Göbekli Tepe’s Enclosure H: The House of Darkness and Light

       The buildings of Göbekli Tepe.

Enclosure H is one of the more recently discovered buildings at Göbekli Tepe. Like the other structures I’ve already discussed, this enclosure comprises an oval structure with T-shaped pillars in its outer wall and another two in the centre. It has revealed some of the most intricately decorated pillars found so far.

Pillar 56, in the outer wall, has been partly excavated and depicts 55 creatures, the highest number found on any pillar at Göbekli Tepe. There are so many images they merge together, with many of them sharing outlines. They include ten long-legged wading birds; the same number of snakes; a vulture with its wings spread; several big cats; and a bird of prey with a snake in its claws. A bucranium (cattle head) is found at its throat.

One of the central pillars is decorated with a large predatory feline, leaping towards the viewer just as the foxes are portrayed in Enclosure B. Other pillars in the outer ring are also decorated with big cats.

Another pillar is decorated with a large horned aurochs, which appears to be in its death throes. This pillar seems to have been reused and this is probably not an original decoration. 

                    A hawk with its prey. (Peter Wallack, Wikicommons).

In Broken Skies, Enclosure H is the House of Darkness and Light, the fifth building raised by the Irin shamans. It reflects and teaches the understanding of the ever-turning cycles of existence: life and death, winter and summer, darkness and light. These opposites of the pulse of creation exist in perfect balance with each other. Darkness, literal or metaphorical, is a necessary part of existence. If the sun was always shining, if nothing that lived ever died, the world would soon become untenable. The finch falls to the hawk, the deer falls to the wolf, and both predator and prey are the stronger for it. The weak fall, and the strong survive. The species as a whole benefits. The dead aurochs and snake in a bird of prey’s claws represent this brutal balance between predator and prey, and this is just one example of the philosophy the hunters and shamans of Göbekli Tepe lived by. The vast number of creatures portrayed on the pillars represents how everything that exists is bound by those same laws.

 

    A flock of starlings evading a bird of prey. (Mostafameraji, Wikicommons).

Enclosure H is in a different part of the site to the enclosures already discussed in earlier posts, but it is clear that its pillars were moved and reconstructed at some point in prehistory. It is possible they were once part of a building adjacent to the other four, as my story suggests.

The Boar and Göbekli Tepe: The House of Unbeing

Enclosure C of Göbekli Tepe is predominantly associated with wild boar.  

It comprises two concentric rings of pillars, each set into its own wall, but much of this has been damaged or destroyed in fairly recent times. The majority of their artwork comprises wild boar, although birds, foxes, bulls, and three-dimensional predators rising from the stones are also occasionally found.

Some of the boar are large and elaborate, for example on Pillar 12 in the outer ring, which depicts a boar with carefully carved teeth and other features, along with a fox and five fledgling birds in what appears to be a net. Other boars, found on the fronts and sides of the pillars’ heads, are smaller and less detailed. An elaborate entrance to the enclosure, comprising a U-shaped stone with a lion on either side, has an upside-down boar carved on the threshold.

Enclosure C’s Pillar 12

The boar is a dangerous and aggressive animal which was routinely hunted by the people of Göbekli Tepe. The cornered boar is liable to turn on its hunters and can easily cause serious or fatal injuries. The boar hunt has long been the epitome of skill, agility and bravery for hunters, and this was probably no less the case in the time of Göbekli Tepe.

In Broken Skies, Enclosure C is the House of Unbeing. Unbeing is the opposite of being. Being is awareness, of knowing yourself as a discrete entity and having mastery of yourself, physically, mentally and spiritually. Unbeing is the awareness of yourself as a small part of a unified whole, each part being linked to, aware of and able to influence each other part. This is akin to the higher state known in modern philosophy as transcendence or enlightenment.

This is a requisite gift of a skilled shaman, and in Broken Skies the boar is a representation of this gift. To gain mastery of the boar is to gain mastery over all aspects of existence, and this happens when you understand, like the gifted shamans, healers, magicians and miracle workers of every culture’s legends, that this is as easy as mastering yourself.

