Mysterious ancient aliens, extraterrestrials, or was it man that started civilization? Gobekli Tepe was created 12,000 years ago...out of nowhere. It seems like something alien or not of this earth may have intervened.
What happened 12,000 years ago that shook humanity enough to change forever?
About twelve thousand years ago, before humankind developed farming communities, or even learned how to make pottery, we were stone age, nomadic, hunter-gatherers in small family groups, with no organized religions or governments.
And then something unprecedented happened. For some unknown reason, for the first time ever, hundreds and hundreds of humans gathered together in an organized fashion, to build an incredible shrine complex.
It's constructed of over 200 massive 20 ton stone pillars, T-shaped, and decorated with a variety of animal totems. They were chiselled by hand from a nearby rock quarry with stone age tools, moved somehow to the shrine site, and then precisely fit into carefully arranged sockets in about 20 circular patterns.
The purpose of this temple, shrine, or tribute remains unknown. Nor is it clear how so many nomadic workers could be fed during the long, difficult construction, nor where they acquired such unusually advanced and artistic carving skills.
But we do know that within just a few hundred years, in that exact same region, humankind began a new phase of enlightenment by settling into a farming community to cultivate the world's first domesticated crop of wheat. Shortly after, the temple was intentionally buried with loose stone and animal bones, and human society has never been the same.
Use of the "The Leviathan" picture permitted by Jeff Chang. Check out the rest of his work at http://jeffchangart.deviantart.com.
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