What does the Göbekli Tepe represent?
Göbekli Tepe (which translates to “potbelly hill” in Turkish) was built some 11,000 to 12,000 years ago — hundreds of years before any evidence of farming or animal domestication emerged on the planet. So it’s thought that this massive undertaking was the work of hunter gatherers.
What do the T monoliths from Göbekli Tepe represent?
T-Shaped Pillars According to one interpretation, the monolith is an abstract representation of the human form, with arms, hands, legs, loin cloths, belts, and other human accoutrements carved in low relief. These may have represented individuals, stylized humans, or incipient deities.
What makes Göbekli Tepe unique?
Gobekli Tepe in Turkey is one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in the world. It is so unusual that it has turned the archaeological world on its head. Gobekli Tepe is actually a 12,000 year old temple complex, built by a hunter-gatherer culture and they are the oldest temples in the world.
What does Göbekli Tepe mean in Turkish?
Potbelly Hill
Göbekli Tepe (Turkish: [gœbecˈli teˈpe], “Potbelly Hill”; known as Girê Mirazan or Xirabreşkê in Kurdish) is a Neolithic archaeological site near the city of Şanlıurfa in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey.
What are the T shaped pillars?
The T-shape of the pillars is clearly an abstract depiction of the human body seen from the side. Evidence for this interpretation are the low relief depictions of arms, hands and items of clothing like belts and loinclothes on some of the pillars.
Was Göbekli Tepe a settlement?
The remains of undomesticated plant material and tens of thousands of wild animal bones—chiefly gazelle bones—have been uncovered there, but the lack of trash pits, hearths, or other signals of domestic life indicates that it was most likely not a permanent settlement.
Did Göbekli Tepe have writing?
A series of carvings found on a pillar of limestone in the mountains of southern Turkey could be the world’s oldest written language. The ancient pictograms, which were found at the ancient city of Göbekli Tepe in southeast Anatolia, Turkey, are thought to be around 12,000 years old.
What language does Göbekli Tepe speak?
hieroglyphic Luwian
Our investigation, however, begins with an examination of hieroglyphic Luwian, a language in use across most of Bronze Age Anatolia thousands of years after prehistoric people built Göbekli Tepe. Luwian Hieroglyphic Script.
Is Göbekli Tepe older than pyramids?
At around 12,000 years old, Göbekli Tepe in south-east Turkey has been billed as the world’s oldest temple. It is many millennia older than Stonehenge or Egypt’s great pyramids, built in the pre-pottery Neolithic period before writing or the wheel.
What are the symbols on the pillars of Göbekli Tepe?
Beside animal motifs we see various mysterious symbols on the pillars of Göbekli Tepe temples. A “diamond-like” symbol, “H-like” and “I-like” symbol, a “three-baskets” symbol, and the “seven birds” symbol.
Is Göbekli Tepe related to astronomy or cosmology?
In addition, a totem pole was discovered in Göbekli Tepe which we can connect with shamanism. Totemism is based on the belief of a connection between human and animals. So, can we imagine that the symbols of Göbekli Tepe might have once been the symbols of shamans that were relevant to astronomy or cosmology.
Why is the excavation of Göbekli Tepe so important?
Göbekli Tepe is an ancient and significant site which has been pushing back the beginnings of civilization further than we previously assumed. As each temple, pillar, and engraving at the Neolithic site is excavated, the story of human history is rewritten, and the symbols and messages of prehistoric cultures are revealed.
What is the meaning of Tell Göbekli Tepe?
Göbekli Tepe (Turkish: [ɟœbecˈli teˈpe], Turkish for “Potbelly Hill”) is an archaeological site in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, approximately 12 km (7 mi) northeast of the city of Şanlıurfa. The tell has a height of 15 m (49 ft) and is about 300 m (980 ft) in diameter.