Göbeklitepe

Overview

On a bare limestone ridge above the Harran plain, stone circles lie open to the sky under a great curved roof. Inside them stand T-shaped pillars taller than a person, carved with foxes, boars, snakes and vultures. They were raised about 12,000 years ago, long before writing or pottery. This is Göbeklitepe, the site that changed what we know about the first builders. Our ancient Anatolia tour in 10 days starts here and follows the story to the Hittites.

Göbeklitepe asks big questions. Who carved these pillars, and why? So come ready to wonder, then see the finds in the museum in Şanlıurfa, where the story continues. To go deeper, ask about a archaeologist guide.

Göbeklitepe, Older Than Farming

Göbeklitepe, “Potbelly Hill” in Turkish, lies near the village of Örencik in Şanlıurfa province, in the hills just northeast of the city. The mound is about 300 meters (985 feet) across. From the ridge, it looks south over the Harran plain.

In 2018, the site joined the UNESCO World Heritage List.

History of Göbeklitepe

Built before farming

People used the site from around 9500 BC to at least 8000 BC, in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. At that time, the land was greener than today. Wild wheat and barley grew on the steppe, while herds of gazelle, wild sheep and wild goats roamed nearby. So the builders were still hunters and gatherers, at least at first.

That is why Göbeklitepe matters. Many scholars once believed that farming came first, then villages and temples. Here, however, people raised monuments on a mountaintop with no clear evidence of fields. So the site now plays a central role in the debate over how settled life began.

Temple or village?

The German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who began digging here in 1995, saw the site as a sanctuary visited by nomads. In his view, it was the “world’s first temple”. However, research published in 2019 found houses, a water system with cisterns and tools for processing cereals. So many experts now think people also lived here. Since Schmidt’s death in 2014, Turkish prehistorian Necmi Karul has led the work.

What to See at Göbeklitepe

The great enclosures

The oldest buildings are round enclosures from 10 meters (33 feet) to 30 meters (98 feet) across. Walls of rough stone hold T-shaped pillars, and two taller pillars face each other in the middle of each circle. Stone benches run around the inside. Four enclosures have been excavated, while surveys show at least 16 more under the soil.

The carved pillars of Göbeklitepe

It was a unique sacred place of the Neolithic. Many pillars show animals, mostly male and often aggressive, such as snakes, foxes, boars and vultures. Some pillars also have carved arms, hands and belts. So they may represent people, ancestors or spirits, with the flat top as the head.

The quarries and cisterns

Around the mound, look for the rock pits where workers cut the pillars with flint tools, about 100 meters (330 feet) from the top. The builders also carved channels and cisterns into the bedrock to catch rainwater. Together, they could hold at least 150 cubic meters (5,300 cubic feet) of water.

The Stone Hills Around Göbeklitepe

Göbeklitepe is not alone. It belongs to a group of similar Neolithic sites in the region, often called the Taş Tepeler, or “Stone Hills”. Their architecture and carvings are much alike. For example, Karahantepe, another site in the same hills, also has T-shaped pillars and carved figures. Our Karahantepe tour visits both sites from Şanlıurfa. New digs may soon change the picture again.

The Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum

In the city, the archaeology museum displays many of the finds, including a carved “totem pole” of figures stacked on top of each other. Visit it before or after the site, because the carvings are easier to see up close. The museum opens every day. The Şanlıurfa Museum also takes part in the excavations, together with Istanbul University and the German Archaeological Institute.

A Night in Şanlıurfa After Göbeklitepe

Göbeklitepe is a morning; Şanlıurfa is the rest of the day. The city of Balıklıgöl and its sacred carp has a way of life of its own, and we never let guests leave without one evening of it. Our sıra night is that evening, with music and dinner.

How to Visit Göbeklitepe

Getting to Göbeklitepe

• From Şanlıurfa: drive or take a taxi into the hills toward Örencik; the site has a visitor center and a walkway. It opens every day. In town, see the sacred pools of Balıklıgöl.
• By air: Şanlıurfa GAP Airport, about 35 km (22 miles) from the city center, has domestic and international flights. HAVAŞ shuttles, municipal buses and taxis run into town.
• Further on: continue east to the stone town of Mardin, or north to the stone heads of Mount Nemrut.

Local tips for Göbeklitepe

• Go early, because the ridge has no shade and summers here are very hot.
• Bring water and a hat, even in spring.
• Read up on the debate before you go, so the pillars mean more when you see them.
• Drive west to Gaziantep for the Roman floors of the Zeugma Mosaic Museum.
• Compare it with Çatalhöyük near Konya, a later farming town of the Neolithic.
• Its sister site, Karahantepe, lies in the Tek Tek Mountains to the east. Karahantepe is closed to visitors; ask us to confirm before you go.
• Drive south to Harran, with its beehive houses and its 8th-century Grand Mosque. Its archaeological site is closed to visitors; ask us to confirm before you go.
• Visit the first farmers at Çayönü near Diyarbakır, a village of the same tradition with grill-plan houses; our Çayönü tour goes from Diyarbakır.
• We time your visit to Göbeklitepe to its seasonal hours and arrange your entry.

Our Göbeklitepe tour combines the site with the Urfa Man in the museum and the sacred pools of Balıklıgöl. To go on to Mardin, see our Göbeklitepe Mardin tour in 3 days, and for the whole region, our southeast Turkey tour in 6 days.