“The First Temple in the World” Status Legitimacy Problems: Göbekli Tepe in Scientific Discussions of the Last Two Decades

For more than two decades, Göbekli Tepe – the Pre-Pottery Neolithic era architectural complex of Transcaucasian Anatolia – has been referred to as the “First Temple in the World”. Not all scholars agree with this assertion, questioning the theses of the excavation authors. In this essay, we attempt to examine the validity of the arguments from both sides (after all, criticism can sometimes be “short-sighted”). So, do the refined data indeed refute Klaus Schmidt’s revolutionary observations? Can we, considering all the currently available evidence, question the new theses that themselves challenge previous assertions? And how deep is the chasm between our perception of the status of “residence” and “sanctuary” regarding the oldest artificial stationary structures? Attempting to answer all these questions is the aim of this essay.We are discussing the angle of cultural prehistory, human reactions to upheavals, and the worldview transformations that must have occurred among the settled hunter-gatherers of the early Holocene. Comparative analyses of the settlements and structures in the Taş Tepeler region demonstrate dialecticism – on one hand, a specific variety of details, and on the other, clear trends indicating that the circular enclosures of Göbekli Tepe could not have been domestic dwellings. Despite the reasonable and well-argued remarks of E. Banning, it seems that M. Kinzel and L. Clare are closer to the truth when they argue that what we are looking at is unlikely to be a complete temple complex. However, the central part of the Potbelly Hill is clearly occupied by the so-called “special structures,” which are actually both “Theaters of memory” and a kind of “island” of relative stone permanence amidst the constantly renewed clay houses.It is currently difficult for us to comprehend all aspects of the reverence or hierophany experienced by early Neolithic people during the mysteries held within such enclosures. It seems that due to the new findings from the Stone Hills region, specific temenological discourse of Göbekli Tepe only strengthens. Nevertheless, the accumulated factual material over this period forces us to look at this monument from a noticeably different perspective. The discussion has only just begun in earnest.