 |
| Gobekli Tepe
http://www.world-archaeology.com/features/turkey-gobekli-tepe/
|
The semi-deserts of southeastern Turkey seem very uninviting.
Yet archaeologists flock there like the sheep that graze the valleys between
the dusty plateaus, to feast their eyes on something that has changed their
view of humanity’s advancement. A gently rounded hill rises above the
surrounding landscape. What lies within this hill is what has attracted all the
attention. A shepherd was the first to discover the top of a pillar jutting up
out of the dirt and introduced the site to archaeological curiosity. But it was
a German archaeologist named Klaus Schmidt in 1994 who ‘unveiled’ the
incredible importance of this hill known as Gobekli Tepe. [1]
The "Naval of the World"
Gobekli Tepe means “Hill with a Belly” or “Naval Mound”.[2]
Locally the hill was believed to be a sacred site for generations: the “naval
of the world”. After spending the past nineteen years excavating it, Schmidt
has finally begun theorizing an explanation for why.
Gobekli Tepe
Through the use of ground-penetrating radar and geomagnetic
surveys, what lies buried in the belly of the hill was revealed: at least twenty
megalithic stone rings. Their layouts are similar; one circle is built within
another and lined with towering T-shaped limestone blocks, each eight feet tall
and weighing in around seven tons. These pillars face inward to the center of
the circle where the two tallest pillars stand. These megaliths are between sixteen
and eighteen feet high and can weigh from seven to ten tons. [3]
Not every circle has been excavated, however. Out of the twenty-two
acres that make up Gobekli Tepe only one-acre of excavation - revealing four
circles - has given us a physical glimpse of this site.
A walk down into one of these circles opens our eyes to more
than just the megaliths. Most of the limestone pillars are smooth and bare, but
others bare the relief carvings of leopards and wild boars. A host of other
predators such as lions, foxes, vultures and scorpions crawl over the stone.
The images of herons and geese, as well as the forms of men have been found as
well. Gobekli Tepe forms a mysterious place from ancient times and its
existence has blown the minds of archeologists.
What seems so Surprising…
Archaeology, put very loosely, is digging up remnants of the
past. So then why are the findings at Gobekli Tepe such a surprise? Because it
shatters the previously held timeline for how ancient man evolved.
Secular archaeology labels Prehistoric (pre-writing)
Cultures based on their level of human development as characterized by the
creation and use of stone tools. Through the use of carbon dating of organic
matter on and around the megaliths as well as dating animal bones
and stone tools on the site, a wide range of possible ages have been presented by secular archeologists. They theorize a 10,000-9,000 BC date range[4] for construction - this would put the four circles of Gobekli Tepe that are available to test in the
Early Neolithic (according to mainstream science - not the biblical timeline). According to mainstream science, this period was populated only
by primitive hunter-gatherers. [5]
That means, according to the secular calendar, Gobekli Tepe
was built thousands of years before the first Mesopotamian cites and the
pyramids of Egypt. If this really were a 12,000 year-old complex, then it would
predate not only pottery and agriculture, but also settled human life as archaeology
has defined it. (According to the biblical timeline the site would be much younger. It would have been constructed sometime after the flood probably between 2300-2100 BC.)
For the secular world, the idea that early Neolithic hunter-gatherers built
something like this is world changing. One documentary put it this way: “It’s
like discovering that a three-year-old child’s made the Empire State Building
out of toy bricks – How’d they do it?”[6]
Leopard Relief
…Actually Isn’t.
Operating under the pre-supposition that man was created around 6,000 years ago,
not evolved, this “surprise” is no longer that big of a shocker. Commentators
ask themselves if hunter-gatherers were advanced enough to organize a project
like Gobekli Tepe. Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell (writer for Answers in Genesis)
voices this alternative:
“Evolutionary anthropologists generally consider the “hunter-gatherer” to represent the more “primitive” condition of evolving humanity. But this view is false. Biblical history describes Adam’s first “job” to be tending the garden that God provided, and Adam’s sons kept flocks and tilled the ground (Genesis 4:2–3). Genesis chapter 4 describes the establishment of a city, so we see that the hunter-gatherer lifestyle was not the original condition of mankind. Following the global Flood, farming resumed as Noah planted a vineyard (Genesis 9:20). We learn of a hunter named Nimrod (Genesis 10:9) about the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, and it is likely that once people dispersed from Babel the foraging/hunting lifestyle became a necessary expedient for many. But such a lifestyle was not a symptom of evolutionary or intellectual inferiority”[7]
Hunter-gatherer does not have to translate into “primitive”.
It’s a lifestyle, often times just a temporary one. People have lived according to this lifestyle throughout the years of history - they are not confined to a certain period and cannot be called "less intelligent" because of it.
Just Hunter-gatherers?
So what sort of environment were these ancient people up
against when tackling the construction of Gobekli Tepe? It was certainly not
the barren valleys surrounding the site today.
Gobekli Tepe rests on the edge of a lush arc of land known
as the Fertile Crescent. From the top of the hill in ancient times a man would
have seen paradise in every direction; a bountiful landscape of rivers,
fruit-bearing trees, valleys of wild grains and herds of game here and there. A
hunter-gatherer lifestyle in this environment is certainly supported by over
100,000 wild animal bones uncovered at the Gobekli Tepe site.[8]
There is also evidence for ancient farming in the area. A
forerunner of modern domesticated wheat known as einkorn wheat grows wild in
the area surrounding Gobekli Tepe. Farming this wild grass could help support a
growing community. Dr. Mitchell says again:
“The human beings who cultivated the wild plants as crops and domesticated wild plants to better meet their needs were obviously intelligent people. In fact, archaeologist George Willcox notes that the various ancient settlements scattered throughout the Fertile Crescent lack clear evidence to distinguish between the traditional evolutionary classifications of primitive man as foraging “hunter-gatherers” and the more advanced farmers who tilled the ground.”[9]
So could ancient man have possessed the capabilities and
resources to accomplish this project? Absolutely! Our remaining question is
why.
