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An urgent meeting and immediate initiative
On the 11^th of July 1999 a meeting was held headed by the Syrian Minister of Culture at that time Dr. Al Attar, and attended by the Minister of Irrigation Eng. Abdel Rahman Madani, the European Union ambassador at Damascus Mr. Perini, the General Director of Antiquities and Museums Mr. Sultan Muheissen, Eng. Dr. Osmane AIDI, and the head of the French archaeological mission Mrs. Danielle STORDEUR. In this meeting it was conceded that there is an important and urgent work to be done, which is to dismantle and move three houses in Jerf Al-Ahmar area,

 built 11,500 years ago, before they are flooded with the waters of Tishreen Dam.
This resembled the action taken by the UNESCO in order to transfer the monuments of Abou Simbel in Aswan before they were flooded with the waters of Aswan dam, a matter which was estimated to happen two months later.
However, there was no time for waiting, and a quick, serious action had to be taken within weeks, beyond routine, in order to save the vestiges of this important archaeological site There was no solution but to delay the filling of the dam for two weeks, until experts were summoned and Eng. Dr. Osmane AIDI undertook the financing of their travel back home, the purchase of the required equipments and tools, and the expenses of the saving operation of this invaluable legacy.
 

Jerf Al-Ahmarlocation and importance Jerf Al-Ahmar is located on the banks of the Euphrates river and is considered the oldest village in the world dating back to 11500 years; it is a testimony to the birth of rectangular architecture, origination of agriculture, and formation of mythology .This site comes before Babel and the Pyramids in importance. In fact it preceded the building of the Pyramids by 6500 years, the departure of Abraham from the city of Ur by 7700 years, and the birth of Christ by 9500 years . Aside from the houses were also discovered : allegorical drawings, weapons, skeletons, horns of the sacred bull, and agricultural tools, so much important that the National Centre of Scientific Research in France, and the Le Point magazine have written : Here emerged the agriculture. The excavation works were supervised by Mrs. Danielle STORDEUR from the National Centre of Scientific Research in France.

Jerf Al-Ahmara site rich in archaeological findings
Besides the houses, in Jerf Al-Ahmar were discovered human and animal figures, long sticks made from burnished stone, decorative stone vases, and different engraved props. It was found for the first time stone engravings showing simple embodiments, and allegorical symbols, and a real system of signs which is thought to have been playing the role of a notebook referring to stories that might be of mythological nature, as well as human skulls buried in the walls and foundations of houses, a headless skeleton lying on the ground with its hands crossed, the horns of the sacred bull, a millstone, troughs and bowls made of burnished stone.
 

Jerf Al-Ahmarfrom the round house to the rectangular house
The houses discovered in the Near East which date back to the twelfth millennium, were found to be round shaped and half buried in soil. Excavations in different areas showed that the historical movement from the round shaped house to the rectangular house started at the end of the tenth millennium B.C. However, evidences of this fact were incomplete and it was not possible to reconstitute the phases of this constructional transition, until the discovery of the site of Jerf Al-Ahmar, as thirty houses at sequential levels, and ranging from rounded to rectangular, were exposed, which allows us today to analyze this transition in its full details and complexity.