Snapshots of Serpent Deities: The Feathered Serpent

Hello Everyone! This article was originally posted on December 3rd, 2014 on the Genius of Ancient Man Blog. It goes along with my previous article "Serpent Sanctuary". This is a topic I'm very excited about and there will be another article soon along the same lines. I look forward to any thoughts or questions. Enjoy!

Snapshots of Serpent Deities:The Feathered Serpent

By Bethany Youngblood

Quetzalcoatl http://pigs-in-the-parlor.blogspot.

Known as “Quetzalcoatl”, “Kulkulcan”, and “Viracocha”, this serpent deity was venerated by the Olmec, the Maya, the Aztec, and even the Inca. As mentioned in our blog post “Serpent Sanctuary”, many names have been used for this deity, but we know it collectively as the “Feathered Serpent” of Meso-America. Here is a brief snapshot of who and what this deity represented in the ancient world.

Quetzalcoatl - The Names

The name “Quetzalcoatl” is the most well-known name for the Feathered Serpent, but it is certainly a mouthful! It is pronounced: ket-sahl-koh-aht-l and means "feathered snake". It comes from the Nahuatl words quetzalli (feather) and coatl (snake).[1]  The name could also be translated as "plumed serpent", just as the serpent deity of the Olmec was known. The Maya name Kulkulcan also means "feathered snake". 

“Viracocha”, the Incan version of this deity, is the only name that does not translate into "serpent". 
Viracocha is actually never recorded to have appeared in the form of a snake at all. So why is he included in the list of names for the Feathered Serpent? Because the Feathered Serpent did not always appear as a snake; he had other forms.   

 

Kulkulcan

One Deity, Many Forms

The Feathered Serpent is most commonly described just as its name suggests: a winged, plumed, or feathered snake. However, the pagan god apparently had other forms as well. He could take the form of the wind and other elemental deities;[2] for the Aztecs, the serpent deity was the morning and evening star, the planet Venus.[3]

What about Viracocha? All three, Quetzalcoatl, Kulkulcan, and Viracocha, are said to have appeared at one time in the form of a white, bearded man in long robes who came from across the sea.[4]

                                           

Viracocha, Wikimedia Commons

Brief History

Commonly the deities that fall under the "Feathered Serpent" title are credited with creation of the world and mankind.[5] Furthermore Quetzalcoatl, Viracocha, and Kulkulcan, in the form of a white man with a beard, apparently arrived from afar and brought wisdom to man. He built the foundations of civilization and spread his knowledge through the help of his many messengers. But the myths and legends also tell us that he left with the promise to return (some say he was exiled while others say he left by his own choice).[6]

There seem to be two versions of the cult surrounding this deity. Its earliest form describes the Feathered Serpent as a peaceful entity. He introduced justice and only required minimal sacrifices. 

Later the cult underwent a revision[7], with the exception of Viracocha, who appears to have remained a peaceful entity replaced by sun worship.[8] The Feathered Serpent became the patron of priests, representing death and renewal. Human sacrifices became necessary to appease him, and this bloody legacy is what remains most prominent about the Feathered Serpent today. 

Conclusion

Studying serpent deities can’t help but lead us back to the Garden and the Serpent of Old. His deceptions and counterfeits continually pop up, influencing cultures in ancient times in ways that we don’t yet fully know. Yet because we know the truth, by God’s grace, we can see the distortion for what it really is, false worship and rebellion against the true God. 

Always More Questions

As is usual with ancient studies, we’ve left you with a plenty questions to mull over and intrigue you:

• Why do you think the peaceful creator-god morphed into the bloody feathered serpent we know today?
• Were the names Quetzalcoatl, Kulkukan, or Viracocha once applied to an actual flesh-and-blood man who came to the native peoples in ancient times and shared knowledge with them?
• Why are there three names for one very similar deity?
• Based on your own research you probably have different answers and theories for these questions that we would love to hear about! Share your thoughts in the comments or send us an email! 

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[1] “Quetzalcoatl.” Web. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/487168/Quetzalcoatl

[2] “Quetzalcoatl.” Micha F. Lindemans. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/q/quetzalcoatl.html

[3] Ibid. 

