Until about twenty years ago, it was thought that “civilization” appeared with the Sumerians, around 7,000 years ago. Then, on the border between Syria and Turkey, Göbekli Tepe and neighboring settlements were discovered. Everything has changed since then.

Until about twenty years ago, it was thought that “civilization” appeared with the Sumerians, around 7,000 years ago. Then, on the border between Syria and Turkey, Göbekli Tepe and neighboring settlements were discovered. Everything has changed since then.

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The oldest remains of Göbekli Tepe date back at least 12,000 years. But some monoliths discovered in the ruins represent human beings dressed only in loincloths. But 12,000 years ago we were in the middle of the Younger Dryas (a mini-ice age). It is therefore impossible that people walked around wearing only loincloths. To be able to walk around dressed like that, the temperature had to be mild. But the last “mild” period before the Younger Dryas ended around 110,000 BC, when the last ice age began. So at least parts of Göbekli Tepe could date back to this ancient period.

In Göbekli Tepe, ideograms were carved, that is to say sculptures which represent neither animals nor things, but abstract concepts. They may represent the oldest example of human writing, predating that of the Sumerians by at least 5,000 years. The buildings of Göbekli Tepe are not made of wood or thatch, but are made of limestone. Some pillars weigh almost 20 tonnes. The people of Göbekli Tepe were able to build stone houses and villages thousands of years before the Sumerians.
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On a stone slab called the “crane stele”, the wise men of Göbekli Tepe recount an encounter between them and “external beings”, coming from the sky, while a comet crossed the sky. Additionally, the engraved account alludes to a time when a bombardment of comets caused immense destruction on Earth. How reliable is this story, which dates back at least 12,000 years?
On a stone slab called the “crane stele”, the wise men of Göbekli Tepe recount an encounter between them and “external beings”, coming from the sky, while a comet crossed the sky. Additionally, the engraved account alludes to a time when a bombardment of comets caused immense destruction on Earth. How reliable is this story, which dates back at least 12,000 years?