TY  - JOUR
TT  - The First Temple in Minor Asia: Gobeklitepe
AU  - Kurt, Ali Osman
AU  - Göler, Mehmet Emin
PY  - 2017
DA  - December
DO  - 10.18505/cuid.334942
JF  - Cumhuriyet İlahiyat Dergisi
JO  - CUID
PB  - Sivas Cumhuriyet University
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2528-9861
SP  - 1107
EP  - 1138
VL  - 21
IS  - 2
KW  - Din
KW  - Tapınak
KW  - Göbeklitepe
KW  - Şanlıurfa
KW  - Neolitik Dönem
KW  - Neolitik Dönem
N2  - Abstract: This article examines Gobeklitepe, the first temple built in Minor Asia,dating back to Neolithic Period. This temple is one of the oldest temples ofmankind, according to the archaeologists. Gobeklitepe provides us with crucialinformation about the religious beliefs of hunter-gatherers - lacking urbanlife and agricultural production. This temple shows us that archaic people didnot lead a life away from religion and beliefs, instead it proved that they hadbeliefs and constructed temples to observe their beliefs and employed richreligious symbols. Gobeklitepe is a sign that people started to build a templefirst to meet their religious needs, even before adapting a settled life,constructing houses, domesticating animals, and starting agricultural production.This article deals with Gobeklitepe,the first temple built in Minor Asia, dating back to Neolithic Period. Thearchaeological excavations, commenced in 1995 near Sanliurfa, have changed theway we view history, offering us to validate the information we have abouthistory. Gobeklitepe showed that the information we have about the beliefs andviews of archaic people does not reflect the realities. People, thought to haveled their lives as hunter-gatherers, lacking religious and abstract thinking,even not knowing how to make pottery, not having discovered agriculture andsettled life, have profoundly affected scientists with their ability to buildsophisticated and symbolically rich temples.Summary: Themost interesting components of Gobeklitepe temples, which are the twentycircular structures in total with the span of 10 to 30 meters, are the T-shapedstone pillars with embossed abstract symbols and animals’ pictures. In the centre of the circular structure aretwo pillars encircled by ten to twelve T-shaped pillars, making up to about twohundred in total. When these T-shapedpillars are analysed in detail, and when the religious beliefs and temple cultsof the ancient Minor Asian and Mesopotamian civilizations are studied, we cansee that these pillars symbolize gods. Gobeklitepe, encircled by the childrenand smaller gods, centred by a couple gods – god and goddess – is the sacredplace for gods’ pantheon. Gobeklitepe,as well as being a temple, stands as the most important representative of abelief system waiting in the darkness. Gobeklitepe, dating back to the earlydays of Neolithic Period, when no written resources existed and limitedarchaeological data survived, shows us the world of belief and thoughts ofarchaic people from that period. Thestructural features and forms of this megalithic construction prove thatarchaic people were not that primitive, as commonly supposed. Gobeklitepepresents us very important information about the birth and progress ofreligion. It shows that the theories - based upon evolutionist and positivistviews claiming that religions originated from simple and groundless ideas likewizardry, soul, fear and ancestor worshipping, and then were transformed intocomplicated and organised belief systems – do not reflect the truth.Researchers thought that religions were born as a result of the quest for thesolution to the problems in the new societies - raised by the transition fromhunter-gatherer societies to the settled life and agricultural production. Inother words, organised religions were viewed as the product of and consequenceof complex social life. However, Gobeklitepe showed that religious beliefscould be traced back to former periods, and they could be more advanced andorganised as well despite the common belief.Gobeklitepeis claimed to be the oldest and first temple yet known. This megalithicstructure, at least 5000 years older than known ancient temples, clearlyindicates how significant and influential religious beliefs could be in thedevelopment of civilizations. Klaus Schmidt, leading the excavation for manytears, stated that human’s need to believe is highly important and alsoprioritized in their genes, by uttering these words, “… first temple was built, and then the city.” Gobeklitepe alsoindicated that human constructed impressive and complex buildings before theirbasic needs such as housing, agriculture and pottery, showing that these wereinduced by the strong sense of belief amidst archaic human communities. Theneed to worship engraved in human genes inspired man to build temples in thefirst place. Wecan see how rich and effective religious systems and realm of ideas representedin Gobeklitepe were, and thus influenced the Minor Asian and Mesopotamiancivilizations which emerged in the same region at least 5000 years later. Thestructures of temples and religious ideas of latter peoples coincide with thismegalithic structure. When shedding light to the less known parts of thesecivilisations, Gobeklitepe offers an unrivalled opportunity to the researchers.Whenthis megalithic structure was unearthed, it resounded well and drew thescholars’ attention. This temple complex, about which much is said in visualand printed media, has been claimed to be the Gardens of Eden, the HangingGardens of Babylon, a Shaman temple, or even the centre of aliens. As more information about Gobeklitepe wasrevealed in parallel to the archaeological excavations, it was shown that thisplace is a temple for rituals. The structural formation of Gobeklitepe showedin the first place that this place is definitely a temple. Not only its pillarsin circular form but also its strategic location on a top hill away from theresidential areas strengthened this idea. It will be more likely approach tostate that Gobeklitepe is to be regarded as a sacred place where thehunter-gatherer communities worshipped, sacrificed animals for their gods,observed religious festivals and feasts at certain times of a year, and wherethese people experienced sacredness in a place in which gods resided. Itis a great cultural and economic opportunity for our country that Gobeklitepehas always served a centre for beliefs throughout history and emerged in Urfa,formerly Edassa, known as the city of prophets.This megalithic construction, proving the cultural wealth and ancientmosaic of Anatolia, has been visited by many local and internationalresearchers and scholars since it was unearthed. The first and the oldesttemple in the scientific literature, Gobeklitepe is a temple complex inheritedby the archaic communities to the contemporaries with mysteries going back tothe dawn of man.
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UR  - https://doi.org/10.18505/cuid.334942
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/374877
ER  -