[4] “Viracocha/Kulkulkan/Quetzalcoatl.” Web. http://the-truth-seekers.org/viracocha.htm

[5] “Quetzalcoatl.” Web. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/487168/Quetzalcoatl

[6] Ibid. 

[7] Ibid. 

[8] “Viracocha and the Legendary Origins of the Inca.”  Christopher Minster. http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/ancientlatinamerica/p/Viracocha-And-The-Legendary-Origins-Of-The-Inca.htm

Hello Everyone. Here is my next article from the Genius of Ancient Man Blog. It was originally posted on November 12, 2014. I obsessed over this topic for several weeks and I'm eager to hear other's thoughts on it! I hope you enjoy.

Serpent Sanctuary

By Bethany Youngblood

Wikimedia Commons

In chapter nine of The Genius of Ancient Man we briefly cover the commonalities in world religions and legends. Remarkably, many religions were monotheistic in their beginnings and we can even find traces of Judeo-Christian beliefs woven throughout ancient practices.[1] This makes sense because after the Flood, Noah and his sons would have passed down the true accounts of God's work. 

However, as mankind continued to rebel against God and reject the truth, pagan counterfeits began to twist truth and proper worship of God. Distorted beliefs mixed with truth were passed down and dispersed with the people across the globe after the Tower of Babel. So just like we find traces of Judeo-Christian beliefs in ancient religion, we also find numerous similar distortions throughout ancient cultures. In this article we will be focusing on the prominence of serpent worship.

Worshiping Snakes? 

In our modern eyes these creatures do not seem like something to be venerated. And in ancient times it wasn't so much the snake itself that was worshiped but rather the symbolism behind the snake.

 

Serpent in the Garden - Creation Museum, Kentucky                    (Flickr. com - nofilmrequired)

From a biblical standpoint, the snake seems tainted because it was the form Satan took when he tempted Eve in the garden. Satan is even known as the “Serpent” or “Dragon”, in the Bible. So then are snakes evil like Satan is evil? No! Snakes are only created creatures whose image is used to symbolize certain ideas.

That being said, there is substantial proof for the existence of an evil cult-like worship of the serpent across the ancient world. This post will briefly describe the trail of this symbolic snake as it slithers through history.

How did Snake Worship Start?

Is this obsession with snakes really a worldwide thing? Consider how one author put it:

"No nations were so geographically remote, or so religiously discordant, but that one--and only one--superstitious characteristic was common to all; that the most civilized and the most barbarous bowed down with the same devotion to the same engrossing deity; and that this deity either was, or was represented by the same sacred serpent.”[2]

But what’s the source? Like everything else we can trace this back to a counterfeit that likely spread out from Babel.

Because Satan always perverts God’s truth, the biblical account of Eve and the serpent was twisted. [3] And the snake became a symbol of the one who brought secret knowledge of good and evil to man. The snake was also associated with sun worship, which seems to have emerged at the same time. The sun was worshiped as the one who brought physical enlightenment, and the snake as the one who brought spiritual light to man.[4] [5]

Therefore serpents in worldwide religions are commonly deities of the sun, fire (representative of the sun), sky, wisdom, civilization, regeneration, and healing. Some ancient cultures described comets as flaming serpents.[6] And because snakes shed their skin they are also associated with the regeneration of men's souls through fire or death.

Serpent Deities Around the World

There are far too many examples of serpent deities to compile a complete list, so we will just take a look at some of the most prominent serpents around the world.

The Rainbow Serpent - Flickr.com (iansand, 2005)

The Rainbow Serpent - This is a deity found in both Australia and Africa, though more prominently in the former. The Rainbow Serpent is known by countless regional names and is credited with the creation of all life on earth. Shamans are ritually 'consumed' by the serpent and then emerge reborn so that they might gain spiritual power.[7]

 

Apep http://www.dragonsinn.net/middle_east6e.htm

Apep - This serpent deity originates in Egypt. It dwells in the “celestial Nile”, or the Milky Way. Other Egyptian serpent deities include Wadjet,Aker (an earth dragon), Am-Mut (eater of souls), Atum, and Denwen (another dragon).[8]

