Gobekli Tepe Temple

The discovery of prehistoric cave paintings in the nineteenth century led to the shocking realisation that humans have been creating art for over 30,000 years. Episode two reveals how the very first pictures were created, and how images may have triggered the greatest change in human history.

To discover the first two dimensional paintings we need to look at the art created in caves such as Altamira, Chauvet and Lascaux; these were created roughly 35,000 years, the time Archeologists identify with a ‘creative explosion’.

The first of these cave paintings were discovered in Altemira by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, and his 8yr old daughter Maria, in 1879. The paintings they discovered on the walls of the caves were of animals such as aurochs, a long extinct relative of the bison. As these matched similar stone-age images he had seen, Sautuola concluded they were prehistoric. When the caves were opened to the public, however, they were considered a hoax, and unfortunately despite trying to clear his name, his discovery was not scientifically accepted until long after his death. Following this the caves of Lascaux and Chauvet came to light, and it is said that when Picasso saw images of the caves he declared “we have learned nothing”.

Today artists create images of every aspect of life, but back then the images were almost exclusively of animals,  in particular horses, bison and reindeer. The expert Henri Breuil believed the paintings to be linked to rituals that increased the chances of a successful hunt, however more recent archeology has shown that the animals depicted were not those eaten by the people of the time. In addition some of the paintings were in very hard to reach areas of the caves and featured dots and lines. However, it is easy to take a modern view such as this and miss the point completely, that being how did we learn to project our 3D world into 2D.

There are very similar paintings to be found in the Drakensburg Mountains of South Africa, however unlike their European cousins, these were not produced thousands of years ago, but much more recently. These images were produced by the San “bush men” and although they do not produce paintings like this today, Professor David Lewis Williams discovered papers from the late nineteenth century by a German settler that documented the life and rituals of the San people. It became clear to Williams that their religion was based around traveling in a trance state to a spirit world and that they documented in these pictures their experiences of the trance. Often these transitory states involved animals, and the animals depicted were normally large or powerful, such as the Eland, that were respected by the San people. Williams also noticed another similarity with their European counterparts, that of the dots and lines.

Research into altered states, such as the trances of the San people, show that on entering these states, visual disturbances similar to migraine aura that involved lines and dots occur. Furthermore, these images can also be produced through sensory deprivation, for example from being placed deep in a cave for a long time. Prehistoric people, it appears, had hallucinations , which took the form of things that were close to them, such as the horses, bison and aurochs. These hallucinations were remembered and prehistoric people then recreated them on the walls of their caves.

Returning to the European palaeolithic caves, it seems that 12,000 years ago people stopped painting. We don’t know why, but the discovery of Göbekli Tepe, in Southern Turkey may hold the answer.  When excavated the site revealed monolithic pillars built around 12,000 years ago, dated to just the time that the paintings in caves seem to stop. These stone pillars feature carvings of animals such as those in the caves. The effort in creating these stone pillars would have required considerable  labour and organisation, the workers for example, all needed feeding. Recent research has shown that modern wheat can be traced to wild wheat that grows within 20 miles of this site, which has lead scholars to speculate that this was the birthplace of agricultural farming and, in turn, complex society,'civilisation', itself.

