Göbekli Tepe

 

 “Göbekli Tepe” (“Hill with a Navel”, or “Potbelly Hill”) is found approximately 16 km (10 miles) northeast of Şanlıurfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey once named “Edessa” and known as “the City of the Prophets”. While this nearby city has a rich religious history, just how far back religion stretched in this region was unknown until the discovery of “Göbekli Tepe”.

Architecture & Art

The site is the oldest man-made place of worship yet discovered, dating back to 10,000 BCE. The temples were discovered by a German archeologist (Klaus Schmidt) who had previously worked on the Nevalı Çori site and dig, which is now known to be predated by Göbekli Tepe. The temples contain 3 metre (10 ft) pillars situated in the round. Each T-shaped monolithic limestone pillar contains carved reliefs of animals – gazelles, snakes, foxes, and lions – as well as abstract characters and icons. Bones that have been discovered at the site suggest the hill was used for ritual sacrifices and feasts.

Gobekli Tepe is the oldest man-made place of worship yet discovered, dating back to 10,000 BCE.

Found in the cradle of civilization, “Göbekli Tepe” (Potbelly Hill in English) is rightfully named. As you drive through the surrounding villages (Derman Köyü, Göktepe Köyü, and Örencik Köyü) – one of two ways to get to the site – you are directed to the ancient temple by signs spray-painted on the wall. Then you slowly drive up the hills in between fields that have been worked by farmers for centuries until you see it, like a middle-aged man lying on his back with his shirt off, “Potbelly Hill” stands as the highest point in the area.