Lung - This is the basic name for the Chinese dragon or serpent deity. Chinese mythology claims there were four great dragon kings, and one serpent that had nine sons who did great deeds. Other Chinese serpent deities include: Chien Lung (the Great Serpent), Kung Shih (wisdom),Shen Lung (rain), and Nu Kua (the serpent mother goddess).[9]

Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl - Kulkulcan - Viracocha  - These three names all describe a similar feathered serpent deity from Aztec, Mayan, and Incan religion. This deity was credited with creation, the bringing of wisdom, and the founding of civilization.[10] These three deities, though symbolized as a serpent, also supposedly appeared to the native people as a white, bearded man in long robes from across the sea.[11]

Coatlicue - The Aztec serpent mother. This deity was known to the Inca asChalchiuhticue and to Brazillians as Iara. Serpent mothers and other mother goddess figures appear all over the world.

Other Mesoamerican snake deities include:

• Aztec: Huitzilopotchili, Tezcatlipoca, Xiuhtecuhtli (fire serpent), and Mixcoatl.
• Mayan: Gucumatz, Hunab Ku (sky serpent), Labna, Tlactoc (rain serpent), Xiuhcoatl (fire serpent), and Youalcoatl (storm serpent)[12]

Avanyu http://symboldictionary.net/?p=3141

Avanyu - The feathered sky serpent of the Pueblo people was also associated with rain and lightning. Other North American serpent deities include: Uktena (Cherokee), the Horned Serpent (various tribes), andWinged Serpents (various tribes). [13]

Serpents were also venerated in the form of mounds (serpent-shaped mounds [effigies] exist in North America, England, and Scotland)[14]monuments, and innumerable pieces of artwork in the ancient world were also dedicated to the worship of the snake. 

Conclusion

This introduction certainly does not touch on every aspect or implication of serpent worship throughout the world. There are many intriguing connections that can still be explored.

• How many cultures had a mother goddess?
• What is the significance of the 'rebirth' rituals practiced by Australian and African Shamans?
• What about those South American legends of white, bearded men from across the sea?
• Why were some of the serpent deities called dragons? Maybe they were based on actual living creatures of the time?

Hopefully this introduction has opened doors for you to see more connections between cultures in the ancient world and more counterfeits as well. With serpent worship, or other related cults like sun worship, we're seeing evidence of man twisting created things into gods.

This passage written by the Apostle Paul applies well:

"...although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things....who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:21-23,25 NKJV)

What are your thoughts on this eerie serpent worship cult? Let us know your questions and opinions in the comments or send us an email! 

 

Interested in more? 

• Learn about "dragons" in ancient times
• Learn more about ancient worship of the heavens
• Check out this map of ancient monuments showing commonality around the world 

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[1] “The Genius of Ancient Man”. Landis, Don. Chapter 9. Pg. 72.

[2] Clark, Hyde. ‘Serpent And Siva Worship and Mythology in Central American, Africa, and Asia. And The Origin of Serpent Worship.’ Hyde Clarke, M.A.I., and C. Staniland Wake, M.A.I. 1877. Google Books.  pg vi-vii

[3]  “Snake Worship”. William T. Pelletier, Ph.D. 2008. BibleScienceGuy. Web. http://biblescienceguy.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/4-snake-worship/

[4]  “Nature Worship”. Pg. 287. The New International Encyclopedia, Volume 14. By Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby.

[5] “Druids”. In Note, pg. 437. Owen, Davies

[6] “The Mystery of Serpent Worship”. Farra, Leonard. Web Article. http://blog.world-mysteries.com/strange-artifacts/the-mystery-of-serpent-worship/

[7] Ibid.

[8] “List of Serpent Gods”. Web Discussion. http://theumbi.com/index.php?/topic/2621-list-of-serpent-gods/ 

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11]  “The Mystery of Serpent Worship”. Farra, Leonard. Web Article. http://blog.world-mysteries.com/strange-artifacts/the-mystery-of-serpent-worship/

[12] Ibid.

[13] “The Reptilian Agenda: Horned Serpent, Feathered Serpent.”. Hidden Mysteries (1998-2005). Web. http://www.reptilianagenda.com/myth/m010105d.shtml

[14] Ibid.