Sembol kelimesinin sözlük manasına baktığımızda Türk Dil Kurumu simge olarak açıklamaktadır. 1 Aslında bakılırsa dil dışı göstergeler olan bu iki kavram benziyor gibi gözükse de anlam bakımından tamamen farklıdırlar. Semboller doğal gösterici olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır duman görünce orda bir yangın çıktığını ve ateş olduğunu biliriz. Sembol kavramında belirten ve belirtilen vardır. Simge ise duyularla kavrayamadığımız his ve düşüncelerin yerini tutar. Simge ve kültür ayrılmaz ikilidir ve şiir, hikâye, fabl gibi edebi türlerde çokça simge kullanılmaktadır. Bu alanda çalışmalar yapmakta Alman sosyolog Erich Fromm'a göre sembol dili insanın geliştirdiği 'tek evrensel bir dildir' ve ona göre sembol başka bir şeyin yerinde duruyor, onun yerini alıyordu. Evrensel semboller konusunu önemli gösteren Fromm bu duygusal tepkimelerin hiçbir ırk veya toplu ile sınırlı olmadığını ve tüm insanlıkta ortak olarak görüldüğünü belirtmiştir. 2 Ülkemizde Şanlıurfa ili sınırları içerisinde yer alan Göbekli Tepe dünya tarihinin bilinen en eski yerleşim yerlerindendir. Bu yapılar topluluğu araştırıldığında ortaya İnsanlık tarihinin ilk tapınağı olgusu ortaya çıkmıştır bu bağlamda bakıldığında her şeyden önce din vardı kanısına ulaşmamız mümkündür. Göbekli tepe kazılarına önem verildikçe buradan çıkarılan soyut ve somut veriler bizlere neolitik dönem ve insanlık tarihi açısından önemli sonuçlar göstermektedir. 2019 senesinin göbekli tepe yılı ilan edilmesiyle buraya olan sosyal medya ilgisi artmış ve pek çok turist çekmiştir. Bu önemli yerleşim yeri ülkemiz için her anlamda büyük bir önem arz etmektedir.

This paper-based on ancient depicted sign language focuses primarily on Gobekli Tepe's Pillar 18. This is a heavily visual approach to translating the Pillar and is coupled with compositions from other cultures and times that adhered to a similar cosmology. The reason for this is that the Goberkli Tepe depicted signs can be rather brief thus seeming somewhat cryptic to a modern reader. Some compositions from other cultures are more detailed and helpful in filling in the gaps of what was  probably assumed knowledge

I realized two Göbeklitepe two-faced(double headed) figurines on  Prof.Erdinç Bakla’s Göbeklitepe pinterest panel. These two Göbeklitepe figurines were so similar with İstanbul Paleolithic two-faced figurine that I found in İstanbul. Then I decided to review this 10th article and publish this 3rd verion of 10th article.
          I was speaking with a 80-90% possibility. But now I am speaking with 99% possibility. The root of the Göbeklitepe Culture is İstanbul Maritime PaleoCulture that I discovered 3.5 years ago and ı published 13 articles about it.
          We added two new Two-faced Göbeklitepe figurines to 9th section of this 3rd version of 10th article. We showed the similarity of İstanbul double headed figurine and Göbeklitepe double headed figurines by showing them side by side.
          Moreover, I delated the photograph of Erdinç Bakla’s reproduction sculpture in the 9th section. Because it is not the photograph of original Göbeklitepe two headed sculpture. And I don’t want to mislead readers.
          I added Klaus Schmidt’s drawing of this two headed Göbeklitepe sculpture from  Klaus Schmidt’s article on Researchgate instead of E.Bakla’s reproduction.
          And We added 3 Göbeklitepe animal figurines, which are so similar with İstanbul Paleolithin animal figurine, into the 10th section of this 3rd edition.
          Now, The 10th article is more reliable and strong with this third version.
          We showed that the root of the Göbeklitepe Culture is İstanbul Maritime PaleoCulture that I discovered 3.5 years ago  by means of Arrowhead/spearhead geometries, production methods and art types  samenesses
            I used brackets for the word “possible”  in the caption of this 3rd version because of the cleared situation.
          When we look at the whole article, We showed that the roots of Çatalhöyük and Göbeklitepe which are the most developed Neolithic Cultures of Anatolia are  İstanbul Maritime PaleoCulture by means of same 5 spearhead geometries which are same between İstanbul Maritime PaleoCulture and Göbeklitepe/Çatalhöyük, and “fine paralel pressure flaking” which is common speciality between these cultures and the most developed Neolithic production method, and so special art types layered reliefs and two-faced figurines which we cleared in this 3rd version.
        There was a question about the meaning of T-shaped Göbeklitepe pillars.
          From this  two-faced Göbeklitepe figurine, It seems that  Göbeklitepe T-shaped pillars could be simplified  and big form of  two-faced Göbeklitepe figurines. The possibility of this at this stage is 70-80%.  Another culturel bomb.
          We added a T shaped Göbeklitepe pillar on which an arm and  hand carved as a support data.
          The root of the T-Shaped Pillars of Göbeklitepe could possibly be the two faced Göbeklitepe Figurines. I am saying this with a 70-80% possibility.
          Meanwhile, newly found  archaeological layers ın Istanbul show one more time that how a technical based  “Inscription Science and Archaeology Research Institute” which  I prepared its Project with  5 version (4 revision)  is necessary  for Istanbul. Archaeological datings and other measurements of Istanbul Paleolithic artifacts  such as material determinations  will take place  in its laboratuaries,  and  this research institute will educate MSc and PhD  students for continuity. 
        These archaeological Layers are the Neolithic Layer which include Kurgan type burials in Beşiktaş, some  archaeological  layers unearthed during the construction excavations in Kadıköy and an archaeological layer in which there are wall structures in Moda.
        And also, the necessity of establihment a new  “Natural History and Archaeology Musem”  in Kadıköy region  is increasing as we said before.

