Göbekli Tepe: The World’s Oldest Temple?
Hidden beneath the rolling hills of southeastern Turkey lies Göbekli Tepe, an ancient site that challenges our understanding of early civilization. Dating back to around 9600 BCE, this archaeological wonder predates Stonehenge by over 6,000 years and the Egyptian pyramids by 7,000 years.
First uncovered in the 1990s, Göbekli Tepe consists of massive T-shaped stone pillars, some towering over 5 meters (16 feet) tall and weighing several tons. These monolithic structures are arranged in circular formations, adorned with intricate carvings of animals and abstract symbols. What makes this site truly revolutionary is that it was built by hunter-gatherers, long before the advent of agriculture or settled societies—rewriting the timeline of human development.
Who Built Göbekli Tepe?
The builders remain a mystery, but evidence suggests they were highly organized hunter-gatherer groups. Some theories propose that Göbekli Tepe was a spiritual or ritual center, possibly dedicated to early religious or shamanic practices. Others suggest it played a role in uniting scattered groups, laying the groundwork for the shift toward settled life.
Its construction raises profound questions: How did pre-agricultural people transport and erect these massive stones? What knowledge did they possess to achieve such architectural feats? While many secrets remain buried beneath the soil, Göbekli Tepe is undoubtedly one of the most significant discoveries in human history—forcing us to rethink the origins of civilization itself.
And you thought the pyramids were old..
Göbekli Tepe is fundamentally different from the pyramids found across the world, both in design and cultural significance. While pyramids – such as those in Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Southeast Asia—were built by organized societies with centralized leadership, agriculture, and established labor forces, Göbekli Tepe predates all known cities, farming communities, and written languages. Unlike pyramids, which were primarily constructed as tombs or ceremonial platforms for rulers (according to modern archaeology), Göbekli Tepe appears to be a ritual center created by nomadic hunter-gatherers – something that archeology hotly disputes existed 11,000 years ago, with no evidence of permanent dwellings or domestic structures nearby. Architecturally, pyramids are defined by geometric precision and smooth, angular surfaces, whereas Göbekli Tepe consists of massive T-shaped stone pillars, arranged in circular formations, with detailed carvings of animals and abstract symbols.
Writing systems – what’s real?
While no traditional writing system has been discovered at Göbekli Tepe, the site contains a form of symbolic communication engraved on its monolithic stones. The carvings include depictions of snakes, scorpions, foxes, and birds—many of which appear to follow specific patterns, suggesting they may have held deeper meanings, possibly representing myths, celestial events, or even an early form of proto-writing. Some researchers speculate that these symbols could have been used to convey messages about spiritual beliefs, social structures, or warnings about the environment.
Interestingly, while the Egyptian pyramids are covered in hieroglyphs, there is no definitive scientific proof that these writings were created by the Egyptians of 3,000 years ago. Many of the inscriptions were recorded and translated in much more recent history, relying on interpretations that could be influenced by modern assumptions of archaeologists trying to push an agenda. In contrast, Göbekli Tepe’s carvings remain an enigma, as they predate even the earliest known forms of structured writing, offering a glimpse into a lost symbolic system that challenges our understanding of early human communication and religious expression.
The earliest forms of structured writing emerged long after Göbekli Tepe was built, marking a significant shift in human civilization. The oldest known writing system is cuneiform, developed by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia around 3100 BCE. This system began as pictographs (simple drawings representing objects or ideas) before evolving into wedge-shaped symbols pressed into clay tablets. Initially used for record-keeping, trade, and administration, cuneiform later expanded to include myths, laws, and literature, such as the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.
Around the same time, Egyptian hieroglyphs emerged, roughly 3100 BCE, consisting of pictorial symbols representing sounds, words, and concepts. Unlike cuneiform, which was pressed into clay, hieroglyphs were carved into stone or written on papyrus. Though widely associated with the pyramids, hieroglyphs were primarily used for religious texts, royal decrees, and historical records.
Other early writing systems include the Indus script (approx 2600 BCE), found in the Indus Valley Civilization, and the Chinese oracle bone script (around 1200 BCE), used for divination during the Shang Dynasty – this is a truly fascinating writing system and something I am going to be reading up on a lot more. The Mesoamerican Maya script, developed much later (c. 300 BCE), is one of the few fully developed writing systems in the Americas and as it is a lot more advanced probably has a much higher chance of being able to be translated as it contains much more in the way of construct.
