GOBEKLI TEPE12,000 year old town discovered in southeastern TurkeyThe first known permanent settlement. It was buried and abandoned by its residents in 8,000 B.C.E. ( Map of Gobekli Tepe )
In the previous articles I have laid out proof of biblical Noah's existence and a major catastrophic meteor event (3123 B.C.E.) which I believe caused a break in humanity's understanding of authentic history. Now in this last article I present a curiosity which seems to be a logical piece in my argument for the existence of Noah and his lineage.
If we are to trust science we must agree that the last period of the last ice age called the Younger Dryas ended in a sudden warming which caused glacial melting. That melting led to flooding as landlocked melt lakes broke out of their confinement and flowed in huge rushes like the ones that carved the "Scablands" in the northwestern United States. Climatologists have data showing an abrupt end to the last glacial age (about 12,000 years ago) and a global shift in temperate zones. Such shifts caused the creation of deserts in northern Africa where rivers and fertile grasslands were the norm. Geologists also speak of a major rise in global sea level. However, no one has effectively investigated Mediterranean geologic changes at that time. I pose important questions:
Was the Mediterranean Sea created by a rise in global sea level at the end of the last ice age in a catastrophic event? If the Mediterranean Sea is and has "always been" part of the worlds ocean system why does it display those things which tend to date it as a newer body of water than the Atlantic Ocean? Where are the ancient coral reef beds which should be prominent along its southern and eastern shorelines? Why has it been documented to have rapidly increased in depth since the split between the B.C.E. and C.E. eras? ( earthquake plate tectonics ) If so then it would be logical to deduct a new scenario which adds to the Noah epic.
I am putting forward an idea concerning Noah's place of origin and his place of arrival after the flood. If he was living somewhere on a "Mediterranean Plain" at the time of a global rise in sea level it is plausible to think that the low mountains at western end of that sea were eroded by over flow leaving only the Rock of Gibraltar. There is a fault line beneath the Mediterranean Sea which runs in an irregular fashion east to west. It is logical to assume that it was a valley that held a very large river flowing to the Atlantic in which the waters of the Nile and other African and European rivers would have flowed into. The flood epic speaks of rain and an immediate rush of water. If we consider a flash flood running off of Europe and Africa plus inundation from the west as the mouth of the huge Mediterranean river was swamped by a rising ocean the water would have to flow towards any low ground in the region. Geologists are still arguing over an inundation of the Black Sea by Mediterranean water. But, places along the eastern edge of that plain are low lying and would have been flooded all the way to plain below the Gobekli region. Should it be strange to think Noah would have headed for a place well above sea level when the waters drained away? I think he ended up in the region of northern Syria - southern Turkey where the elevation is only 50 to 200 feet above the current Mediterranean Sea level. Twelve thousand years of natural erosion and current erosion in the Mediterranean would surely obscure the reality of any event occurring so long ago.
If my scenario is correct it makes geological sense that Gobekli was the site of Noah's clan. Many of the rectangular T-shaped limestone columns in all of the buildings yet uncovered have a myriad of animals sculpted on them. In fact the animal depictions range from annoying insects and snakes to oxen and deer. Each is large enough to hold a pretty large family. Also discovered is a 6 foot tall sculpture of a man wearing woven cloth apparel who is holding fruit in his hands. The location is about 1,000 feet above a valley which was green and filled with herding animals and more. Living on top of such a large hill would afford a look out for prey and access to wild grains like eikhorn wheat and fruit trees that grow on the hill and in the valley below. The nature of the area climate tells us that it was even wetter than today. Water is easy to collect from roofs and ground run off cisterns (yet to be found). Following the movie below is an excerpt from an article approved by the Gobekli Tepe chief archaeologist. Why they define every large well built ancient structure as a religious building escapes me. Life was not easy back then and dedicating so much time and energy only makes sense if the goal is a secure residence.
Excerpts from: "The World's First Temple by Sandra Scham" By: Sandra Scham is ARCHAEOLOGY's Washington, D.C., correspondent and a fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Volume 61 Number 6, November/December 2008 By the time of my visit in late summer, the excavation team lead by Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeological Institute has wrapped up work for the season. But there is still plenty to see, including three excavated circles now protected by a large metal shelter. The megaliths, which may have once supported roofs, are about nine feet tall.
Göbekli Tepe's circles range from 30 to 100 feet in diameter and are surrounded by rectangular stone walls about six feet high. Many of the pillars are carved with elaborate animal figure reliefs. In addition to bulls, foxes, and cranes, representations of lions, ducks, scorpions, ants, spiders, and snakes appear on the pillars. Freestanding sculptures depicting the animals have also been found within the circles. During the most recent excavation season, archaeologists uncovered a statue of a human and sculptures of a vulture's head and a boar.
As we walk around the recently excavated pillars, the site seems at once familiar and exotic. I have seen stone circles before, but none like these.
Hunter-gatherers used stone tools to create images of male creatures on T-shaped pillars. (Klaus Schmidt, on site archaeologist)
At first glance, the fox on the surface of the limestone pillar appears to be a trick of the bright sunlight. But as I move closer to the large, T-shaped megalith, I find it is carved with an improbable menagerie. A bull and a crane join the fox in an animal parade etched across the surface of the pillar, one of dozens erected by early Neolithic people at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey. The press here is fond of calling the site "the Turkish Stonehenge," but the comparison hardly does justice to this 25-acre arrangement of at least seven stone circles. The first structures at Göbekli Tepe were built as early as 10,000 B.C., predating their famous British counterpart by about 7,000 years. Gobekli Tepe is located in southern Turkey on a 1,000 foot high hill top.
Previous discoveries of close by settlements dating to 8,000-7,000 B.C.E. were thought of as the as the oldest permanent communities. (Alaca and Catal Hoyuk) However, the structures at Gobekli Tepe date to 10,000 B.C.E. and they display stone work which has upset the status quo within the science of archaeology. After 2,000 years of habitation the residents buried their town and left. What remains is more advanced than the surrounding communities dating from about 8,000 B.C.E. What I find most bizarre is the all too quick judgment made by archaeologists that the site was a religious shrine. Common sense contradicts such a notion. If archaeologists are correct the people of 10,000 B.C.E. were nomadic "hunter gatherers" who lived in animal skin tents and caves. Why then would they spend so much time and effort to build structures they wouldn't live in especially in a place where the oldest eikhorn wheat is found (modern wheat) and an abundance of herd animals like deer, gazelle and auroks cattle? When you see the video I made (posted below) you see the stuff of a some what crude but overall magnificent achievement. Gobekli lies in the center of and do north of the earliest permanent towns on earth.