religious reasons? Whatever the reason, the people all began to dig and just kept digging. The job was made a little easier because the rock was of the soft type. Some think the city was the equivalent of a modern bomb shelter. They believe when an attack was coming the people would run to the underground city and take their animals and lock themselves in. It is also believed the city was well provisioned and has water storage. While we believe this, there are alternate ideas for the digging.
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