Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? ( massive carved stones about 11,000 years old )

Smithsonian magazine ^ | November 2008 | # Andrew Curry # Photographs by Berthold Steinhilber

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization

Six miles from Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey, Klaus Schmidt has made one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time: massive carved stones about 11,000 years old, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery. The megaliths predate Stonehenge by some 6,000 years. The place is called Gobekli Tepe, and Schmidt, a German archaeologist who has been working here more than a decade, is convinced it's the site of the world's oldest temple.

[SunkenCiv]

Turns out there’s a Gobleki Tepe folder inside the Anatolia folder, which is inside the History and Prehistory folder... anyway, here’s a bunch of links I’d accumulated during one of the earlier posting flurries about this site. There’s also a bunch of graphics in there, but I’m too lazy to do anything about it.

http://cat.une.edu.au/page/gobekli%20tepe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe
http://images.google.com/images?q=G%C3%B6bekli+&svnum=50&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N
http://paleoberkay.atspace.com/turkce/kuslar.html
http://paleoberkay.atspace.com/turkce/samanlar.html
http://rupestres.blog.lemonde.fr/2007/01/08/un-paradis-de-perdu-dix-scoops-de-trouves/
http://toffeewomble.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html
http://www.canew.org/uppermesop14cbox.html
http://www.clubic.com/forum/et-a-part-ca/histoire-origines-mysteres-et-details-id405326-page1.html
http://www.dainst.org/index_642_de.html
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/449/gobekli_tepe_paradise_regained.html
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=14968
http://www.s8int.com/sophis27.html
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/artikel/792/71721/print.html

[muawiyah]

Could be tribe or clan names, or the names of a ruling chieftain. I think you'd need to dig up quite a few circles to figure out that part. For clan names we'd need the traditional "bear, wolf, lion/tiger, turtle, crow, eagle, etc." ~ 8 or 12 constantly repeated figures would give you all the totems.

The bear/fox/cat carving is at the top and that could be part of a standard nomenclature ~ you have a carving with an animal of a given size. You look out over the top to the horizon. If an animal of that kind is there YOU LEAVE because it's getting dangerously close.

I suspect ground penetrating radar is going to reveal many more Ice Age, and immediate post Ice Age temples and burial structures just like these all over the place.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From :

Wheat Domestication
The Origins of Wheat

Wheat is important to me.

**************************EXCERPT************************

By K. Kris Hirst, About.com

There are many kinds of wheat in the world today. The two most common are common wheat, Triticum aestivum, also known as bread wheat and accounting for some 95% of all the consumed wheat in the world today; and durum wheat T. turgidum ssp. durum, which is that used in pasta and semolina products.

Origins of Wheat

The origins of our modern wheat, according to genetics, are found in the Karacadag mountain region of southeastern Turkey. There, some 10,000 years ago or so, two types of wheat were domesticated: einkorn or Triticum monococcum and emmer (reported both as T. araraticum and T. turgidum ssp. dicoccoides). Spelt, T. spelta, and T. timopheevii were ancient forms of wheat developed by the late Neolithic, neither of which have much of a market today.

The main differences between the wild forms of wheat and domesticated wheat are that domesticated forms have larger seeds and a non-shattering rachis. When wild wheat is ripe, the rachis--the stem that keeps the wheat shafts together--shatters so that the seeds can disperse themselves. But that naturally useful brittleness doesn't suit humans, who prefer to wait until the wheat is ripe to harvest it, and so, the theory goes anyway, selected wheats with rachis that didn't become brittle at harvest time.

Wheat in Archaeology

Recent studies in wheat origins include a report of a field experiment on the yield potential of the various forms of wheat; a study on the genetic propensity of wheat to dynamically react to bottlenecks by generating new variations; and a genetic study attempting to discriminate the 'new wheat' of the late Neolithic/Bronze Age, T. timopheevii from emmer wheat.

Archaeological evidence for domesticated wheat has been found at several sites in the Fertile Crescent, sites such as Abu Hureyra (Syria), Jericho (West Bank), and Cayönü (Turkey). The oldest evidence for both einkorn and emmer wheats found to date was at Abu Hureyra, in occupation layers dated to 9600 years ago.

