- Tourist Information
- Map
- Was Göbekli Tepe built 11 000 years ago?
- From where did our predecessors know innovative building techniques?
- What do the symbols on the pillars represent?
Tourist Information
| Type | Ancient Temple, Religious |
| Construction Year | 9000 BC |
| Location | Örencik, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey, Asia |
Map
Was Göbekli Tepe built 11 000 years ago?
Göbekli Tepe was built in 9 000 B.C and was discovered in 1960 but nobody recognized its significance then. It was only when the site was “rediscovered” in 1994 that Göbekli Tepe’s true significance was revealed.
Groups of hunter-gatherers erected monumental structures in the pre-Pottery Neolithic period.
Turkey’s Göbekli Tepe pre-dates The Pyramids by 8,000 years and Stonehenge by 6,000 years.
Probably the site was buried around 8,000 B.C. for unknown reasons.
Göbekli Tepe is one of the first manifestations of human-made architecture.
Italian archaeoastronomer Giuglio Magli from Milano Polytechnical University propounds that Göbeklitepe temples may have been built to observe Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
From where did our predecessors know innovative building techniques?
The pillars of the building are arranged in circles and ovals and each structure consists of two large columns, arranged centrally, surrounded by other smaller pillars, facing inwards.
More than 200 pillars and about 20 circles are known (May 2020) through geophysical surveys.
The site testifies to innovative building techniques, including the integration of T-shaped limestone pillars.
What do the symbols on the pillars represent?
Pillars are carved with images of wild animals such as foxes, scorpions, lions, leopards, eagles, wild boars, spiders, and snakes. Other pillars display pictograms that may be sacred symbols. The center pillar in Temple D displays the moon and sun. Astronomer, B. G. Sidharth believes the sun and moon signs imply a solar eclipse.
