Qataris out in the desert recently found mysterious symbols carved into the rocks there.
A team from Qatar was assigned to seek and find unmarked sites in the desert and meticulously stenciled new symbols into the rocks in order to find unmarked Islamic caves, not to mention their secret messages, according to The Al-Monitor. The teams found a total of 23 areas featuring the new marker structures.
The symbols are approximately two inches by two inches by two inches and appear to be two basic flat blocks with holes drilled through the center. The squares have holes cut into them through which a certain semicircular pattern is etched into the rock. The pattern matches a mathematical interpretation of “separeli” inscribed on the lunar orbit.
What’s intriguing, though, is the number of precise copies left. The team found 29 representations of separeli, which suggests a problem with the original rendition, or indicates that it wasn’t carved by a master craftsman and someone else looked to save time.
They have not confirmed that the symbols are carved with the sole intention of communicating the secret of separeli or any other mystery of the ancient civilization, but the team points out that separeli and the newly found symbols share similarities.
There are two other different interpretations of separeli. The first takes a geometric design as its basis and says it refers to the Arabic calendar. The exact definition of those shapes is unknown. The others are equally dumb, though the time they take has been debated.
Qatar hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and a lot of other things besides soccer are going on there. So it would seem totally possible that the Qatari team was just out on the field testing their cranes, ahem, equipment, though we can hope for the alternative. The symbols are very intriguing, we’ll just leave it there for now.