The Incredible Journey (Part 1)

Hello Everyone! Ready for another article from the Genius of Ancient Man Blog? This one was originally published on February 12th, 2014. I hope you enjoy the read. If you like this article, please visit the blog itself and read some of the articles from the other authors on the research team. You won't regret it! As always, please feel free to comment!

The Incredible Journey

By Bethany Youngblood

Wikimedia Commons

"So The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because The Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." (Genesis 11:8-9 KJV)

The Biblical account of the Tower of Babel is a familiar one. We know that it was at Babel that God divided the languages and thereby scattered the people in all directions to fill the earth and multiply. But we are not so familiar with the span of time between the dispersion and the many civilizations that were created by the migration from Babel. Evolutionary models for how man populated the globe are so common that when confronted with the question of how it happened from a biblical perspective and within a biblical timeframe, we often come up short for answers.

Does the mainstream theory of human dispersal across the globe align with what we know of ancient man? If not, then how did ancient man travel to all those distant corners of the earth? How long did it take? Is this incredible journey even possible within a Biblical timeframe?

Let Us Review

Very quickly, let us review what is commonly presented to us by mainstream science, and then what we know of ancient man from a biblical perspective, to see where we stand before this journey even begins.

The most widely taught idea in the secular world today is that we (Homo-sapiens) evolved in Africa and it was from Africa that we emerged to populate the globe over tens of thousands of years. Variations of that theory are taught as well but the conclusion remains roughly the same; over millennia our species evolved and crawled out of Africa, by chance, to become the dominant animal on this planet.

"Our species is an African one: Africa is where we first evolved, and where we have spent the majority of our time on Earth. The earliest fossils of recognizably modern Homo sapiens appear in the fossil record....in Ethiopia around 200,000 years ago…this is our best understanding of when and approximately where we originated."[1]

The statement above is supported by an evolutionary interpretation of the fossil record as observed in Ethiopia, Africa. Since Africa is where secularists speculate humans evolved from apes, it is also where they speculate more modern humans emerged to begin populating the globe around 70,000 years ago. Therefore everyone on the planet is descended from this small group of pioneers.[2]

Projecting back to a common ancestor requires an assumption on who that was; it also requires an assumption on where that common ancestor was located. Dealing with the exact same evidence for the entirety of humanity coming from one father and one mother, evolutionists say it was a homo-sapien in Africa whereas biblical creationists say it was Adam and Eve. Or, more to the point, our common ancestors were the people that were scattered from Babel to populate the earth.

"And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7 KJV)

God created Adam and Eve as the crowning jewel of His creation. They were the first humans, with no sub-species or prototypes before them, and the father and mother of all human life on earth. The Ancient Man Team has worked to post quality articles on this blog pointing to the fundamental notion that ancient man was not the grunting ape he is so often painted as. For a more in-depth review of some fantastic things we know of ancient man, try reading some of these articles on Archeoastronomy, Ancient Technology, and Ancient Art.

So, it turns out the mainstream evolutionary theories for how man populated the globe do not align with a biblical perspective of ancient man. Our ancestors were created with all the abilities and intelligence required to meet the challenges involved with something as incredible as populating and caring for the earth. Now our journey can begin.

Where Was Babel?

Where was the starting point? From where did ancient man scatter in all directions from? Where in the world was Babel?

The Bible says in Genesis 11:1-2 that Babel was located on a plain in Shinar, somewhere west of the land where Noah had settled after the Ark landed. Traditionally Shinar, meaning ‘between two rivers’, is located in southern Mesopotamia. This was the region of ancient Babylonia and Chaldea and of the modern country of Iraq.[3]

When did this scattering occur then? When did man leave Shinar and begin spreading out? One possible date presented by James Ussher (a biblical chronologist) is 2242 B.C. This would have been 100 years after the Flood.[4] Is it possible that man could have traveled to fill the whole globe within a few hundred years? Absolutely!

Which Way Did They Go?