Some of the boar statues found at Göbekli Tepe, many of them in Enclosure C.

The Fox and Göbekli Tepe: The House of Fire

Enclosure B is another of Göbekli Tepe’s oldest enclosures. Several of its pillars have so far been excavated, and this enclosure’s artwork is predominantly of foxes.

The two central pillars both have foxes on their inside faces, which leap towards the viewer as they enter the enclosure. A boar with three hunting dogs on the outer side of the left-hand pillar may not be original. One of the outer pillars is also decorated with a fox. No other artwork has so far been found, with the exception of a carving of a creature on the back of the head of Pillar 6, where it would not have been seen. This creature, depicted from above so it seems to be creeping out of the stone, is probably a leopard or panther. The pillar may have been reused from an earlier version of the enclosure, explaining why this artform was hidden.  

The fox is known for its cunning and guile, and has a long identification as a trickster. Like the serpent, it lives underground which links it to the chthonic realms. In ancient times comet’s tails were often likened to a fox’s brush, which again links to its identification as a trickster or troublemaker.

Comet Hale-Bopp (Philipp Salzgeber, Wikicommons).

The people of Göbekli Tepe would have had stories and folk memories of the fox-tailed comet which had devasted their world long before the enclosures were built. The blast waves, debris, toxic fallout, chemical-laced rain and bitter chill which followed devasted all living things across the world. The fox, living underground, would have had a better chance than most of survival. And its ability to hunt, scavenge and eat almost anything including the carrion which was now in plentiful supply would have given it another advantage.

The fox pelts of Enclosure D

In Broken Skies, the fox alone thrived during the Thousand Year Winter, and the powerful shamans of that time adopted its gifts to help the people survive. The two centralpillars of Enclosure D, which I’ve named The Enduring, are human-like figures who wear a fox skin complete with tail and hind paws. This represents the gifts of survival the fox taught humankind.

I have named Enclosure B as the House of Fire. It contains the spirit of the fox which in its comet-guise tore the world apart and then allowed it to be reformed, and its ultimate gift is that of remembrance.

The Snake and Göbekli Tepe: The House of Sight

The snake is one of the most commonly portrayed creatures at Göbekli Tepe. Many of the pillars in Enclosure D are decorated with snakes in many different forms, and the pillars of Enclosure A, one of the oldest buildings, are predominantly decorated with snakes.

One of the two central pillars is decorated with four snakes creeping down towards a fifth snake which is creeping upwards, and on its side what looks like a mesh, but is in fact an interlocking arrangement of snakes, the heads of which are found at the top and bottom of the mesh.
The other central pillar, decorated with two aurochs, a fox and a crane, had been reused and recarved sometime in prehistory, which inspired my idea in Broken Skies that the Houses had been destroyed and later rebuilt.
All of the snakes at Göbekli Tepe are portrayed with hoods, suggesting they are a species of viper or cobra. Several of these species are found in the area, and all are especially poisonous.

The central pillars of Enclosure A

The serpent has long had a special place in religion, folklore, myth and magic, and Göbekli Tepe is the earliest known example of this. The later roles of the serpent across Europe and the Middle East may even have all stemmed from the culture of Göbekli Tepe.
The serpent is traditionally associated with healing and wisdom. Asclepius, the Greek God of healing, had the twined serpents or caduceus as his emblem, and this is still used by medical professions worldwide today. The snake’s winged cousin, the dragon, is the most revered of magical creatures, and both are linked to earth energies, often known as ley lines or dragon paths, and the traditional dragon- or serpent-slaying by heroes and saints is often a metaphor for acquiring or mastering this divine knowledge.

The caduceus, representing medical professions worldwide.

