One of Gobekli Tepe’s
defining features is the T-shaped stone pillars which are portrayed with belts,
necklaces and human hands, and are obviously intended to represent human-like
spirit-forms. These characteristics were copied in later buildings in the area,
such as at Nevali Cori, built around 1000 years after Gobekli Tepe, and are
also seen in human statues such as the Urfa Man.
The ‘heads’ of the
pillars show no features, as if this part of the human form was too sacred or
too dangerous to represent visually. The depiction of the hands and lower
bodies is almost like a teaser to give the viewer just a hint of the unexpected
power these pillars hold. They certainly had that effect when archaeologists first
discovered them!
Historians have long
debated what inspired this form. My theory was inspired by Cappadocia, 500
miles from Gobekli Tepe. Here, the soft volcanic rock has been eroded to form vast
valleys filled with pillars of stone, known in local lore as fairy chimneys and
long believed to be the home of supernatural beings called the Peri. Cappadocia
is an important place in Turkish myth, linked to the birthplace of the world and
also the birthplace of the legendary dragon-killer Saint George.
The fairy chimneys have
long been linked to various animals and birds which are reflected in their
shapes, and walking beneath them with their faces looking down from far above, I
felt a presence which seemed familiar. There is a distinct resemblance to the
pillars of Gobekli Tepe. I wonder if these fairy chimneys, whose spiritual
associations date back thousands of years, were the original prototype for the
crafted pillars at Gobekli Tepe.
Aside from its unique
geology, Cappadocia also has tales of a lost, underground civilisation, which
links to the global devastation caused when a comet smashed into earth,
shortly before Gobekli Tepe was built. I will come back to the implications of
this next week.
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