Sources

This article on the domestication of wheat is a part of the About.com Guide to Plant Domestications, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.

[Soliton]

Urfa is an A.D. Name for Edessa. It isn’t Abraham’s Ur. Urfa was Edessa at the times of the Apostles and even later. It became Urfa under Islamic rule.

[PjhCPA]

I sure feel like reporting you to abuse for that.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Göbekli Tepe: Tempel Reconstruction

[SunkenCiv]

Where Was Abraham’s Ur?
Alan R. Millard
http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/Ur.htm

Where Is Abraham’s Ur?
by Cyrus H. Gordon
http://members.bib-arch.org/search.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=3&Issue=2&ArticleID=5&UserID=0&;

The notice in the December 1976 BAR (”The Promise of Ebla,” BAR 02:04) that a new Ebla tablet refers to “Ur in Haran,”a reopens the discussion of where Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham’s birthplace, was located. While we would welcome the full publication of the Ebla tablet, the Biblical evidence is by itself conclusive in placing Ur of the Chaldees in the Urfa-Haran region of south central Turkey, near the Syrian border, rather than in southern Mesopotamia where it is located on so many “Biblical” maps.

Genesis 11:31 relates that “Terah took Abram ... and they went out ... from Ur of the Chaldees to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.” Then Terah died (Genesis 11:32) and Abram went on to Canaan (Genesis 12:15). This means that Haran was en route from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan. By no stretch of the imagination would anyone go from Sumerian Ur (in southern Mesopotamia) to Canaan via Haran. A glance at the map shows that Haran is much too far out of the way.

[BIGLOOK]

We ought to be careful since territories then didn’t have political boundaries. Noah knows.

[P.O.E.]

Very cool stuff. Thanks.

[SunkenCiv]

The fun starts when goofy theories (like those arising from Stonehenge) emerge. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

I wouldn't blame ya a bit.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ARGHHHHH!

[factoryrat]

ARRRgh!... Now i have to flush my eyes with acid to rid myself of that horrible image. Where did you find that? under the 11,000 yr. old city you’re talking about?

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1091680/posts?page=38#38

Were Cavemen Painting For Their Gods?
The Telegraph (UK) | 2-23-2005
Posted on 03/06/2005 3:20:58 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1357365/posts

Macro-Etymology: Paleosigns [writing 20,000 years ago?]
Macro-Etymology Website | prior to May 20, 2005 | the webmasters thereof
Posted on 05/19/2005 11:00:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1406892/posts

[Arthur McGowan]

Blow them up! They’re unIslamic!

[SunkenCiv]

Heh heh heh...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I'm taking a branch...:

Alternative Wheat Cereals as Food Grains: Einkorn, Emmer, Spelt, Kamut, and Triticale

******************************EXCERPT**********************

The objective of this paper is to generate the interest of the home baker in the use of cereal grain flours other than common wheat. Presently Kamut and spelt flours are readily available. Triticale flour availability is limited, and the authors are still pursuing agronomic and quality evaluations of einkorn and emmer PI accessions from the USDA-ARS National Small Grain Germplasm Research Facility (NSGGRF), Aberdeen, Idaho.

EINKORN

Origin and Taxonomy

Einkorn is thought to have originated in the upper area of the fertile crescent of the Near East (Tigris-Euphrates regions). Wild einkorn Triticum boeoticum includes both the single grain T. aegilopoides and the two grain T. thaoudar and T. urartu. Cultivated einkorn is T. monococcum, and like wild einkorn has the genome constitution AA (Table 1). In cereal crops the head (inflorescence) if unbranched is called a spike. The spike consists of flowers (spikelets) arranged on the rachis (which is an extension of the stem). The flowers (spikelets) arise from nodes along the rachis which are called rachilla. The spikelet is enclosed by bracts, the glumes, or chaff. The kernels within the spikelet as enclosed in bracts, the lemma, and palea. As an example, kernels of free threshing wheats thresh free of the bracts; barley threshes free of the glumes, while lemma and palea make up the hull of the kernel; einkorn, emmer, and spelt thresh with the complete spikelet intact. A classification and description of Triticum sp. is outlined by Briggle and Reitz (1963). The wild and cultivated einkorn are differentiated by the brittleness of the rachis. The rachis of wild einkorn is brittle and the spikelets readily disarticulate when mature, whereas the rachis of cultivated einkorn is less fragile and remains intact until thrashed.

