Gobekli Tepe Considered The Oldest Temple in the World

Gobekli Tepe is an archaeological site near ?anl?urfa in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. It dates back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic times, which are believed to be around 9500 and 8000 BCE. The site itself is home to many circular structures, which are the world's oldest megaliths.

Gobekli Tepe predates Stonehenge by an incredible 6,000 years and completely changed the world's views on how civilization came to be.

The site was originally noted in a survey back in 1963, and excavations continued until excavator Klaus Schmidt's death in 2014. During the first discovery of the site, it was mistaken for grave markers, and it's believed that locals had moved rocks over the years and disturbed the upper layers of this site.

Various institutions have continued to unearth this site until this day, and it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.

With less than five percent of the site excavated, it's still a source of mystery to the world in many ways, with many questions to be answered about how the site came to be and what it represents to our world.