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This article is about Gobeklitepe in Turkey. Gobeklitepe Tample, known oldest historical place of humankind history. The article also have information about Gobeklitepe age, discover, construction and how to go there.
Archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia prior to Gobeklitepe (Gobekli Tepe – Göbeklitepe) was insufficient to prove that the communities living as hunter-gatherers built temples for ritual purposes and were organized for religious reasons.
The Gobeklitepe Temple, which belongs to hunter-gatherers, sheds light on the religious beliefs of the communities in the early stages of humanity.
What Is GOBEKLITEPE
Gobeklitepe near Örencik Village (Xerabresk – Karaharabe), 18km northeast of Sanliurfa city center, was discovered in 1963 during a surface survey conducted by Istanbul University and the University of Chicago.
A scientific publication published by Peter Benedict of the University of Nevada in 1980 describes Gobeklitepe as the oldest known group of cult buildings in the world, defined as the “V52 Neolithic Settlement”.
As a result of the excavations initiated after 1994, Gobekli Tepe, which dates back to 12,000 years, was removed from the temporary list it entered in 2011 at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting on 01.08.2018.
Göbeklitepe takes its name from the stone tomb in the region (Göbekli Visit). Göbeklitepe – Gobekli Tepe means “Belly Hill” in Turkish language.
Importance of GOBEKLITEPE
Towards the end of the crude stone age of 12,000 years ago, people living in the hunter-gatherer order separated the T-shaped monolithic stones, about 5.5 meters and weighing 10-15 tons, from the large rocks around Göbeklitepe and placed them in the cult region.
For this reason, it is seen that the people of 12 thousand years ago had artistic, architectural and mathematical knowledge in Neolithic Period.
Rather than their social and economic situations, the religious and religious lives of the people of that period are at the forefront. Before the Neolithic people began to settle in, they built the first monumental center of its era in collaboration with them to make places of worship.
They cut and processed limestone with lighter stone, and embossed animal motifs on T-shaped stones with cutting stone tools.
It is thought that, they gathered at different times and performed religious ceremonies and these ceremonies started the transition to settled life and agriculture.
Gobekli Tepe, the first monumental belief center of the world, is a great discovery in the name of humanity and it has proved that the information should be questioned again by ruining our knowledge on behalf of the First Age.
LOCATION
It is the highest peak in the Germus Mountains in the northeast of Sanliurfa city with an altitude of 800 meters.
In open weather, the Eastern Taurus Mountains in the north and the Karacadağ Volcano in the northeast can be seen from the horizon.
It is thought that wild hunting animals came to this region due to the hard and high ground due to the rising snow waters melting in summer.
How to Get to GOBEKLITEPE ?
Şanlıurfa GAP Airport can be reached from Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir by direct flights. Other different cities also have transfer flights to the city.
After arriving at the airport, the easiest way to reach to Gobeklitepe is renting a car.
Also Taxi/Cab is another option from city center or airport.
To reach Göbeklitepe by public transport, you should go to Şanlıurfa city center. Public transport buses are can be checked from the link given below. Bus fare is 5TL.
http://urfakart.com/#!/wherebus
Gobeklitepe museum is open every day of the week. Visit hours vary according to seasons.
(April 1 – October 31) hours 08:00 – 19:00 (8 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
(October 31 – April 1) hours 08:00 – 17:00 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Museum entrance fee is 36TL. Museum website ;
https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?SectionId=SGT01&DistId=SGT
DISCOVERY of GOBEKLITEPE
It was identified as a result of surface surveys in “Southeastern Anatolia Region Research Project” which had started by Prof. Dr. Halit Çambel of Istanbul University and Prof. Dr. Robert Braidwood of Chicago University Institute of Oriental Sciences in 1963.
In 1983, as the Yıldız Family teamed up their fields and tried to free them from stones, they came across strange shaped stones, a statue with a male genitals highlighted and an animal relief. They bring these statues to the house and hide them in a haystack and cover the male statue. Similarly, they find a female statue and smashed it because it was out of decency.
In 1984, they brought two samples to the Şanlıurfa Museum. The experts and archaeologists in the museum treat the works they have never seen before as counterfeit and store them.
The German archaeologists who excavated Nevali Çori in 1992 handed the statues to the museum and saw forgotten statues from Göbeklitepe.
It was discovered in 1994 by Klaus Schmidt and since 1995 excavations have been carried out jointly with the Sanliurfa Museum and the German Archaeological Institute.
Structure
The Gobeklitepe temples, which are generally built in an oval pattern, consist of monumental obelisks in the shape of T and inverted L.
Gobeklitepe is a religion center and collection of cult buildings of pottery-free Neolithic era.
Covering an area of 80 acres, this ruins place was declared as a first degree protected area in 2005 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The 15-meter-high hill on the Germuş Mountains covers 9 hectares and is completely man-made. The hill was deliberately filled with soil and raised about 10 thousand years ago.
Gobeklitepe is 7 thousand years older than Stonehenge and 7,500 years older than the Egyptian Pyramids.
Gobeklitepe has a structure consisting of 3 separate layers and the first layer consists of filling stone and soil. Circle structures formed by T-shaped pillars are on the second and third layers.
It is estimated that the third layer circle structures, which contain older structures than the second layer, date back to 11.000 BC.
In the circular structures that emerged as a result of the excavations, the letters A, B, C, D, E were named after the first one. The largest is the structure given the letter D.
DATES GIVEN BY DIFFERENT TESTS
| Temple | Carbon 14 Method | Collins History | History of CDC |
| B | B.C. [8306, 8236] | B.C. [8520;8210] | B.C. 8245 |
| C | B.C. [9500;8500] | B.C. [9230;9080] | B.C. 8980 |
| D | B.C. [9745;9314] | B.C. [9620;9550] | B.C. 9400 |
| E | B.C. [9500;8500] | B.C. [9510;9410] | B.C. 9290 |
Gobeklitepe temples are generally built in the form of a circle symbolizing the eternity, the universe and the unity. There are also many circle symbols on the rock surfaces in the temple area.
Gobeklitepe, which consists of circular structures with diameters between 10-30 meters and surrounded by stone mesh walls, has stones erected in the centers and walls of these structures. In the third layer, which is the oldest layer, the structures are circular and large, whereas in the second layer the structures are rectangular and square in shape and small and unpretentious.
At the center of the circular structures are two large parallel stones and 10-12 smaller T-shaped pillars embedded in the surrounding wall.
In the structures named as A, B, C, D, depictions of animals such as fox, snake, bull, wild boar, lion, sheep and scorpion were included.
The most striking structure of Gobeklitepe is the monolithic T-shaped stones. According to the geomagnetic surveys, more than 200 standing stones have been identified.
BURYING of GOBEKLITEPE
The reason why Gobeklitepe has been preserved so well is that it is buried with the soil about a thousand years after its construction.
In addition to the tremendous effort that was thought to have been spent on its construction, tens of tons of soil were buried by carrying out quite a lot of effort.
Although the purpose of the burial of this structure is not known exactly, it may be buried for future generations for protection or it may be buried for the purpose of eliminating the remains of this old religion due to a new religion emerging in the region.
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