Working off a combination of archaeological sciences, the routes that ancient man took to populate the earth can be roughly tracked. Of course, interpretation of the data affects where those routes started and ended, so there is no absolutely flawless version of ancient man’s migratory map. Now, when visualizing man on this incredible journey across the globe, remember that the landscape and climate was very different than what it is today.

Dispersion. (Drawn by Daniel Lewis of AiG-USA)

The major differences were caused by the worldwide ice age that was triggered by the Flood. It would have peaked around 400 years after Babel, corresponding well with the migration of peoples groups. Most creationists agree that there was ONE major Ice Age after the flood. It would have been caused by the warmer oceans and volcanic activity that released “aerosols” into the atmosphere, which blocked some of the sun’s heat. The warmer oceans would have caused more evaporation and more condensation of snow and ice due to the colder climate. Both creationists and evolutionists agree that the result of so much water in the form of snow and ice on land would have lowered the ocean levels 350-400 feet! (We will go into the amazing effects of that development a little later.) .[5]

• Southwest - To the southwest of Shinar would be, what we know today as, Palestine and the continent of Africa. Due to the Ice Age causing cooler temperatures around the globe there would have been more precipitation around the equator, meaning the areas we know as deserts today would have been cooler and wetter. Even the Sahara would remain a fertile and hospitable place long after the Flood!
• Southeast - To the Southeast would be present day India, Asia, and the Pacific Isles. Even with the mountain ranges and small stretches of ocean in the way of this route, it would have been an easier trip than the route up into the north.
• Northwest - The same aftereffects of the Flood that made the south a tropical paradise made the north a harsh, cold landscape. As the Ice Age progressed the immigrants entering into Europe and Northern Asia would be met with the advancing ice sheets. Days were darker and spring and summer practically nonexistent, and yet, man still pressed onward.
• Northeast- One more ice-crowded route that led ancient travelers east and northeast through Asia and Siberia would eventually turn into a highway that led to the Americas.

For details on HOW the ancient people travelled around the globe, read Part Two of this article.

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[1] https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/human-journey/

[3] Hodge, Bodie. Tower of Babel. Green Forest: 2012. Master Books. pg.104

[4] Hodge, Bodie. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2006/09/22/feedback-ararat-to-americas

[5] Hodge, Bodie. Tower of Babel. Pg. 105-108

Gobekli Tepe: The Buried Temple

Hello Everyone, 

This is the second article I wrote for the Genius of Ancient Man Blog. It was originally posted on October 23, 2013. As I read through this article again it struck me that it might be a bit long! Sorry, I tend to ramble. If any readers here would like to offer constructive criticism I would be glad to have it. Enjoy!

Gobekli Tepe: The Buried Temple

 By Bethany Youngblood

Gobekli Tepehttp://www.world-archaeology.com/features/turkey-gobekli-tepe/

The semi-deserts of southeastern Turkey seem very uninviting. Yet archaeologists flock there like the sheep that graze the valleys between the dusty plateaus, to feast their eyes on something that has changed their view of humanity’s advancement. A gently rounded hill rises above the surrounding landscape. What lies within this hill is what has attracted all the attention. A shepherd was the first to discover the top of a pillar jutting up out of the dirt and introduced the site to archaeological curiosity. But it was a German archaeologist named Klaus Schmidt in 1994 who ‘unveiled’ the incredible importance of this hill known as Gobekli Tepe. [1]

The "Naval of the World" 

Gobekli Tepe means “Hill with a Belly” or “Naval Mound”.[2] Locally the hill was believed to be a sacred site for generations: the “naval of the world”. After spending the past nineteen years excavating it, Schmidt has finally begun theorizing an explanation for why. 

            

Gobekli Tepe

Through the use of ground-penetrating radar and geomagnetic surveys, what lies buried in the belly of the hill was revealed: at least twenty megalithic stone rings. Their layouts are similar; one circle is built within another and lined with towering T-shaped limestone blocks, each eight feet tall and weighing in around seven tons. These pillars face inward to the center of the circle where the two tallest pillars stand. These megaliths are between sixteen and eighteen feet high and can weigh from seven to ten tons. [3]

Not every circle has been excavated, however. Out of the twenty-two acres that make up Gobekli Tepe only one-acre of excavation - revealing four circles - has given us a physical glimpse of this site.

