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