Einkorn along with emmer and spelt are often referred to as "the covered wheats," since the kernels do not thresh free of the glumes or the lemma and palea when harvested (Fig. 1). In contrast to the free threshing wheats, the spikes of einkorn disarticulate at threshing (the seed head breaks apart into intact spikelets). The spikes disarticulate with the rachilla apex attached to the base of the spikelet. Einkorn has long narrow glumes which are awned. Cultivated einkorn generally has one kernel per spikelet.

Einkorn became widely distributed throughout the Near East, Transcaucasia, the Mediterranean region, southwestern Europe, and the Balkans, and was one of the first cereals cultivated for food.

Harlan (1981), cites information suggesting that wild einkorn grain was harvested in the late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic Ages, 16,000-15,000 BC. Confirmed finds of wild grain remains have been dated to the early Neolithic (Stone Age) 10,000 BC. (Helmqvist 1955; Zohary and Hopf 1993). Cultivated einkorn continued to be a popular cultivated crop during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age 10,000-4,000 BC giving way to emmer by the mid-Bronze Age. Einkorn cultivation continued to be popular in isolated regions from the Bronze Age into the early 20th century. Today, einkorn production is limited to small isolated regions within France, India, Italy, Turkey, and Yugoslavia (Harlan 1981; Perrino and Hammer 1982).

Agronomy and Production

Historically, einkorn was cultivated in cool environments on marginal agricultural land through the Mid-east and southwestern Europe. Einkorn is still cultivated in harsh environments and poor soil in Italy (Perrino and Hammer 1984). Einkorn selections produced protein and yield equal to or higher than barley and durum wheat when grown under adverse growing conditions (Vallega 1979). Evaluations of 15 einkorn accessions grown in Italy indicate that the yields were significantly lower than that of modern wheats when grown under intensive cropping management (Vallega 1992). However, in this study several progeny of selected einkorn crossings (while lacking in several desirable agronomic traits) produced yields comparable to the modern wheats. Eighty einkorn PI accessions from (NSGGRF) have been evaluated for yield, straw characteristics, and date of heading at the Southern Agricultural Research Center, Huntley, Montana (SARC) from 1992 to the present. The yields of einkorn ranged from 4160 to 120 kg/ha, 1992; 1290 to 130 kg/ha, 1993; 2160 to 220 kg/ha, 1994; and 2400 to 720 kg/ha in 1995. The 1995 yield range represents 25 final PI accession selections (based on yield record and straw strength) of which five produced total yields higher than oats and three higher total yields than the barley and wheat included in the trial. Einkorn grain yields in comparison to spring wheat under dryland cropping were dependent upon growing season environment (Table 2). The protein content of einkorn when threshed in the hull varied from 10% to 26% higher, and the grain from 50% to 75% higher than the protein content (12.5% to 13.5%) of the hard red wheats. Agronomic production practices for spring grains would be applicable to einkorn, which has a tendency to mature later than spring wheat. Einkorn may be most suitable for cropping in lower moisture environments similar to the northern Great Plains area of Montana. The einkorn accessions tested had only moderate straw strength, averaged 109 cm in height, and would be susceptible to lodging in high moisture environments. The susceptibility to diseases is unknown and may be expressed in high moisture environments.

