coins and more: 3968) Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithoic Archeological Site in Upper Mesopotamia in Turkey: A 50 New Turkish Lira Coin issued to commemorate the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2012:

3968) Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithoic Archeological Site in Upper Mesopotamia in Turkey: A 50 New Turkish Lira Coin issued to commemorate the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2012:

We watched the Serial “The Gift ". "The Gift" (Turkish: Atiye) is a Turkish drama fantasy Netflix series with Gobekli Tepi as its underlying theme.

The series is an adaptation of the novel “Dünyanın Uyanışı “(“The World's Awakening”) by Şengül Boybaş.

It is an amazing story of connection between several time dimensions, which leaves the viewers spell-bound.

This is a brief description of Göbekli Tepe:

Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic archaeological site in Upper Mesopotamia in modern-day Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from around 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic.

It is famous for its large circular structures that contain massive stone pillars – among the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are decorated with anthropomorphic details, clothing, and sculptural reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists rare insights into prehistoric religion and the particular iconography of the period.

The 15 m (50 ft) high, 8 ha (20-acre) tell is densely covered with ancient domestic structures and other small buildings, quarries, and stone-cut cisterns from the Neolithic, as well as some traces of activity from later periods.

The site was first used at the dawn of the southwest Asian Neolithic period, which marked 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 a rocky mountaintop with no clear evidence of agricultural cultivation, has played a prominent role in this debate.

Recent findings suggest a settlement at Göbekli Tepe, with domestic structures, extensive cereal processing, a water supply, and tools associated with daily life. This contrasts with a previous interpretation of the site as a sanctuary used by nomads, with few or no permanent inhabitants.

No definitive purpose has been determined for the megalithic structures, which have been popularly described as the "world's first temples".

They were likely roofed and appear to have regularly collapsed, been inundated by slope slides, and subsequently repaired or rebuilt. The architecture and iconography are similar to other contemporary sites in the vicinity, such as "Karahan Tepe".

The site was first noted in a 1963 archaeological survey.

German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt recognised its significance in 1994 and began excavations there the following year.

After he died in 2014, work continued as a joint project of Istanbul University, Şanlıurfa Museum, and the German Archaeological Institute, under the direction of Turkish prehistorian Necmi Karul.

Göbekli Tepe was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, recognising its outstanding universal value as "one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture".

As of 2021, around 10% of the site has been excavated. Additional areas were examined by geophysical surveys, which showed the mound to contain at least 20 large enclosures.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Sites -

Göbekli Tepe - in the UNESCO List since 2018:

"Located in the Germuş mountains of south-eastern Anatolia, this property presents monumental round-oval and rectangular megalithic structures erected by hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic age between 9,600 and 8,200 BCE.

These monuments were probably used in connection with rituals, most likely of a funerary nature. Distinctive T-shaped pillars are carved with images of wild animals, providing insight into the way of life and beliefs of people living in Upper Mesopotamia about 11,500 years ago.

Outstanding Universal Value:

Brief synthesis:

Göbekli Tepe is located in Upper Mesopotamia, a region which saw the emergence of the most ancient farming communities in the world.

Monumental structures, interpreted as monumental communal buildings (enclosures), were erected by groups of hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (10th-9th millennia BC).

The monuments were probably used in connection with social events and rituals and feature distinctive limestone T-shaped pillars, some of which are up to 5.50 meters tall.

Some of the pillars, which are abstract depictions of the human form, also feature low reliefs of items of clothing, e.g. belts and loincloths, as well as high and low reliefs of wild animals. Recent excavation works have also identified the remains of non-monumental structures which appear to stem from domestic buildings.

Criterion (i): The communities that built the monumental megalithic structures of Göbekli Tepe lived during one of the most momentous transitions in human history, one which took us from hunter-gatherer lifeways to the first farming communities.

The monumental buildings at Göbekli Tepe demonstrate the creative human genius of these early (Pre-Pottery Neolithic) societies.

Criterion (ii): Göbekli Tepe is one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture.

The site testifies to innovative building techniques, including the integration of frequently decorated T-shaped limestone pillars, which also fulfilled architectural functions.

The imagery found at Göbekli Tepe, adorning T-pillars and some small finds (stone vessels, shaft-straighteners, etc.), is also found at contemporaneous sites in the Upper Mesopotamian region, thus testifying to a close social network in this core region of Neolithisation.

Criterion (iii): Göbekli Tepe is an outstanding example of a monumental ensemble of monumental megalithic structures illustrating a significant period of human history.

The monolithic T-shaped pillars were carved from the adjacent limestone plateau and attest to new levels of architectural and engineering technology. They are believed to bear witness to the presence of specialized craftsmen, and possibly the emergence of more hierarchical forms of human society.

Integrity:

Göbekli Tepe contains all the elements necessary for the expression of its Outstanding Universal Value and is of adequate size to ensure the complete presentation of the features and processes which convey its significance.

The physical fabric of the property is in good condition and the processes of deterioration are monitored and carefully controlled.

The conditions of integrity are potentially vulnerable in the buffer zone and wider setting of the property due to the future infrastructure projects (railway line) and the increase in visitor numbers likely to be generated.

Authenticity:

The megalithic structures have largely retained the original form and design of their architectural elements, together with numerous decorative elements and craft works that provide an insight into the way of life of the societies that occupied the site.

The results of more than twenty years of research and archaeological excavations on the site testify to its authenticity. Excavations and research under way since the mid-1990s also provide a more balanced and detailed view of the relationship between the various aspects of usage and the prehistoric importance of the property."

The 50 New Turkish Lira Coin:

The Reverse of the 50 Turkish Lira Silver Coin shows an image of excavated structures at Gobekli Tepi . The inscriptions on this face are - "GÖBEKLİ TEPE. URFA".