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GBEKL TEPE World's Oldest (12,000 years old) and Biggest Temple
ANLIURFA Gbekli Tepe
Viranehir July 2014, Insertion of 560. Issue
Suru Prepared and translation by Dr.Emine Sonnur zcan
Harran Graphic: dl Evren Tngr
Artistic creator: Erhan Balk
English versions edition: eyma Srakaya

Excavation area of Gbekli Tepe:

Central T-Shaped Pillars:
Gbekli Tepe, the nomadic peoples spiritual center is There are two huge, parallel pillars in the center of the
1.5 km away from the nearest village, rencik, and 18 km from enclosures. The smaller ones are located around the
the nearest city, Urfa, in southastern Turkey. Gbekli Tepe's larger pillars. The central pillars of the largest
symbol is a T-shaped pillar. The pillars are in the first and second enclosure D have arm and hands engravings; all the
archaeological layers dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Age pillars in Gbekli Tepe are interpreted as
anthropomorphic. The horizontal part of the pillar
(9600-8000 BCE). The ritual site on the hill what is visible of it
symbolizes the head and the vertical part, the body.
so far - is nearly The height of the central pillars in enclosure D is
15 meters high. The Gbekli Tepe exavation area contains about about 5 meters.
90,000 square meters (larger than 12 football fields).
Noncentral and Smaller Pillars:
The hill, which protects Stone Age ruins inside, as can be seen Smaller pillars around the central pillars (10-12 on
from its name (gbekli/bellied), is round-shaped and situated in average) are in the surrounding wall. Central and
the highest place on a limestone plateau. noncentral, all the pillars were cut out of
Excavations at Gbekli Tepe started under the direction of monolithic limestone. The pillars of Gbekli Tepe
Klaus Schmidt (1953-2014) and the German Archaeology Institute number more than 100. They are between 1.5 and
5 meters in height.
in 1995 and now are continued by the German Archaeology Figures on T-shaped Pillars:
Institute and the Republic of T-shaped pillars at Gbekli Tepe are covered by
Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism. semi-relief animal figures.
Birds, serpents, foxes, boars, and aurochs are the most
depicted figures. A gazelle and a wild ass are among
the animals more rarely depicted.
In addition to the animal figures, there are some
symbols in the form of an H motif, crescents, rings, and
some lines which express contariness.
Circular Enclosures:
The circular enclosures at Gobeklitepe were designated A to H Layer II
Layer III

according to when they were discovered rather than when they

Unascertained layer

Pillars

were built/created. The enclosures' walls were made from small Enclosure E on the west plateau

limestones. Diameters of enclosures are between 10 and 20 meters.

The biggest one is enclosure D.

Floor:
The floors of the enclosures are smoothed, monolithic
bedrocks. The pedestals of the pillars were cut out of the
bedrock.
The Plan of Gbekli Tepe
Some sculptures excavated from Gbekli Tepe Plan: By K. Schmdt and his team

Gbekli Tepe via Google Map

BC 10.000 BC 7000 BC 6000 BC 5000 BC 4500 BC 4400 BC 4000 BC 3300 BC 3100 BC 3000 BC 2600 BC 2500 BC 2100

Monumental Buildings
Since the Stone Age
Gbekli Tepe Atlit Yam Cromlech Barnenez Nabta Playa Malta Sanctuaries Ziggurats Carnac Stones Dolmens Rucmul-Hir Pyramids Stonehenge Arkaim Sanctuaries
Sanctuaries (Israel) of the Almenders (France) (Egypt) (Malta) of Mesopotmia (France) of Caucasus (Syria) (Egypt) (England) (Bashkortostan)
(Turkey) (Potugal)