Gobekli Tepe

An Archaeological Monument

Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic

archaeological site near the city
of Şanlıurfa in Southeastern
Anatolia, Turkey.
The site was first used at the
dawn of the Neolithic period,
which in Southwest Asia marks
the appearance of the oldest
permanent human settlements
anywhere in the world.
Prehistorians link this Neolithic
Revolution to the advent of
agriculture, but disagree on
whether farming caused people
to settle down or vice-versa.

Geography and
Picture Caption: Gobekli Tepe

Topography
Göbekli Tepe is located in the Construction
foothills of the Taurus
Mountains, overlooking the The plateau Göbekli Tepe is
Harran plain and the headwaters situated on has been shaped by
of the Balikh River, a tributary of erosion by quarrying in both the
the Euphrates. The site is an Neolithic and later periods. There
artificial mound situated on a flat are four 10-metre-long (33 ft) and
limestone plateau. In the north, 20-centimetre-wide (7.9 in)
the plateau is connected to the channels on the southern part of
neighbouring mountains by a the plateau, interpreted as the
narrow promontory. In all other remains of an ancient quarry from
directions, the ridge descends Unequivocally Neolithic are
which rectangular blocks were
steeply into slopes and steep three T-shaped pillars that had
taken. These are possibly related to
cliffs.] On top of the ridge there a square building in the not yet been levered out of the
is considerable evidence of bedrock. The largest of them
neighbourhood, of which only the
human impact, in addition to the foundation is preserved. lies on the northern plateau. It
construction of the artificial has a length of 7 m (23 ft) and its
Presumably, this is the remains of a
mound. head has a width of 3 m (10 ft).
Roman watchtower that was part of
Its weight may be around 50
the Limes Arabicus, though this is
tons. The two other unfinished
conjecture.[63] Most structures on
pillars lie on the southern
the plateau seem to be the result of
Plateau.
Neolithic quarrying, with the
quarries being used as sources for
\
the huge, monolithic architectural
elements. Their profiles were
pecked into the rock, with the
detached blocks then levered out
of the rock bank.[63] Several
quarries where round workpieces
had been produced were
identified. Their status as quarries
was confirmed by the find of a 3-
 by-3 metre piece at the
southeastern slope of the plateau.

ART

Iconography of the pillars

The stone pillars in the enclosures at Göbekli Tepe are T-shaped, similar to other sites in the region.
But unlike at these other sites, many of the pillars are carved – usually in low relief, but sometimes also
in high relief. Most carvings depict animals: serpents, foxes, and boars for the most part, but also
aurochs, gazelle, mouflon (wild sheep), onager, crane, ducks, and vultures. Insofar as they can be
identified, the animals are male, and often depicted with an aggressive posture.

Abstract shapes are also depicted, mostly an upright or horizontal ‘H’-shaped symbol, but also
crescents and disks. Depictions of humans are rare; pillar 43 in enclosure D includes a headless man
with an erect phallus. However, the ‘T’-shape of the pillars themselves is anthropomorphic: the shaft is
the body, and the top is the head. This is confirmed by the fact that some pillars include – in addition
to animal reliefs – carvings of arms, hands, and loincloths.

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