Why was the serpent endowed with these attributes? The snake’s most famous attribute is the ability to shed its skin. Its apparent rejuvenation has long linked it to immortality and eternal youth. The snakes’ underground lairs and their ability to vanish into the earth in an instant when disturbed enhanced this association with the divine wisdom which comes from the heart of the earth.
The snake also has the ability to fascinate its prey, appearing to lull it into acceptance before it strikes. This gift would have been greatly valued by shamans and hunters, and the serpent would represent the epitome of the mutual balance between hunter and hunted.
Serpents are often associated with shamanic spirit-guides. South American shamans using the plant-based ayahuasca to induce trance, for example, often see visions of serpents. Snake venom can also be used to induce shamanic trances. This may explain why all of Göbekli Tepe’s serpents are the venomous variety.

                                   Hooded Cobra.

In Broken Skies, Enclosure A is the House of Sight. In line with the spiritual attributes of the snake, this building is linked with healing and spirit-sight. The serpent-spirit grants the shamans the gift to see what is there. When they can see a sickness, for example, they can see how it was caused and how it can be healed. This gift works because we always see, subconsciously, what is there in front of us, but we haven’t the ability or focus to recognise what we see. This is what the serpent gives us, and this is why the serpent has such universal importance.

Egyptian relief showing the uraeus serpent, which granted pharaohs divine wisdom and protection.

Göbekli Tepe: Stars and Wild Beasts, Part 2

Following on from the last two weeks’ posts, I will now look at the constellations of autumn and winter and how they link to the pillars of Göbekli Tepe’s Enclosure D, known as The Enduring in Broken Skies.

In September, the sun was in Aquarius, the water-carrier. This association is found on the earliest star-maps, but the constellation also has associations with an eagle. Aquarius is associated with the Greek boy Ganymede, who Zeus carried off to Olympus in the form of an eagle. It was one of the four constellations which house the sun at the solstice and equinox points, and these are found in various cosmologies as the four pillars of the skies, represented by a lion, a bull, a serpent and a man or an eagle. So I have made this sky-sign an eagle, represented by Pillar 41. No artwork has so far been found on this pillar, other than a snake sliding down its head.

                                Pillar 38

In October, the sun was in Pisces. I have made this a boar, represented by Pillar 38. This pillar so far has a bull on its head, and a fox, a boar and two cranes on its body. Large animals were hunted in autumn, after the breeding season where it was typically taboo to hunt pregnant or nursing animals. In the cold months where little fruit or greenery was available, people relied heavily on the hunt to survive, and the wild boar was one of the most dangerous creatures to tackle. It was also one of the most important creatures of  Göbekli Tepe. This is why I have linked it to this month.

Some of the carved boars found at Göbekli Tepe

In November, the sun was in Aries, which I have made a hyena. This scavenger, once common in ancient Turkey, would like all creatures be growing hungry at this time of year, and they are known to attack sleeping or sick people.

This sky-sign is represented by the broken pillar which as I said last week I have exchanged with Pillar 33 which represents the snake. Several of the pillars are known to have been moved in antiquity.

This broken pillar, which once stood between Pillars 30 and 43 and was broken when the enclosures were buried, is decorated with a hyena, a vulture, and a long-legged and five-fingered quadruped of unknown identity.

In December the sun was in Taurus. The bull is possibly one of the oldest asterisms, linked to Palaeolithic cave paintings in France over 15,000 years old, so I have kept it as a bull, which like the boar, was hunted at great risk during the winter months. This is represented by Pillar 32, on which as yet has no reliefs have been revealed.

In January the sun was in Gemini, which I have identified as a leopard. This is represented by Pillar 19, which has no identified artwork so far.

In February the sun was in Cancer. I have made this a reed-wolf or jackal, represented by Pillar 20, which has a snake sliding down its front towards a bull and a fox, and two possible foxes on one side. No other artwork has been uncovered.

Overall view of Enclosure D

As time and ecology changed, many of these constellations lost their meanings, and new asterisms grew in their place. But many retained their ancient links, now surviving only in myths, and as new cultures grew up these myths took on a new life of their own. We will come back to that in the future.

Göbekli Tepe: Stars and Wild Beasts

Continuing from last week, I will look at the summer Zodiac and its link to Göbekli Tepe’s Enclosure D, named The Enduring in Broken Skies.

