World's oldest temple, Göbekli Tepe, built to worship Sirius

[Ichingcarpenter]

The 11,000-year-old site consists of a series of at least 20 circular enclosures, although only a few have been uncovered since excavations began in the mid-1990s. Each one is surrounded by a ring of huge, T-shaped stone pillars, some of which are decorated with carvings of fierce animals. Two more megaliths stand parallel to each other at the centre of each ring.

Göbekli Tepe put a dent in the idea of the Neolithic revolution, which said that the invention of agriculture spurred humans to build settlements and develop civilisation, art and religion. There is no evidence of agriculture near the temple, hinting that religion came first in this instance.

"We have a lot of contemporaneous sites which are settlements of hunter-gatherers. Göbekli Tepe was a sanctuary site for people living in these settlements," says Klaus Schmidt, chief archaeologist for the project at the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin.

But it is still anybody's guess what type of religion the temple served. Giulio Magli, an archaeoastronomer at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy, looked to the night sky for an answer. After all, the arrangement of the pillars at Stonehenge in the UK suggests it could have been built as an astronomical observatory, maybe even to worship the moon.

Magli simulated what the sky would have looked like from Turkey when Göbekli Tepe was built. Over millennia, the positions of the stars change due to Earth wobbling as it spins on its axis. Stars that are near the horizon will rise and set at different points, and they can even disappear completely, only to reappear thousands of years later.


http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/worlds-oldest-temple-built-to-worship.html#.UhNVYuD1GkJ



In Ancient Egypt, Sirius was regarded as the most important star in the sky. In fact, it was astronomically the foundation of the Egyptians’ entire religious system. It was revered as Sothis and was associated with Isis, the mother goddess of Egyptian mythology. Isis is the female aspect of the trinity formed by herself, Osiris and their son Horus. Ancient Egyptians held Sirius in such a high regard that most of their deities were associated, in some way or another, with the star. Anubis, the dog-headed god of death, had an obvious connection with the dog star and Toth-Hermes, the great teacher of humanity, was also esoterically connected with the star.


About the site:
http://www.gobeklitepe.info/

[Benton D Struckcheon]

1. Catalhoyuk proves the same point re Neolithic peoples,

as far as settlement, civilization, and art preceding agriculture. Agriculture and the domestication of animals seems, at that site, to have occurred while the site was continuously occupied over a period spanning nearly 2000 years:

In upper levels of the site, it becomes apparent that the people of Çatalhöyük were gaining skills in agriculture and the domestication of animals. Female figurines have been found within bins used for storage of cereals, such as wheat and barley, the figurines presumed to be of a deity protecting the grain. Peas were also grown, and almonds, pistachios, and fruit were harvested from trees in the surrounding hills. Sheep were domesticated and evidence suggests the beginning of cattle domestication as well. However, hunting continued to be a major source of food for the community.

Agriculture is likely an invention of people who were already settled in one place, rather than being the reason they settled, IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Çatalhöyük

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. even though that site is 3 thousand years younger

it still is ancient and fascinating. I love their houses, they almost look modern.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Catal_Hüyük_Restoration_B.jpg

Almost looks like southwestern Hopi

I do think it was a spin off of the Gobekli Tepe culture maybe the realization of them.

The older and bigger structures or circles found at Gobekli Tepe so far rate around 10 thousand BC but the mounds get smaller and smaller on top to where they equal the age almost of Catalhoyu.. Maybe they are the culture that purposely covered up vGobekli Tepe

But that's almost three thousand years.
ten thousand vs 7 thousand.

Weird the best stone masonry artwork found so far is the oldest at Gobekli Tepe


Only five percent has been uncovered so far at the site.... so they really don't know if they have found the oldest section at the site.


Maybe Gobekli Tepe was used as a transformation ritual area from hunting to farming but no signs of that have been found yet.

The Star relationship I always thought would show up which shows high sophistication in astronomy, organization,oral history, stonework, etc.

The Dogons and their relationship dog star has always been a curious phenomenon to me

http://boingboing.net/2011/06/26/interview-laird-scra.html

Anyway I find it fascinating

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. The Dogons are fascinating,

reading that link now. Very interesting.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Trippy.

bigtime.