GÖBEKLİTEPE IN DAVOS

18 kilometers to Şanlıurfa and dating back to 12 thousand years ago, world’s oldest temple Göbeklitepe was introduced in a special meeting held in Davos. Istanbul University Faculty of Literature Department of Archaeology Prehistory Faculty Member Archaeologist Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özdoğan made a presentation in the meeting titled “Incredible Archaeological Discoveries” as part of event’s “BetaZone” section. The studies by Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt who announced Göbeklitepe digs to the world were discussed in the summit, carried out by collaboration of Şanlıurfa Museum and Berlin German Archaeology Institute since 1995. Göbeklitepe overlooking
Harran Plain located in Şanlıurfa, was discovered when a local from Örencik village unearthed a carved stone as he was plowing his field and brought it to the museum. He brought the stone to the museum thinking it could be a
valuable historical artifact, and this led to the discovery of 12 thousand years old Göbeklitepe Temple after which the history of world archaeology was rewritten. Göbeklitepe is 7 thousand years older than Stonehenge in England
and 7500 years older than Egyptian pyramids. A total of 20 areas of worship have been discovered so far in the digs
spreading over an area of 5000 metersquares. Six of them have been brought to daylight to this day. Historical artifacts as wild animal figures, human sculptures and obelisks dating back to Neolithic Age have also been unearthed. In the light of research and findings in the area, it was discovered that the first ancestors of wheat
that is a major cultigen with hundreds of species, were cultivated on the foothills of Göbeklitepe. Göbeklitepe, shown as the greatest archaeological discovery made in recent years by Stanford University and other prominent universities of the world, is in UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List. Göbeklitepe stands out as an early period temple built before the first cities were established, in the era of hunter-gatherer human groups prior to the rise of settlements and agriculture. Excavations were started by Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt to bee held for three months each year, and it is estimated that the digs for the entire temple area to be unearthed will take another 50 years. A special gala night was organized for Göbeklitepe in the publicity meeting held in Davos.