In May, the sun in Göbekli Tepe’s time was in Libra. The scales is a relatively recent interpretation; in ancient star maps, Libra was the claws of the adjacent scorpion. I have made this constellation a bee, at its most active this month as it builds up its colony after the winter and gathers nectar from the surge in wild flowers. Honey is also gathered, at great risk to the gatherers.

This sky-sign is represented by Pillar 30, which has a snake sliding down its head and another four snakes and a possible onager on the front of its body, which seems to have been trimmed down at some point. No other depictions have so far been found, although unidentified insects are found on pillars elsewhere in the enclosure.

                                              Pillar 33

In June, the sun was in Scorpio. This constellation is at the base of the Milky Way, and is commonly interpreted as a snake or a scorpion in star-maps. The snake which in many mythologies twines around the base of the World Tree, itself a representation of the Milky Way, is linked to Scorpio, so I have made this sky-sign a snake.

The snake basks in the sun at this time of year and so is most frequently encountered. Many in this area are deadly poisonous.

This sky-sign is represented by a now-missing pillar which stood between Pillars 30 and 43. A fragment of this was found nearby. For the purposes of the story, I have exchanged this pillar with Pillar 33 further round the enclosure. Several pillars are known to have been recarved and rearranged during their history, so my rearrangement is plausible.

Pillar 33 is one of the most elaborately decorated, and its main focus is the snake. Three birds, possibly bustards, are found on its head, along with another which was picked off in ancient times. On its body are two cranes and two small foxes, along with the bodies of twelve snakes whose heads are found on the front of the pillar, facing twelve more snake’s heads whose bodies are on the opposite side of the pillar. In between the opposing heads are several more snakes sliding down the pillar, a six-legged insect, a spider and what may be a sheep.

                                   Pillar 43

In July the sun was in Sagittarius. The centaur (human-horse hybrid) is of Greek origin, and in Babylonian cosmology these stars represented a winged panther-horse hybrid with a scorpion’s tail. So I shifted the scorpion asterism from Scorpio to Sagittarius. The scorpion, like the snake, is associated with hot weather.

This sky-sign is represented by Pillar 43, one of the most famous of Göbekli Tepe’s pillars. This is decorated with a vulture balancing a round object on its wing; a headless man; several other birds including an ibis and a rock partridge; and a large scorpion.

In August, the sun was in Capricorn, represented by Pillar 42. The strange fish-goat is found on the earliest Middle Eastern star-maps, and I have kept it as a water-goat. People love to swim in rivers and lakes in the hot months, and strong swimmers often drown inexplicably in a moment. They may be entangled in underwater weed or sucked down by invisible and powerful eddies. Folklore is full of water-monsters which were once blamed for these deaths. In my star-plan, the water-goat is their common ancestor.

Göbekli Tepe and the Zodiac

The twelve pillars of Enclosure D are often associated with the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and many people have tried to equate the artforms with constellations. The all-round clear views would make the site a perfect observatory and the people of Göbekli Tepe, as did ancient people around the world, very likely identified star patterns and linked them to specific asterisms or pictorial images. 

My feeling is the artforms are far too detailed to at least exclusively represent constellations. If some of the images were in fact asterisms, it is unlikely they would bear any resemblance to our current star charts, which originated almost 8000 years later, a short distance away in modern Iraq. Even across the Middle East, the interpretations of specific stars and constellations varies drastically in different cultures. There are no markings on Göbekli Tepe’s pillars which can be attributed to specific stars, and therefore any interpretations as constellations can be nothing but supposition.

An old map of the skies                                                   

In Broken Skies, each pillar links to a sign of the Zodiac and a month of the year. These are loosely based on the modern constellations, but I have divided the ecliptic – the yearly path the sun takes through the constellations – into twelve 30º sections, as it almost certainly originally was. 

My interpretation is that each pillar shows animals, birds and events linking to that month: creatures that could be hunted or which were flourishing at that time. Göbekli Tepe was a sinister and dangerous place of trial, and I have linked each Zodiac sign with a deadly creature linked to that month. I’m not claiming my ideas are fact. But they do make often uncanny sense.

