Posted on 10/17/2006 6:10:35 AM PDT by NYer
I am standing above an archaeological dig, on a hillside in southern Turkey. Beneath me, workmen are unearthing a sculpture of some sort of reptile (right). It is delicate and breathtaking. It is also part of the world's oldest temple.
If this sounds remarkable, it gets better. The archaeologist in charge of the dig believes that this artwork once stood in Eden. The archaeologist is Klaus Schmidt; the site is called Gobekli Tepe.
In academic circles, the astonishing discoveries at Gobekli Tepe have long been a talking point. Since the dig began in 1994, experts have made the journey to Kurdish Turkey to marvel at these 40-odd standing stones and their Neolithic carvings.
But what is new, and what makes this season's dig at Gobekli so climactic, is the quality of the latest finds - plus that mind-blowing thesis which links them to Paradise.
The thesis is this. Historians have long wondered if the Eden story is a folk memory, an allegory of the move from hunter-gathering to farming. Seen in this way, the Eden story describes how we moved from a life of relative leisure - literally picking fruit from the trees - to a harsher existence of ploughing and reaping.
And where did this change take place? Biologists now think the move to agriculture began in Kurdish Turkey. Einkorn wheat, a forerunner of the world's cereal species, has been genetically linked to here. Similarly, it now seems that wild pigs were first domesticated in Cayonu, just 60 miles from Gobekli.
This region also has Biblical connections, tying it closer to the Eden narrative. Muslims believe that Sanliurfa, a nearby city, is the Old Testament city of Ur. Harran, a town down the road, is mentioned in Genesis twice.
Even the topography of Gobekli Tepe is 'correct'. The Bible describes rivers descending from Paradise. Gobekli Tepe sits in the 'fertile crescent' between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. The Bible also mentions mountains surrounding Eden. From the brow of Gobekli's hills you can see the Taurus range.
But how does this intoxicating
notion link to the architecture of Gobekli, and those astonishing finds?
Klaus Schmidt (left) explains: "Gobekli Tepe is staggeringly old. It dates from 10,000BC, before pottery and the wheel. By comparison, Stonehenge dates from 2,000BC. Our excavations also show it is not a domestic site, it is religious - the world's oldest temple. This site proves that hunter-gatherers were capable of complex art and organised religion, something no-one imagined before."
As for the temple's exact purpose, Schmidt gestures at a new discovery: a carving of a boar, and ducks flying into nets. "I think Gobekli Tepe celebrates the chase, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. And why not? This life was rich and leisured, it gave them time enough to become accomplished sculptors."
So why did the hunters of Gobekli give up their agreeable existence? Schmidt indicates the arid brown hilltops. "Gathering together for religion meant that they needed to feed more people. So they started cultivating the wild grasses." But this switch to agriculture put pressure on the landscape; trees were cut down, the herds of game were dispersed. What was once a paradisaical land became a dustbowl.
Schmidt explains that this switchtook place around 8,000BC. Coincidentally, the temple of Gobekli Tepe was deliberately covered with earth around this time.
We may never know why the hunter-gatherers buried their 'temple in Eden'. Perhaps they were grieving for their lost innocence. What is unquestionable is the discoveries made in Gobekli Tepe, in the last few weeks, are some of the most exciting made anywhere in half a century.
Schmidt shows me some workmen scraping earth from a rock relief (left). It is marvellously detailed: it shows scorpions, waterbirds, and river life. I suddenly realise I am the first person other than an archaeologist to see it in 10,000 years.
I think Eden is under the Persian Gulf somewhere. God placed an angel at the gates in order to keep folks from ever entering it. This digsite is not Eden.
I had forgotten about that! Thanks.
What a great story! I wonder if this story will make the news like all the killing does. Looks like a story like this would be right up their alley, but they don't like reporting anything good going on in Iraq.
garbage ... agriculture stared in east Asia too and most probably earlier
adam ... red clay formed from.. not mud
In Revelations in the Bible, they talk about Iraq but call it Babylon. In the end times, its where the temple will be rebuilt. According to the Bible, Babylon will be rich and famous again and will be destroyed by fire in 1 day. Its called the whore of Babylon. The antichrist will rule there with an iron fist. I think we are going to lose this war or actually not lose it, the liberals will give it to Islam, the UN will move to Iraq and the antichrist will come from the UN and declare himself ruler of the whole world. New World Order?
I'm not sure how the experts determine the timelines.
I thought that was just to keep Adam and Eve out. And kind of like The Arc of the Covenant later on. At the time of the Jews wandering their way to the Promised Land, it was strictly forbidden to touch the Arc. If anyone touched it, instant death, but later on, things changed and the temple where it was stored was raided and the Arc was stolen. So I wonder if the angel at The Garden of Eden was removed, too. Alot of things changed AD.
It's not specific. Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Besides,I thought it was between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?Wouldn't that be Iraq??
Wouldn't a parable fit under narrative prose? Jesus used them all of the time to illustrate his points.
See 118.
A lion makes sense in that area.
Either way, we agree it's not a reptile.
Placemarker Bump
We also agree this isn't the garden of Eden.
It took me a while but now I'm wondering about vulcanism as a source of "flaming swords"
I finally settled on lion as the "reptile".
Probably comets...maybe, asteroids. (dragons too)
Yeah, I can see comets also...with a near enough approach they could be just as disruptive, and they look more like flaming swords than volcanoes do.
"Chapter 16 -- Cain and Abel -- Shepherds or farmers? - Who was the hero, Cain or Abel? - Are Cain and Abel motifs related to the Adonis/Attis/Osiris type? - Sumerian parallels - An eastern origin of the two-brothers conflict - The two warring brothers in Maluku and Melanesia - Kulabob and Manup - Kulabob and Manup: the core story - Pale-skinned brothers from the West? - the start of the odyssey - Episode 1: Kilibob leaves Madang - Episode 2: leatherskins, trevally and kingfish - Episode 3: Mala's travels on Umboi - Episode 4: Ambogim - Episode 5: The tree of wealth and plenty - Episode 6: Namor's Ark - History or myth? - Two brothers in the Sepik- Basin? - Two brothers spread east to the Pacific Epilogue -- Filling in the gaps - The trail West - Problems with dates of migration - Some stories can be dated - Just what did the East teach the West? "
Modern structures are mostly temporary, being made of wood and other non-permanent materials. They go up fast and last a couple of generations. This structure was stone, took tremendous craftsmanship and certainly many years to build, perhaps even generations. That is why I would expect it to be the centerpiece of a civilisation, rather than a roadside attraction for a bunch of nomands as they wander by every once in a while.
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