Göbeklitepe, 21 kilometers away from Şanlıurfa city centre, is the world’s earliest known monumental temple. The findingsat Göbeklitepe ruinsled us to reviewtheknowledge of oursprehistoric hunter-gatherer ancestors. We thought that they were a group of people migrating from a place to another and settling only when animals to hunt and plants to pick were found, and living in quite primitive and small groups. However, Göbeklitepe dating back to 9600 BC shows that they were not as primitive as we used to think.On the contrary, they were able to achievesocial organisation, came together for the sake of faith/purpose, and built themselves atemple/cult/gathering centre,erecting pillarsweightingnearly 7 tons andrichly adorned with animal engravingsthat showa high level of handicraftshipat a time when there was no mining, no animal domestication, no agriculture and no engineering and writing.Göbeklitepe has been included in World Heritage List in 2018 and became the 18th UNESCO World Heritage site in Turkey.Göbeklitepe awaits you toteach youmuch more about this interesting era,12,000 years old, and to let you feel the strength ofFaith.
