upon The world’s oldest religious reserve, on a sunny hillside in southeastern Turkey, slowly reveals its secrets. “I don’t know what to expect when I open a new trench,” said Lee Claire of the German Archaeological Institute, which has been conducting archaeological research since 2013. Gobeklitepe, which means “Potbury Hill” in Turkish, is arguably the most important archaeological site on the planet. Thousands of prehistoric ancestors gathered around highly decorated T-shaped megalithic pillars and worshiped over 7,000 years ago in Stonehenge and the early Egyptian pyramids.
“It’s hard to exaggerate its importance,” Sean Lawrence, an assistant professor of history at West Virginia University, told AFP. Scholars believe that the history of human settlement began about 12,000 years ago on these hills near the Syrian border when a group of Stone Age hunters gathered to build these sites. Gobeklitepe (some experts believe that it is not really inhabited) is one of the vast sacred landscapes, including other nearby hilltop locations that archaeologists believe are even older. It may be a department.
Endless mystery
No one would have guessed until the German archaeologist and prehistoric Klaus Schmidt surfaced his first discovery in 1995. Since then, German and Turkish archaeologists have been working in the sun, with a long line of tourists. Contemplate many of the mysteries. It is unknown exactly when everything started. “It’s almost impossible to see the exact year,” Lawrence said. “But the oldest Egyptian monument, the Pyramid of Djoser in Sakkala, was built around 2700 BC,” more than 7,000 years after Gobeklitepe.
“This was the end of what was often thought of as a Stone Age hunter-gatherer society, and the beginning of a settled society,” Lawrence added. “The mysteries surrounding the site, such as how the workforce was organized and how the site was used, remain endless,” he said. Gobeklitepe inspired Netflix’s sci-fi psychological thriller series, The Gift. This series attaches one of the ancient inscriptions to the pillar. Schmidt often wore traditional white turbans for bargains, but on a giant stone with images of foxes, boars, ducks, lizards, and leopards, he died early in 2014 at the age of 61 for more than 20 years. I was confused over.
The photo shows the pillars of the Gobeklitepe ruins in Sanliurfa, Turkey.
The stone found and exhibited at the Gobeklitepe ruins resembles a woman who gave birth in Sanliurfa.
The photo shows the pillars of the Gobeklitepe ruins in Sanliurfa, Turkey.
“At zero point”
This place was initially believed to be purely a ritual. However, according to Claire, there is “good evidence” of the beginning of sedentary life in some buildings of the same age found in northern Syria. Turkey has not been famous for making the most of its vast archaeological heritage, but has sincerely accepted this discovery. Items excavated from Gobeklitepe are on display at the impressive Archaeological Museum in the nearest city, Sanliurfa, which is so old that Abraham is believed to have been born.
In fact, the new museum, built in 2015, boasts “the world’s richest Neolithic collection,” according to director Ceral Uldag. “All of Gobeklitepe’s portable artifacts are on display here.” “This is a journey to civilization, up to zero,” said Aidin Aslan, head of the Sanliurfa Cultural Tourism Bureau. increase. “Göbeklitepe sheds light on prehistoric times, which is why it is a common heritage of mankind,” he proudly said.
“Deeper”
Last year, the Turkish Ministry of Culture increased funding for further excavations in the region, including cash on the site at the top of the Karahantepe hill, about 35 kilometers from Gobeklitepe, as part of the “Stone Hills” project. rice field. Last year, Culture Minister Nuri Elsoy said, “Because it’s not just Gobeklitepe, we’ll dig deeper.”
With additional funding, “it gives us a great opportunity to compare the results of Gobeklitepe with the new site in the Sanliurfa region of the same age,” Claire said. Gobeklitepe also brought back to the poor and long-neglected areas that were further hit by the cross-border civil war. Syrian refugees now make up a quarter of Sanliurfa’s population. With more than 1 million tourists visiting Sanliurfa in 2019, the city is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels this year. “Today, Gobeklitepe has begun to come into direct contact with the city’s economy,” Aslan said. He hopes that glorious past will be an important part of the future of the city. – AFP