Asya ile Avrupa arasında köprü görevi gören Türkiye'nin ise Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi'nde bulunan Şanlıurfa ili konumundadır. Suriye'ye komşu olan bu il İpekyolu ticaret güzergahında ve 'Bereketli Hilal' diye tabir edilen alanın bir bölümünü oluşturan önemli bir bölgedir. İlk kez 1963 yılında İstanbul ve Chicago Üniversitesi'nin birlikte yürüttüğü bir çalışma ile 'Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi Araştırma Projesi' adı altında yüzey araştırmalarına başlanmıştır. İstanbul Üniversitesinden Prehistorya Bölüm Başkanı Prof. Dr. Halet Çambel ve Chicago Üniversitesinden Prof. Dr. Robert Braıdwood tarafından keşfi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Daha sonra ise 1995 yılında Şanlıurfa

With the opening of Sanliurfa's new archaeological museum full attention has been given to its incredible reconstruction of Göbekli Tepe's Enclosure D, complete with its twin monoliths standing an almighty 5.5 metres (18 feet) high, and its stone-by-stone reconstruction of Nevali Çori's cult building. Yet lurking in the back of one of its display areas is a stone carving from Göbekli Tepe that almost certainly shows either a penguin or the great auk. But which is it? Learning the answer could throw greater light on the geographical origins of the Göbekli builders.

Göbekli Tepe is the site of a series of stone enclosures built during the tenth and ninth millennia BC on an isolated mountaintop in southeast Anatolia (Turkish Asia Minor). Speculation has mounted regarding their orientation towards stellar objects, with Orion and Cygnus having already been proposed. Sirius is the latest star to be put forward as the primary focus of key monuments at the site. Yet such a conclusion is thwart with problems, not only in connection with the faint appearance and feeble movement of the star during the epoch in question, c. 9500-9000 BC, but also with respect to the orientation and layout of the enclosures themselves. Instead of being orientated to the south, the direction of Sirius, the enclosures are more likely directed to the north, the direction of liminal activities since the Upper Paleolithic age. In this respect, a more suitable stellar candidate for the orientation of the enclosures is Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus, which marks the opening of the Milky Way's Dark Rift, seen universally in the past as an entrance to the sky-world.

Abstract: A tiny bone plaque found at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe in southeast Turkey, and currently on display in nearby Sanliurfa Museum, shows the first recorded depiction of the site’s familiar T-shaped pillars. In addition to this, the etching on its surface might well be the earliest known use of a 3D perspective in prehistoric art. The plaque’s finely carved imagery also reignites the debate over the axial orientation of the site’s main enclosures and any potential astronomical targets during the epoch of their construction.