Marketing and Utilization

In the U.S., einkorn production is presently limited to evaluations of PI accessions for agronomic yield and quality traits, and or germplasm sources for plant breeders to improve protein and disease resistance in the development of modern wheats. However recent studies in Europe and Canada emphasized the nutritional quality of einkorn. Grain protein of einkorn accessions and progeny of einkorn crossings were consistently significantly higher than modern wheats (Vallega 1992). The data also indicate that given the significant increase in yields of the progeny and the higher grain protein, progeny lines produced significantly more protein/ha than the modern wheats. The amino acid composition of einkorn was found to be similar to wheat, irrespective of very large variations in total grain protein among the einkorn accessions tested (Acquistucci et al. 1995). The composition and nutritional characteristics of a selected spring einkorn were compared to spelt and hard red spring wheat grown in Canada (Abdel-Aal et al. 1995). The einkorn accession was considered more nutritious than the hard red wheat, based on the higher level of protein, crude fat, phosphorous, potassium, pyridoxine, and beta-carotene. The gluten of the einkorn accession had a gliadin to glutenin ratio of 2:1 compared to 0.8:1 for durum and hard red wheat. Flour and dough characteristics of gluten from 12 einkorn accessions were compared to durum and common wheats (D'Egidio et al. 1993). The einkorn flours were characterized by high protein, high ash, a very high carotene content, and small flour particle size when compared to the modern bread wheats. Dough characteristics of the einkorn accessions were significantly inferior to the modern wheats. The gluten strength was similar to that of soft wheats, but remained sticky, with a low water retention capacity. While breads made from einkorn were considered to be inferior to emmer or spelt breads (LeClerc et al. 1918), Bond (1989) states that breads made from einkorn in France had a light rich taste which left common bread wheat products tasteless and insipid by comparison. Bond also indicated that similar to ancient civilizations the einkorn grains were used in various food dishes such as soups, salads, casseroles, and sauces. The consideration that flour from T. monococcum may be non toxic to individuals with celiac disease (Favret et al. 1984, 1987) as cited by D'Egidio et al. (1993), and Abdel-Aal et al. (1995) suggest that given the nutritional advantage of einkorn and possible consumption by individuals allergic to common wheats, an increased interest will be given to the diploid wheats.

EMMER

Origin and Taxonomy

The sites of origin of emmer are considered to be similar to einkorn, within the regions of the Near East (Nevo 1988). Wild emmer T. dicoccoides, like wild einkorn is distinguished by the brittleness of the rachis, which disarticulate when mature. The rachis of cultivated emmer T. dicoccum is less fragile and tends to remain intact until threshed. The genomic constituents of emmer are described in Table 1. The genomic constitution AA of emmer is thought to be derived from T. monococcum. Various sources of the BB genome have been suggested, T. speltoides, T. searsii, and T. tripsacoides (Morris and Sears 1967; Kimber and Sears 1987). Emmers are predominantly awned with spikelets consisting of two well developed kernels. Emmer glumes are long and narrow with sharp beaks.

The use of emmer as a cereal food is considered to be contemporary with that of einkorn. Similar to einkorn, the earliest civilizations initially consumed emmer as a porridge prior to developing the process of bread making.

Remnants of wild emmer in early civilization sites date to the late Paleolithic Age 17,000 BC (Zohary and Hopf 1993). Cultivated emmer emerged as the predominant wheat along with barley as the principal cereals utilized by civilizations in the late Mesolithic, and early Neolithic Ages 10,000 BC (Helmqvist 1955; Harlan 1981; Zohary and Hopf 1993). Cultivated emmer dispersion and use by early civilizations greatly exceeded that of einkorn. Due to the addition of the BB genome cultivated emmer could be grown in a wider range of environments including regions having high growing season temperatures. Cultivated emmer became the dominant wheat throughout the Near and Far East, Europe, and Northern Africa from the Neolithic (Stone Age) through the Bronze Age 10,000-4,000 BC. Emmer utilization continued through the Bronze Age 4,000-1,000 BC, during which the naked wheats, primarily the tetraploid species slowly displaced emmer. However, emmer continued to be popular in isolated regions such as south central Russia into the early 1900s. Presently emmer remains an important crop in Ethiopia and a minor crop in India and Italy (Harlan 1981; Perrino and Hammer 1982).

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

We owe these people Big Time.....Man cannot live without Bread.

[SunkenCiv]

We could, but the pbj would get all over our hands.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Back to the BB Game.