Gobeklitepi - Upending the Theory of Civilization

Leaving Mardin this morning, our destination was the archaeological site of Gobeklitepe.  On the way there, the road took us through desolate countryside, rural villages with goats, sheep and donkeys wandering around, and through agricultural land with fields of corn and cotton plus groves of walnut and olive trees.  

Mardin in the distance

Cotton fields

Before starting this vacation, I had watched several YouTube videos about the site and had read some articles.  The following is an except from what I read:

For years, it was believed civilization began with the Sumerians but an ancient site in Turkey challenges everything that was known.  Discovered in 1994, Göbekli Tepe is over 11,600 years old – thousands of years before Sumer!  This mysterious temple complex, buried beneath the earth for millennia, features enormous 20-ton limestone pillars arranged in intricate circles.  However, here’s the real mystery:

•        Who built it? No known civilization existed at that time.
•        How did they move the massive stones without the wheel or metal tools?
•        What do the strange carvings mean?  Some believe they could be the oldest know symbolic language.

Archaeologists have discovered evidence that the people of Göbeklitepe were skilled engineers and possibly amongst the first to organize simple societies.  While the Sumerians invented writing, cities, and governance, Göbeklitepe suggests that advanced human cooperation began much earlier than was once thought.

These monuments were probably used in connection with rituals, most likely of a funerary nature.  Distinctive T-shaped pillars are carved with images of wild animals, providing insight into the way of life and beliefs of people living in Upper Mesopotamia about 11,500 years ago.  This region saw the emergence of the most ancient farming communities in the world.  Monumental structures, interpreted as monumental communal buildings (enclosures), were erected by groups of hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (10th-9th millennia BC).  The monuments were probably used in connection with social events and rituals and feature distinctive limestone T-shaped pillars, some of which are up to 5.50 meters tall.  Some of the pillars, which are abstract depictions of the human form, also feature low reliefs of items of clothing, e.g. belts and loincloths, as well as high and low reliefs of wild animals.  Recent excavation works have also identified the remains of non-monumental structures which appear to stem from domestic buildings.  

We arrived at the parking lot and from there it was about a 1.5 km walk to the site.  We could have taken a shuttle but felt it would be more appropriate to do the walk.  Here is an idea of what the landscape looked like as we approached the canopied dig.

Under the canopy, we got a clear idea of what the structure had looked like and could see many of the carved reliefs of animals.  It was fascinating!

If you find any of this remotely interesting, I encourage you to check out the videos on YouTube; some are only 20 minutes long but others are in excess of an hour.  The discovery here has challenged past theories on the evolution of civilization and has somewhat turned them "on their head", so to speak.

From there, we drove to the village of Harran which, along with Sanliurfa known as the city of prophets, is a World Heritage Site.  The old city of Harran is situated in a land through which have run trade routes from Iskenderun to Antakya (ancient Antioch) and to Kargam~s. The city is mentioned in the Holy bible and in the documents founded at Mari (a city on the Northern Syria) It is important not only for hosting the early civilizations but it is the place where the first Islamic University is founded. The traditional civil architecture, mudbrick houses with conic roofs which are still lived in today, are unique.

After that, we made our way to Adiyaman where we will spend the night and continue our exploration of this area tomorrow.  One big downside (at least for me), it appears we are still in a "dry" town so no wine for me with dinner tonight!!