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Gobekli Tepe
Gobekli Tepe
The World’s First Temple?
Certainly
CertainlyThe oldest know example of monumental architecture
CertainlyThe oldest know example of monumental architecture
The first structure human beings put together that was bigger and more
complicated than a hut.
So far as we know,
nothing like it existed
anywhere else in the world.
Gobekli Tepe is old,
Gobekli Tepe is old,
very old.
Gobekli Tepe was built some
11,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Gobekli Tepe was built some
11,000 to 12,000 years ago.
10,000 to 9,000 years BC or BCE
Gobekli Tepe is
Gobekli Tepe is
6,000 to 7,000 years
older than Stonehenge
Gobekli Tepe is
Gobekli Tepe is
6,000 to 7,000 years older than
the Pyramids of Giza
Gobekli Tepe is
Gobekli Tepe is
6,000 to 7,000 years older than
the invention of writing.
In fact, more time passed
between the building of Gobekli
Tepe and the invention of writing
than has gone by since the
invention of writing and today.
Gobekli Tepe was created
thousands of years
before
the appearance
of human towns and cities.
Gobekli Tepe is located in
modern-day Turkey
In Turkish, Gobekli Tepe
means
“hill of the navel” or “belly hill”.
The individual who
brought Gobekli
Tepe to the attention
of the world is
Klaus Schmidt
Klaus Schmidt
Klaus Schmidt
A German Archaeologist
In the 1960s, archaeologists
from the University of Chicago
had surveyed Gobekli Tepe
and concluded the site was
of little interest.
They believed the pieces of limestone found there simply to be
gravestones from a relatively recent time, not from some
prehistoric period.
Schmidt came across the field notes that the University of Chicago archaelogists had made and decided to check out the site.
He found large numbers of flint chips
on the ground--clear indication that
scores (even hundreds) of people had
worked there deep in the past. This
meant that the limestone slabs were
much older than what the University of
Chicago folks thought.
The next year Schmidt began a systematic excavation of the Gobekli Tepe site.
Schmidt uncovered a ring
of stone T-shaped pillars.
These pillars are big.
Tallest are 18 feet high
and weight 16 tons.
The stones were quarried
from the surrounding limestone hills.
The stones were quarried
from the surrounding limestone hills.
Archaeologists have found a pillar
that was not completely dug out.
The surfaces of these
pillars at Gobekli Tepe
are decorated
with a menagerie of
animals
Gobekli Tepe
In following years, Schmidt
and his team found a
second and a third circle of
stones.
And then
more.
And then
more.
Surveys
in 2003 revealed at least 20 rings
For reasons yet unknown, the rings seem to
have regularly lost their power.
For reasons yet unknown, the rings seem to
have regularly lost their power.
Every few decades people buried the pillars
and put up new stones—a second smaller ring
inside the first, sometimes a third.
For reasons yet unknown, the rings seem to
have regularly lost their power.
Every few decades people buried the pillars
and put up new stones—a second smaller ring
inside the first, sometimes a third.
Then, the whole thing would be filled in with
debris and entirely new circles created nearby.
For reasons yet unknown, the rings seem to
have regularly lost their power.
Every few decades people buried the pillars
and put up new stones—a second smaller ring
inside the first, sometimes a third.
Then, the whole thing would be filled in with
debris and entirely new circles created nearby.
This went gone on for centuries.
Strangely, the people at Gobekli Tepe got steadily worse at ring building.
Strangely, the people at Gobekli Tepe got steadily worse at ring building.
The earliest rings are the largest and the most sophisticated.
Strangely, the people at Gobekli Tepe got steadily worse at ring building.
The earliest rings are the largest and the most sophisticated.
Whole thing seems to have come to a halt around 8,200 B.C.
Less than 10%
of the Gobekli Tepe site
has been uncovered.
Archaeologists are still
excavating Gobekli Tepe
and debating its meaning.
The Balikli Gol Man
The Balikli Gol Man
Earliest known life-size sculpture
The Balikli Gol Man
Earliest known life-size sculpture
Dates to, at least, 8000 B.C.
The Balikli Gol Man
Earliest known life-size sculpture
Dates to, at least, 8000 B.C.
Discovered nine miles from Gobekli Tepe
The Balikli Gol Man
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