A Mandaean ceremony that took place on the banks of the Euphrates river in the late nineteenth century provides compelling evidence that the early Neolithic cult sanctuaries of Göbekli Tepe were orientated towards the north, and not towards the south, the direction of the dog-star Sirius

Öz Göbeklitepe arkeologlara göre, insanlığın en eski tapınaklarından biridir. Bu çalışmada on iki bin yıl öncesine dönerek hem bu yapı hakkında bilgi vermeye çalışacağız hem de bu yapının teolojik ve felsefi çağrışımlarına dikkat çekerek bir yorum denemesinde bulunacağız. Araştırmamız da, Göbeklitepe'yi arkeoloji ve sanat tarihi açısından değil de din felsefesi ve dini sembolizm açısından inceleyeceğiz. Araştırmamızda arkeoloji ve tarihi coğrafyanın bize sağladığı verilerden yararlandık. Çalışmanın temel amacı arkeolojinin bölgeden elde ettiği veriler ve bu verilerin tarihi coğrafya ve dinler tarihi açısından değerlendirilmesidir. Yeri geldiğinde bu verileri din dili ve dini sembolizm açısından yorumladık. Sonuç olarak taş devri insanının sanılanın aksine ilkel olmadığını, Göbeklitepe'nin kutsal yapılar alanı olduğunu ve inancın insanlık tarihi kadar eski olduğuna dair önemli gerekçelerin bulunduğu sonucuna ulaştık. Göbeklitepe kutsal yapılar alanı üzerinden insanlığın medeniyet gelişimi üzerine yeniden düşünülmesi gerektiği kanaatine ulaştık. Asıl amacımız Göbeklitepe'yi felsefe ve teoloji literatürüne taşımak ve bunun nasıl sağlanacağına dair bir metot ve konu önerisi sunmaktır. Bu sebeple çalışmamız sadece bir yorum denemesidir. Abstract Gobeklitepe is regarded as one of the oldest temples of the humanity according to archaeologs. In this work, by going back twelve thousand years, we will attempt both to provide information about this structure and to make interpretations by highlighting the theological and philosophical associations of this structure. In our study, we will examine Gobeklitepe not from the perspective of archaeology and history of art but from that of philosophy of religion and religious symbolism. In our research, we benefit from the data of archeology and historical geography. The basic aim of this search is archaeological data that is obtained in the region and to evaluate these datas based on the historical geography and the history of religions. When it is, we have interpreted according to language of religion and religious symbolism. As a result, contrary to popular belief, we saw important reasons Gobeklitepe area that is sacred structures, the people of the Stone

A tiny bone plaque found at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe in southeast Turkey, and currently on display in nearby Sanliurfa Museum, shows the first recorded depiction of the site’s familiar T-shaped pillars. In addition to this, the etching on its surface might well be the earliest known use of a 3D perspective in prehistoric art. The plaque’s finely carved imagery also reignites the debate over the axial orientation of the site’s main enclosures and any potential astronomical targets during the epoch of their construction.

Sobre una colina llamada Göbekli Tepe, ubicada al sureste de Turquía, las excavaciones encabezadas por Klaus Schmidt descubrieron múltiples recintos, largos y megalíticos que datan entre 10, 000 y 8,000 años a.C. su presencia señala, al igual que muchos otros lugares, el inicio del Neolítico.

This paper, based on the ancient depicted sign language system, attempts to explain how the concept of anthropomorphism has a negative effect on interpreting the Imagery found in ancient compositions. The "T" Pillars at Gobekli Tepe are used to explain the issue. 4-17-19 Corrected for errors and some minor additions.

Posizione e collocazione  della pietra solitaria: la superficie terrestre inganna facilmente. La sua parte di terra è molto più estesa di quella in pietra. Ma più in profondità, ovunque c'è solo roccia solida. Le montagne sono solo la parte visibile di essa. Da essi, comunque, provengono tutti i vari pezzi che coprono in gran numero le pendici e si trasformano massicciamente in ciottoli e sabbia lungo i fiumi, i laghi e i mari. La stessa provenienza hanno i materiali delle stratificazioni rocciose che si frantumano e i materiali amalgamati  ai vari tipi di terra della pianura. La regola generale in tutti questi casi è che si restringono costantemente dal momento che si allontanano prima o poi dalla roccia materna.