The First Temple?
As the archaeologist in charge of excavation, Schmidt has
presented theories to explain why Gobekli Tepe was built. A reminder here is
that Gobekli Tepe is not merely four stone circles; it is a whole man-made hill
full of buried stone circles. Several years after the first circles were built
they were buried and new circles built atop them. Repeat this process over
several times and you have the present-day site of Gobekli Tepe.
Schmidt rules out Gobekli Tepe as a dwelling place or
village very quickly and states:
“Gobekli Tepe is not a house or a domestic building. Evidence of any domestic use is entirely lacking. No remains of settled human habitation have been found nearby. That leaves one purpose: religion. Gobekli Tepe is the oldest temple in the world.” (The oldest according to the secular timeline – it may not be according to the biblical timeline.)
There are many points that support Schmidt’s theories. One
is that there is no ready water supply located at Gobekli Tepe itself, hinting
that its location was less for functional comfort and more for regional
importance. There is also evidence for Gobekli Tepe being a cosmopolitan center
of the region, supporting it’s use as a temple complex. Obsidian knife points
found at the site came from sources almost 300 miles away in each direction.
Either through trade or actual pilgrimage, someone was walking the equivalent
of New York City to Buffalo, NY to reach Gobekli Tepe. Many possible peoples
with their many languages and cultures coming together at a ceremonial center
are certainly possible.[10]
Vulture Relief
What Were They Worshiping?
Andrew Curry, in his article on Gobekli Tepe for Smithsonian
Magazine in 2008, had this to say when confronted with interpreting Gobekli
Tepe.
“Indeed, though I stood among the
looming megaliths eager to take in their meaning, they didn’t speak to me. They
were utterly foreign, placed there by people who saw the world in a way I will
never comprehend. There are no sources to explain what the symbols might mean.”[11]
That however cannot stop the urge to explain the
unexplainable; theories claiming to sum-up Gobekli Tepe’s hidden meaning
abound. Schmidt refers to it as the “Temple of the Hunt” where the
hunter-gatherers worshiped their gods, symbolized by the predators and prey
etched upon the pillars. Others try to connect Gobekli Tepe with archeoastronomy.
(Learn more about archeoastronomy)
They propose that either the carvings on the pillars represent an ancient
cosmology or the layout of the stone circles themselves are part of a geoglyph
depicting a bull, with the stone circles representing the star cluster Pleiades
within the constellation Taurus.[12]
But these are only theories, and theories that certainly
warrant much research and further examination. Gary Rollefson of Whitman
College had this to say on developing theories for Gobekli Tepe:
“Trying to pick out symbolism
from prehistoric contest is an exercise in futility.”
Conclusion
I quite agree. If Gobekli Tepe proves anything without a
doubt it shows that mankind’s theories, based on mankind’s own wisdom, are very
often wrong. The exact function of Gobekli Tepe, the questions of why it was
buried and rebuilt, the intricacies of its symbolism…all these mysteries might
never be solved. However, the mind-boggling problem of how ‘primitive’ man was
capable of producing this structure doesn’t have to remain mysterious. “Historic”
man according to the biblical narrative wasn’t primitive but was intelligent
and very capable of the design and construction of Gobekli Tepe.
Do you have any theories of your own about this mysterious
site?
Learn about some more ancient mysteries:
Learn about some more ancient mysteries:
[1] National
Geographic “Lost Civilization: Gobekli Tepe – 12,000 years ago”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JfbV21weQE&list=WL9UmK-dylcJ2hMWtqgvZy-b493Th-mLNF
[2] “Ancient
Sites in Turkey” http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/turkey.htm
[3] Curry.
Smithsonian Magazine. “Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?onsite_source=smithsonianmag.com&onsite_medium=internal&onsite_campaign=photogalleries&onsite_content=Gobekli
Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
[5] Guisepi. “An
Overview of the Paleolithic”. http://history-world.org/stone_age1.htm
[6] National
Geographic “Lost Civilization: Gobekli Tepe – 12,000 years ago”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JfbV21weQE&list=WL9UmK-dylcJ2hMWtqgvZy-b493Th-mLNF
[7] Mitchell, “War or Peace? The Evolutionary History of Human
Nature” http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2013/08/01/war-or-peace
[8] Curry.
Smithsonian Magazine. “Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?onsite_source=smithsonianmag.com&onsite_medium=internal&onsite_campaign=photogalleries&onsite_content=Gobekli
Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
[9] Mitchell. “Archaeologists Find Farming’s Roots All Over The
Fertile Crescent”
[10] “Gobekli –
Cosmopolitan Center?” http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/201203188068/Worlds-Oldest-Temple-May-Have-Been-Cosmopolitan-Center.html
[11] Curry.
Smithsonian Magazine. “Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?onsite_source=smithsonianmag.com&onsite_medium=internal&onsite_campaign=photogalleries&onsite_content=Gobekli
Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
[12] Herschel “Gobekli
Tepe – Oldest Civilization on Earth…Deciphered! February 2012”
No comments:
Post a Comment