--- title: Göbekli Tepe author: Ronnie Jones III source: https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli_Tepe/ format: machine-readable-alternate license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) updated: 1970-01-01 --- # Göbekli Tepe _Authored by [Ronnie Jones III](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/ronandjess522/)_ “Göbekli Tepe” (“Hill with a Navel”, or “Potbelly Hill”) is found approximately 16 km (10 miles) northeast of Şanlıurfa, an ancient [city](https://www.worldhistory.org/city/) in southeastern [Turkey](https://www.worldhistory.org/Asia_Minor/) once named “Edessa” and known as “the City of the Prophets”. While this nearby city has a rich religious history, just how far back [religion](https://www.worldhistory.org/religion/) stretched in this region was unknown until the discovery of “Göbekli Tepe”. The site is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. ### [Architecture](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/architecture/) & Art The site is the oldest man-made place of worship yet discovered, dating back to 10,000 BCE. The temples were discovered by a German archeologist (Klaus Schmidt) who had previously worked on the Nevalı Çori site and dig, which is now known to be predated by Göbekli Tepe. The temples contain 3 metre (10 ft) pillars situated in the round. Each T-shaped monolithic limestone pillar contains carved reliefs of animals – gazelles, snakes, foxes, and lions – as well as abstract characters and icons. Bones that have been discovered at the site suggest the hill was used for ritual sacrifices and feasts. Found in the cradle of [civilization](https://www.worldhistory.org/civilization/), “Göbekli Tepe” (Potbelly Hill in English) is rightfully named. As you drive through the surrounding villages (Derman Köyü, Göktepe Köyü, and Örencik Köyü) – one of two ways to get to the site – you are directed to the ancient [temple](https://www.worldhistory.org/temple/) by signs spray-painted on the [wall](https://www.worldhistory.org/wall/). Then you slowly drive up the hills in between fields that have been worked by farmers for centuries until you see it, like a middle-aged man lying on his back with his shirt off, “Potbelly Hill” stands as the highest point in the area. The hunter-gatherers who built the temple lived in a world that predated [writing](https://www.worldhistory.org/writing/), [metal](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/metal/), or [pottery](https://www.worldhistory.org/pottery/), and at a time when archaeologists thought humanity had yet to group together to worship with priests and sacrifices, yet these [Neolithic](https://www.worldhistory.org/Neolithic/) worshippers somehow organized themselves and found a way to cut and transport these 16-ton stone pillars up a hill and arrange them in a circular, ritualistic pattern. [ ![Göbekli Tepe Infographic](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/r/p/750x750/4015.jpg?v=1646543522) Göbekli Tepe Infographic Emine Sonnur Özcan (CC BY-NC-SA) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/4015/gobekli-tepe-infographic/ "Göbekli Tepe Infographic")The hill was littered with an enormous amount of Neolithic flint tools – knives, choppers, and projectile points. These tools are not out of the ordinary, but the sheer number of them is something of a phenomenon, and the fact that they were used to build a religious site, in a time when many historians and archeologists believed temples and religious practices of this kind did not yet exist, makes this an even more interesting discovery. [ ![Göbekli Tepe: Pillar](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/r/p/500x600/3832.jpg?v=1640739602) Göbekli Tepe: Pillar Ronnie Jones III (CC BY-NC-SA) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/3832/gobekli-tepe-pillar/ "Göbekli Tepe: Pillar")Significance in Understanding the Development of Religion The historian K.Schmidt believed that what he called this "cathedral on a hill" was a pilgrimage destination attracting worshippers up to 160 km (100 miles) distant. The discovery of Göbekli Tepe “suggests, at least to the archaeologists working there, \[...\] that the human sense of the sacred—and the human love of a good spectacle—may have given rise to civilization itself.” As excavator Klaus Schmidt put it, "First came the temple, then the city." Schmidt believes that civilization rose not due to ecological reasons, as has been the concensus, but rather that "civilization is the product of the human mind," a theory that would change the landscape archeology and our understanding of history. > The new discoveries are finally beginning to reshape the slow-moving consensus of archeology. Göbekli Tepe is "unbelievably big and amazing, at a ridiculously early date," according to Ian Hodder, director of Stanford's archeology program. Enthusing over the "huge great stones and fantastic, highly refined art" at Göbekli, Hodder—who has spent decades on rival Neolithic sites—says: "Many people think that it changes everything…It overturns the whole apple cart." \[If this is true, then, as Hodder puts it\] "All our theories were wrong." (Newsweek) Even with these new theories and changes in understanding the development of civilizations, religion, and [cities](https://www.worldhistory.org/city/), at present Göbekli Tepe still raises more questions for [archaeology](https://www.worldhistory.org/Archaeology/) and prehistory than it answers. The site seems to have lost its relevance and was abandoned in the 8th millennium BCE, but it clearly has strong implications for our understanding of the ancient world today. #### Editorial Review This human-authored definition has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication to ensure accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards in accordance with our [editorial policy](https://www.worldhistory.org/static/editorial-policy/). ## Bibliography - [Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665/ "Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?"), accessed 1 Dec 2016. - [The Birth of Religion](http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text/1 "The Birth of Religion"), accessed 1 Dec 2016. - [The World's First Temple](http://archive.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html "The World's First Temple"), accessed 1 Dec 2016. - [Turkey: Archaeological Dig Reshaping Human History](http://www.newsweek.com/turkey-archeological-dig-reshaping-human-history-75101 "Turkey: Archaeological Dig Reshaping Human History"), accessed 1 Dec 2016. - Schmidt, K. "Góbekli Tepe, Southeastern Turkey A Preliminary Report on the 1995-1999 Excavations." *Paléorient*, Vol. 26 / 2000, pp. 45-54. - Schmidt, K. "Göbekli Tepe – the Stone Age Sanctuaries. New results of ongoing excavations with a special focus on sculptures and high reliefs." *Deutsches Archäologisches Institut*, Documenta Praehistorica XXXVII (2010), pp. 239-256. - [Wilson, M. *Biblical Turkey.* Ege Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2014.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/6054701487/) ## About the Author In university Ronnie concentrated his studies on the Greco-Roman world while writing his senior thesis on the Reformation. He has studied Koine Greek and Hebrew at the masters level, and is currently studying Turkish. - [X/Twitter Profile](https://twitter.com/HistoryandBeans) ## Timeline - **c. 10000 BCE**: [Temple](https://www.worldhistory.org/temple/) walls of Gobekli Tepe built. ## External Links - [Göbekli Tepe May Contain The World's Oldest Solar Calendar](https://mymodernmet.com/gobekli-tepe-calendar/) ## Cite This Work ### APA III, R. J. (2015, May 07). Göbekli Tepe. *World History Encyclopedia*. [https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli\_Tepe/](https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli_Tepe/) ### Chicago III, Ronnie Jones. "Göbekli Tepe." *World History Encyclopedia*, May 07, 2015. [https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli\_Tepe/](https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli_Tepe/). ### MLA III, Ronnie Jones. "Göbekli Tepe." *World History Encyclopedia*, 07 May 2015, [https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli\_Tepe/](https://www.worldhistory.org/Göbekli_Tepe/). ## License & Copyright Submitted by [Ronnie Jones III](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/ronandjess522/ "User Page: Ronnie Jones III"), published on 07 May 2015. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.