A team of Syrian and French archaeologists has discovered a Neolithic temple in northern Syria that could be the oldest in the Middle East. The discovery of the temple, dating to the Neolithic Age, was made by a joint Syrian-French archaeological team at Jaadet al-Maghara on the Euphrates river some 450 kilometers (270 miles) north of Damascus.
     Objects made of stone and bone instruments were found in the large temple, whose walls bore geometric designs and a drawing of a bull's head in vivid red, black and white colors — further evidence that bulls where worshipped in that period, the report said.

Sources: Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, The Jerusalem Post (30 September 2006)