Driving past it, one of the most mysterious structures in the Middle East is easy to miss. The prehistoric stone monument went unnoticed for centuries in a bare expanse of field on the Golan Heights.
After Israel captured the territory from Syria in a 1967 war, archaeologists studying an aerial survey spotted a pattern of stone circles not identifiable from the ground. Subsequent excavations revealed it was one of the oldest and largest structures in the region.
Known as Rujm el-Hiri in Arabic, meaning the "stone heap of the wild cat," the complex has five concentric circles, the largest more than 500 feet (152 meters) wide, and a massive burial chamber in the middle. Its Hebrew name, Gilgal Refaim, or "wheel of giants," refers to an ancient race of giants mentioned in the Bible.