          The pillars of Enclosure D

In 9600BC, when Göbekli Tepe was built, the sun at the spring equinox was in Leo, the lion. This is one of the oldest asterisms, and unusually, the stars of Leo do in fact look like a lion. Some researchers have linked the Egyptian Sphinx to Leo, and suggested its true date of construction is close to the date of Göbekli Tepe, and so I have kept Leo as a lion, which was once common in Turkey.

This is Enclosure D’s Pillar 21, which has a large feline, probably a lion, carved on its side along with a Dorcas gazelle, an onager and two spiders.

 The stars of Leo (The Lion) and Virgo (The Bear). Arcturus, the 'Bear Star', forms the head of the bear.

In April, the sun in  Gobekli Tepe's time was in Virgo. The link to the harvest-maiden dates to Egyptian times – the Zodiac signs of each month shift over a 26,000-year cycle – when Virgo was linked to late summer. I have made this constellation a bear, at its most dangerous as it wakes hungry and ill-tempered from hibernation. This is represented by Pillar 22. Excavations have so far revealed a fox, a snake and a hare on this pillar. The hare is typically very active during its spring mating season, hence the saying ‘mad as a March hare’. I have interpreted this hare as representing the gift this animal gives to the hunters at the time it is especially easy to catch. This would mean only the strongest and wiliest animals would remain to breed, an illustration of the mutually beneficial balance between hunter and hunted which is one of the key philosophies of the book. 

(Tiia Monto, Wikicommons).

Göbekli Tepe’s Enclosure D: The Enduring

Enclosure D is the largest and best-preserved of Göbekli Tepe’s buildings. Twelve T-shaped pillars ring the oval structure, twenty metres wide, and another pair of pillars stand in the centre. Their array of animals, birds and insects carved onto the stone in high relief, with other three-dimensional creatures rising from the front of the stones, is unequalled.

 In Broken Skies, Enclosure D is The Enduring, the oldest and most important of the spirit-buildings at Duku. Its artwork, which I will discuss in later posts, I believe represents a mnemonic device for its builders’ history, myths, world view, cosmology and hunting lore which was integral to their daily life. The no doubt many-layered meanings of this artwork will probably never now be understood, but we can imagine.

The two central pillars, almost six metres in height, are the most intriguing. Arms carved on their sides, ending in long fingers clasped at the front, show that they represent human-like forms. So far, no other pillars have been identified as decorated this way, although pillars from a much later building on the site and also from the later site of Nevali Çori, fifty miles to the north, are depicted with human arms.

The right-hand pillar, known as Pillar 18, has an H-symbol at what is reasonably identified as its throat, with a hollow circle and a crescent below it. A ‘belt’ is decorated with further H-symbols and crescents and is hung with a fox-pelt, complete with tail and hind legs, interpreted as a loincloth. A fox is also found in the crook of its right arm.

Pillar 31, standing beside it, also has arms, a belt and a fox-pelt, but none of the abstract symbols. A bucranium or bull’s head is found at its throat and another bull is depicted on its belt.

The circular and crescent symbols are often linked to the sun and the moon. The ‘H’, which is in fact likely two ‘T’s linked together, is sometimes linked to a shamanic symbol, for example representing the world tree and its upside-down counterpart in the spirit world. This is the interpretation I have chosen in Broken Skies.

The symbols of the sun and the moon, as well as being cosmological symbols, have an esoteric interpretation reflecting the paradoxical ever-changing constancy of the world and the rules that govern it. The sun rises and sets and changes position in the sky as the seasons change; the moon waxes and wanes and alters in its orbit just the same. Every day it is in a different place, but with enough understanding we know it follows perfectly constant and predictable laws.

This understanding is one of the gifts of the Irin, and in Broken Skies Pillar 18 represents the greatest Irin shaman of all. Pillar 31 beside it represents an Anunnaki shaman, whose gifts reflect the brutal philosophy which comes of living by the hunt, and whose main totem spirit is the wild bull. 

 A human statue found in Göbekli Tepe, with the crooked arms in the same position as those on Enclosure D’s central pillars.