Göbekli Tepe

    Beyond Cilicia - Urfa Province - 29 July 2022

    Göbekli Tepe (Potbelly Hill) is a Neolithic archaeological site in southeastern Turkey about 25 km from Urfa or Şanlıurfa as it is the city's official name since the Atatürk era. The place gained world recognition after mysterious structures had been unearthed there in 1990s and 2000s.

 The structures dating back to 9500 - 8000 BC are circular or oval in shape and supported with T-shaped stone pillars. The pillars, world's oldest megaliths, are decorated with animal reliefs and human-related elements such as body parts and clothing. 

The circles were built by hunter-gatherers and intended for religious purposes. Cult practices performed within their walls make them the world's first temple. It is a matter of academic dispute as to whether hunter-gatherers lived there permanently or met at a specific time of the year, and, if the former is true, whether they built the structures first and then settled down or vice-versa.

To date, 23 circles have been identified out of which 6 have been excavated and displayed to the public. It is estimated that it may take another 90-100 years to unearth the entire site.

2 hours left *

Hooray *

At gate; site is composed of ticket office,
museum, pick-up point and excavations *

Alley leading to pick-up point from 
where tourists are taken to excavations
by small buses *

Approaching excavations *

Just a few meters more *

Here it is, 4 circular structures under modern
 roof, first temple in the world! *

It predates pyramids in Egypt
 by 7000 years *

The largest of structures called
Building D or Temple D *

Close-up of Building D *

Even kids aged 5 enjoy Göbekli Tepe :) *

Area of Building E *

Buiding E - temple cut into bedrock;
T-shaped pillars, present in the time
of creation, are gone now * 

    Göbekli Tepe is a place that is definitely worth seeing. Nowhere else are we going to see such old man-made structures. If you think that Stonehenge was built about 6500 years later and the Egyptian pyramids 7000 years after Göbekli Tepe, you must be impressed.

    Some people claim they could feel unique vibrations here, but neither I or my family sensed anything mystical. Perhaps these 40C during our visit suppressed all other feelings ;)

    The only thing I didn't like was overpriced souvenirs and drinks offered at Göbekli Tepe. A glass of lemonade was 41 TL while standard price is 6 TL. We could get a discount with our museum cards, but still we had to pay 5 times more than normally.