Overview

In 1994, a Kurdish shepherd stumbled upon stones that would shatter everything we thought we knew about the birth of civilization. Göbekli Tepe-a name that translates to ""Potbelly Hill""-sits on a windswept plateau in southeastern Turkey. But beneath its unassuming surface lies the world's oldest known temple complex, built over 11,600 years ago by people who weren't supposed to be capable of such achievements. They had no cities. No agriculture. No written language. Yet they moved stones weighing up to 16 tons and carved them with mysterious symbols that still defy interpretation. This groundbreaking book takes you deep into one of archaeology's most stunning discoveries. You'll walk among towering T-shaped pillars adorned with foxes, serpents, and scorpions. You'll explore the radical theories about how hunter-gatherers organized the labor force to construct these megalithic circles. And you'll confront the uncomfortable questions: Why did they build it? What did they believe? And why did they deliberately bury the entire site? Göbekli Tepe forces us to reconsider the timeline of human development. Perhaps religion didn't follow civilization-perhaps it created it. Maybe the need to gather, to worship, to build monuments to the sacred came before farming, before villages, before everything we thought was prerequisite for complex society. Drawing on the latest archaeological research, radiocarbon dating, and unprecedented access to ongoing excavations, this comprehensive account reveals: The intricate symbolism carved into 12,000-year-old limestone How the site connects to newly discovered sister temples across the region The evidence of massive feasting that brought scattered tribes together Theories linking Göbekli Tepe to later mythologies and flood narratives What the deliberate burial of the enclosures tells us about prehistoric ritual From the visionary archaeologist Klaus Schmidt to the dedicated teams still uncovering its secrets, this is the complete story of humanity's first cathedral-built at the dawn of time. Perfect for anyone fascinated by archaeological mysteries that rewrite human history.

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