A walk down into one of these circles opens our eyes to more than just the megaliths. Most of the limestone pillars are smooth and bare, but others bare the relief carvings of leopards and wild boars. A host of other predators such as lions, foxes, vultures and scorpions crawl over the stone. The images of herons and geese, as well as the forms of men have been found as well. Gobekli Tepe forms a mysterious place from ancient times and its existence has blown the minds of archeologists.

What seems so Surprising…

Archaeology, put very loosely, is digging up remnants of the past. So then why are the findings at Gobekli Tepe such a surprise? Because it shatters the previously held timeline for how ancient man evolved.

Secular archaeology labels Prehistoric (pre-writing) Cultures based on their level of human development as characterized by the creation and use of stone tools. Through the use of carbon dating of organic matter on and around the megaliths as well as dating animal bones and stone tools on the site, a wide range of possible ages have been presented by secular archeologists. They theorize a 10,000-9,000 BC date range[4] for construction - this would put the four circles of Gobekli Tepe that are available to test in the Early Neolithic (according to mainstream science - not the biblical timeline). According to mainstream science, this period was populated only by primitive hunter-gatherers. [5]

That means, according to the secular calendar, Gobekli Tepe was built thousands of years before the first Mesopotamian cites and the pyramids of Egypt. If this really were a 12,000 year-old complex, then it would predate not only pottery and agriculture, but also settled human life as archaeology has defined it. (According to the biblical timeline the site would be much younger. It would have been constructed sometime after the flood probably between 2300-2100 BC.)

For the secular world, the idea that early Neolithic hunter-gatherers built something like this is world changing. One documentary put it this way: “It’s like discovering that a three-year-old child’s made the Empire State Building out of toy bricks – How’d they do it?”[6]

Leopard Relief

…Actually Isn’t.

Operating under the pre-supposition that man was created around 6,000 years ago, not evolved, this “surprise” is no longer that big of a shocker. Commentators ask themselves if hunter-gatherers were advanced enough to organize a project like Gobekli Tepe. Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell (writer for Answers in Genesis) voices this alternative:

“Evolutionary anthropologists generally consider the “hunter-gatherer” to represent the more “primitive” condition of evolving humanity. But this view is false. Biblical history describes Adam’s first “job” to be tending the garden that God provided, and Adam’s sons kept flocks and tilled the ground (Genesis 4:2–3). Genesis chapter 4 describes the establishment of a city, so we see that the hunter-gatherer lifestyle was not the original condition of mankind. Following the global Flood, farming resumed as Noah planted a vineyard (Genesis 9:20). We learn of a hunter named Nimrod (Genesis 10:9) about the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, and it is likely that once people dispersed from Babel the foraging/hunting lifestyle became a necessary expedient for many. But such a lifestyle was not a symptom of evolutionary or intellectual inferiority”[7]

Hunter-gatherer does not have to translate into “primitive”. It’s a lifestyle, often times just a temporary one. People have lived according to this lifestyle throughout the years of history - they are not confined to a certain period and cannot be called "less intelligent" because of it.  

Just Hunter-gatherers?

So what sort of environment were these ancient people up against when tackling the construction of Gobekli Tepe? It was certainly not the barren valleys surrounding the site today.

Gobekli Tepe rests on the edge of a lush arc of land known as the Fertile Crescent. From the top of the hill in ancient times a man would have seen paradise in every direction; a bountiful landscape of rivers, fruit-bearing trees, valleys of wild grains and herds of game here and there. A hunter-gatherer lifestyle in this environment is certainly supported by over 100,000 wild animal bones uncovered at the Gobekli Tepe site.[8] 

There is also evidence for ancient farming in the area. A forerunner of modern domesticated wheat known as einkorn wheat grows wild in the area surrounding Gobekli Tepe. Farming this wild grass could help support a growing community. Dr. Mitchell says again:

“The human beings who cultivated the wild plants as crops and domesticated wild plants to better meet their needs were obviously intelligent people. In fact, archaeologist George Willcox notes that the various ancient settlements scattered throughout the Fertile Crescent lack clear evidence to distinguish between the traditional evolutionary classifications of primitive man as foraging “hunter-gatherers” and the more advanced farmers who tilled the ground.”[9]

So could ancient man have possessed the capabilities and resources to accomplish this project? Absolutely! Our remaining question is why.