L'articolo del famoso architetto - restauratore dal titolo 'In principio erat verbum' è apparso in greco sulla rivista Χάρτης. È stato tradotto in italiano per il catologo della mostra con disegni suoi, ospitata presso la Zivas Gallery nell'estate del 2021.

-grădina, Land Art-ul şi rememorarea Paradisului -Paradisul, locul tuturor fanteziilor, dorinţelor şi binecuvântărilor omului, a constituit mereu dezideratul umanităţii, reconstruirea sa fiind dorită mereu. Acest mit al paradisului poate fi privit ca un reflex cultural generat de schimbările de paradigme sociale. Ca urmare a trecerii umanităţii de la stadiul de societate de indivizi vânători-culegători la cea sedentară a agricultorilor civilizaţia umană a început să se raporteze altfel la natură, ajungând să o conştientizeze mai profund. De asemenea conştientizând mediul înconjurător mai intens şi-a dat seama de propriile limitări, cunoscându-se astfel şi pe sine mai bine. "Apoi Domnul Dumnezeu a sădit o grădină in Eden (..)a făcut să răsară dm pămînt tot felul de pomi plăcuţi la vedere şi buni la mîncare şi pomul Vieţii în mijlocul grădinii şi pomul cunoşinţei binelui şi răului" 1 . "...ei (n.p. oamenii) aveau din belşug fructele din pomi, şi din tot restul naturii, fructe crescute nu prin agricultură, ci pentru că pămîntul le dădea de la sine" 2 .

Halk Zeugma ve Göbeklitepe sayesinde ilk kez arkeolojiye bu kadar merakla yaklaşıyor. İnsanlar varsayımları dinlemek yerine, ayrıntılı sorular yöneltiyor ve yönelttiği sorularına kesin cevaplar istiyor. Kültür-turizmi işlerinin profesyonel düzeyde ele alınacağının, fonların idaresinin akılcı şekilde yapılacağının işaretleri de devletin en üstünden makamlarından gelmeye başladı.

Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey has delivered the oldest examples of religious monumental architecture so far known, dated by archaeological methods to 9600-8000 BC. At the end of its uselife, the megalithic enclosures of Göbekli Tepe were refilled systematically.
This special element of the site formation process makes it hard to date the enclosures by the radiocarbon method, as there is no clear correlation of the fill with the architecture. Several ways have been explored to overcome this situation, including the dating of carbonate laminae on architectural structures, of bones and the remains of short-lived plants from the filling.
The data obtained from pedogenic carbonates on architectural structures back the relative stratigraphic sequence observed during the excavation. But, unfortunately, they are of no use in dating the sampled structures themselves, as the carbonate layers started forming only after the moment of their burial. At least these samples offer a good terminus ante quem for the refilling of the enclosures. For layer III this terminus ante quem lies in the second half of the 9th millennium calBC, while for layer II it is located in the middle of the 8th millennium calBC.
The data obtained from bones discovered in the filling and layers are at least partially biased by methodological problems. At least within the group of samples chosen, collagen conservation is poor and isotopic exchange processes with carbon rich surface and ground waters may cause alterations in the carbonate contents of bones that lead to problems with the dating of apatite fractions. Nonetheless, the data could hint at last refilling activities in the big enclosures of layer III in the middle and later 9th millennium calBC.
Charcoal samples from short-lived plants could give a good hint at the beginning of the refilling and “burial” of the big enclosures in the late 10th and early 9th millennium calBC, but they could also simply indicate the use of older fill material. The last intrusions in the big enclosures can be dated by a charcoal sample taken from under a fallen pillar fragment in Enclosure A to the middle of the 9th millennium. The analysis of this type of sample, which is available in considerable amounts from recent excavation work at Göbekli Tepe, will be pursued preferentially in the future. Also further analysis should show, whether poor conservation of collagen is a general problem at the site and the extent to which the apatite dates can be taken into consideration.