Vital history in a region surrounded by chaos: Göbekli Tepe
Vital history in a region surrounded by chaos: Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe
January 30, 2016, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ NURULLAH KAYA | URFA
In the snow-covered Swiss town of Davos, where the World Economic Forum is held, one of the topics on this year's agenda was Turkey's Göbekli Tepe.
When this site first came into the public eye in 1963, it was talked about for some time. However, the recent situation encompassing the region where it is located has meant that Göbekli Tepe has been forgotten once again. Sunday's Zaman headed to Şanlıurfa recently to scrutinize Göbekli Tepe, which is again attracting attention, up close. But the truth is, there is a dark atmosphere swirling around here -- one of the world's most important cultural heritage sites -- due not only to the civil war in nearby Syria, but also the terror in the region. And this means that, as far as tourism here goes, things are not looking bright.
In 2014, there were no roadside facilities on the way; this was the kind of landscape in which no one is around when the weather is cold. Göbekli Tepe -- one of the oldest archaeological sites in the world, carrying traces of civilization from some 11,500 years ago -- is a rocky and somehow foreboding landscape. From the time the first digs began here, the area has changed quite a bit; thick planks have been used to make walkways, while ropes have cordoned off the site and covers have been placed over the dig area to protect it from rain. The significance of the general area of the artifacts wasn't widely grasped until the 1980s and '90s.
The central aspect of this site was like an art gallery; you could not believe what humans were doing 10,000 years ago! Professor Klaus Schmidt, who led the excavation, told us: “What we see here is that people living at that time had the same capacity for thought that people today do. They were not the primitive types of people so often believe they were…” Schmidt, who died in 2014, did much to publicize the importance of Göbekli Tepe. He wrote about this important site and the information he shared became very important for the field of archaeology.
Göbekli Tepe also has a temple area. One of the sections here is circular, with large figures covered with animal motifs. Archaeologists explain the “T” shapes seen on some of the figures represent humans. Some of these stone figures were as tall as five meters. The figures that adorned them included feline symbols, reptiles, foxes and ducks. Many speculate that the dead were placed in the temple at Göbekli Tepe and then consumed by predatory animals, especially scavenger birds. The fact that there are no cemeteries around here would seem to confirm this theory. Ground-penetrating radar scans show that there are 24 temples located in this area. At this point, the eighth temple to have been discovered is being excavated. It is thought that this dig will continue for another 80 years. Some of the statues and notable pieces found at the site are on display in a large museum in Sanlıurfa.
More:
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_vital-history-in-a-region-surrounded-by-chaos-gobekli-tepe_411011.html