Despite these advances, Göbekli Tepe predates all known structured writing by at least 6000 years. While it contains carvings and symbols, there is no clear evidence that they represent a formal writing system. Instead, they may be an early form of proto-writing, conveying spiritual, astronomical, or social meanings in a symbolic rather than linguistic way. This suggests that complex communication systems existed long before writing as we define it today, potentially influencing later civilizations in ways we have yet to fully understand.
The carvings and symbols found at Göbekli Tepe may represent an early form of astronomical knowledge, suggesting that its builders had a deep connection to the stars. Some researchers propose that the animal figures and abstract symbols engraved on the massive T-pillars are not just decorative. They may be encoded celestial messages. These messages possibly track constellations, seasonal changes, or cosmic events.
Precession of the equinoxes
One of the most compelling theories links Göbekli Tepe’s carvings to the precession of the equinoxes, a slow shift in Earth’s rotational axis that alters the position of the stars over thousands of years. Some scholars believe that certain symbols—such as the scorpion, fox, and vulture—could correspond to recognizable constellations from around 9600 BCE, when the site was constructed. If true, this would mean Göbekli Tepe’s builders had an early understanding of astronomy, long before recorded history.
Additionally, the Vulture Stone (Known as Pillar 43) at Göbekli Tepe has been interpreted as a possible star map, depicting celestial alignments or even a record of a significant astronomical event, such as a comet impact. Some researchers suggest that this carving might correspond with a catastrophic event around 10900 BCE, linked to the Younger Dryas cooling period, which significantly impacted early human societies.
Unlike later civilizations, which used structured writing to document their knowledge of the cosmos, Göbekli Tepe’s builders may have encoded their celestial observations through symbolic carvings, passing down astronomical knowledge in a more abstract form. This suggests that the study of the stars and their influence on human belief systems began far earlier than previously thought, possibly shaping later mythologies and religious structures across the ancient world.
Graham Hancock describes the precession of the equinoxes as a slow, almost imperceptible wobble in the Earth’s rotation, kind of like a spinning top that tilts slightly as it turns. This wobble causes the position of the stars in the night sky to shift very slowly over thousands of years.
Imagine you’re standing outside at night, looking up at the stars. The constellations you see in the sky today aren’t in the exact same position they were 5,000 or 10,000 years ago – and they won’t be in the same place thousands of years from now. This is because the Earth isn’t just spinning on its axis; it’s also making a slow, circular wobble, which takes about 25,920 years to complete.
This cycle affects the position of the North Star and changes which constellation the Sun rises in during the spring equinox (the day when day and night are equal in length). Right now, we are in the Age of Pisces, meaning the Sun rises in the constellation Pisces on the spring equinox. But in a few hundred years, we’ll move into the Age of Aquarius, and in ancient times, the Sun would have risen in different constellations, like Taurus or Leo.
Hancock and other researchers suggest that ancient civilizations, including the builders of Göbekli Tepe, may have known about precession and encoded this knowledge in their monuments. Some believe that the symbols on Göbekli Tepe’s pillars – like the vulture, fox, and scorpion – might correspond to constellations as they appeared over 10,000 years ago, possibly marking key astronomical events. If true, this would mean that early humans were tracking the stars far earlier than mainstream history acknowledges, hinting at a lost understanding of celestial cycles that later civilizations inherited.
Why track the stars???
There are a few reasons that people would track the stars – especially without the technological advances we have now. In modern times we look to the stars to discover the history of the universe which we now know is there in plain sight but we can only wonder and contemplate why an ancient civilization would have looked at the stars.
At night without the ambient light pollution we have now the stars would have appeared bright in the sky and would have been a constant – as they are now. It is possible that the stars were used as a kind of measurement for time, cataclysms and great events may have been recorded by showing the where the stars were in the heavens at that point in time – kind of like a date stamp on a file you may store on your computer now. They could have been used by farmers and agriculture as a way of them knowing when is the best time to plant certain crops.
In short, ancient people didn’t just stare at the sky for fun—they were watching for patterns that helped them survive, worship, and remember their history. This is something that has long since been lost. We wouldn’t now say when Andromeda was at a particular location in the sky is when your child was born – that would be meaningless to us. But to ancient civilizations that were not so caught up with social media and all of the other meaningless distractions that modern society affords is there even space in our singular consciousness for these great discoveries…
What do you think about the idea that ancient civilizations, including the builders of Göbekli Tepe, may have been tracking the stars long before recorded history? Do you find the theory that they encoded celestial knowledge in their monuments compelling, or do you think there could be another explanation for these carvings and alignments?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Do you believe our ancestors understood long-term astronomical cycles, or do you think modern researchers are reading too much into these ancient sites? Feel free to share your insights, questions, or even challenges to these ideas – constructive feedback is always welcome!