A VIRTUAL TOUR OF GÖBEKLİ TEPE
by Şerif Yenen
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021 | 12:00 pm (EST)
A virtual guided tour by Şerif Yenen, prominent travel specialist, writer, tourist guide, and travel filmmaker.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONLINE LIVE STREAM
Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic archaeological site near the city of Şanlıurfa in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. Dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, between c. 9500 and 8000 BCE, the site comprises a number of large circular structures supported by massive stone pillars – the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are richly decorated with abstract anthropomorphic details, clothing, and reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists rare insights into prehistoric religion and the particular iconography of the period.
The site was first used at the dawn of the Neolithic period, which in Southwest Asia marks the appearance of the oldest permanent human settlements anywhere in the world. Prehistorians link this Neolithic Revolution to the advent of agriculture, but disagree on whether farming caused people to settle down or vice-versa. Göbekli Tepe, a monumental complex built on the top of a rocky mountaintop, far from known sources of water and to date producing no clear evidence of agricultural cultivation, has played a prominent role in this debate. The site's original excavator, German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, described it as the "world's first temple": a sanctuary used by groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers from a wide area, with few or no permanent inhabitants. Other archaeologists challenged this interpretation, arguing that the evidence for a lack of agriculture and a resident population was far from conclusive. Recent research has also led the current excavators of Göbekli Tepe to revise or abandon many of the conclusions underpinning Schmidt's interpretation.
"An immense mystery older than Stonehenge" - BBC Travel, August 2021
"Göbekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?" - Smithsonian Magazine, November 2008
ŞERİF YENEN
Şerif Yenen is a Turkish travel specialist, travel writer, tourist guide and travel film-maker.
He gives Cultural Heritage of Turkey, Travel Writing & Blogging, Anatolian Civilisations and Tourist Guiding lessons as a part-time instructor at the Bilgi and Boğaziçi Universities.
He wrote “Turkish Odyssey” in English, the “first guidebook of Turkey ever written by a Turk”.
He is the producer, director and writer of Istanbul Unveiled, an awards-winning travel documentary with eight international awards.
Yenen gives lectures in the US and Turkey about travel in Turkey, Turkish history and culture. The majority of his lectures are in academic communities.
His guidebooks are used as textbooks or are on suggested reading lists at various universities, and his articles and columns are published in international magazines and national newspapers.
He continues his signature tours with a focus on culture, history and culinary experiences. He is also a member of Chaine des Rotisseurs.
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