The First Temple?

As the archaeologist in charge of excavation, Schmidt has presented theories to explain why Gobekli Tepe was built. A reminder here is that Gobekli Tepe is not merely four stone circles; it is a whole man-made hill full of buried stone circles. Several years after the first circles were built they were buried and new circles built atop them. Repeat this process over several times and you have the present-day site of Gobekli Tepe.

Schmidt rules out Gobekli Tepe as a dwelling place or village very quickly and states:

“Gobekli Tepe is not a house or a domestic building. Evidence of any domestic use is entirely lacking. No remains of settled human habitation have been found nearby. That leaves one purpose: religion. Gobekli Tepe is the oldest temple in the world.” (The oldest according to the secular timeline – it may not be according to the biblical timeline.)

There are many points that support Schmidt’s theories. One is that there is no ready water supply located at Gobekli Tepe itself, hinting that its location was less for functional comfort and more for regional importance. There is also evidence for Gobekli Tepe being a cosmopolitan center of the region, supporting it’s use as a temple complex. Obsidian knife points found at the site came from sources almost 300 miles away in each direction. Either through trade or actual pilgrimage, someone was walking the equivalent of New York City to Buffalo, NY to reach Gobekli Tepe. Many possible peoples with their many languages and cultures coming together at a ceremonial center are certainly possible.[10]

Vulture Relief

What Were They Worshiping?

Andrew Curry, in his article on Gobekli Tepe for Smithsonian Magazine in 2008, had this to say when confronted with interpreting Gobekli Tepe.

“Indeed, though I stood among the looming megaliths eager to take in their meaning, they didn’t speak to me. They were utterly foreign, placed there by people who saw the world in a way I will never comprehend. There are no sources to explain what the symbols might mean.”[11]

That however cannot stop the urge to explain the unexplainable; theories claiming to sum-up Gobekli Tepe’s hidden meaning abound. Schmidt refers to it as the “Temple of the Hunt” where the hunter-gatherers worshiped their gods, symbolized by the predators and prey etched upon the pillars. Others try to connect Gobekli Tepe with archeoastronomy. (Learn more about archeoastronomy) They propose that either the carvings on the pillars represent an ancient cosmology or the layout of the stone circles themselves are part of a geoglyph depicting a bull, with the stone circles representing the star cluster Pleiades within the constellation Taurus.[12]

But these are only theories, and theories that certainly warrant much research and further examination. Gary Rollefson of Whitman College had this to say on developing theories for Gobekli Tepe:

“Trying to pick out symbolism from prehistoric contest is an exercise in futility.”

 Conclusion

I quite agree. If Gobekli Tepe proves anything without a doubt it shows that mankind’s theories, based on mankind’s own wisdom, are very often wrong. The exact function of Gobekli Tepe, the questions of why it was buried and rebuilt, the intricacies of its symbolism…all these mysteries might never be solved. However, the mind-boggling problem of how ‘primitive’ man was capable of producing this structure doesn’t have to remain mysterious. “Historic” man according to the biblical narrative wasn’t primitive but was intelligent and very capable of the design and construction of Gobekli Tepe.

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[3] Curry. Smithsonian Magazine. “Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?onsite_source=smithsonianmag.com&onsite_medium=internal&onsite_campaign=photogalleries&onsite_content=Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?

[8] Curry. Smithsonian Magazine. “Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?onsite_source=smithsonianmag.com&onsite_medium=internal&onsite_campaign=photogalleries&onsite_content=Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?

[9] Mitchell. “Archaeologists Find Farming’s Roots All Over The Fertile Crescent”

[11] Curry. Smithsonian Magazine. “Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?onsite_source=smithsonianmag.com&onsite_medium=internal&onsite_campaign=photogalleries&onsite_content=Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?

[12] Herschel  “Gobekli Tepe – Oldest Civilization on Earth…Deciphered! February 2012”

http://thehiddenrecords.com/gobekli-tepe-taurus-bull.php