One of the most astounding archaeological discoveries of our time has been made by Klaus Schmidt six miles from Urfa, an ancient city in southeast Turkey: enormous carved stones that are about 11,000 years old and were crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet invented metal tools or even pottery. The megaliths date back to 6,000 years before Stonehenge. Gobekli Tepe is the name of the location, and Schmidt, a German archaeologist who has spent more than a decade excavating there, is certain that it is the location of the oldest temple in existence.
In the first eight months of this year, over 500,000 tourists visited the southern Turkish archaeological site of Gobekli Tepe, which is known as the beginning of history. During the time between January and August of 2022, 495,725 persons visited the archaeological site, according to official statistics.
According to Aydin Aslan, director of culture and tourism in Anlurfa, the area is geared up to welcome 600,000 tourists by the end of September, breaking its previous record. Aslan noted that despite the Corona virus pandemic, the region had had more than 560,000 visitors last year, setting a record.
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The Turkish official indicated that “Gobekli Tepe ” is one of the primary causes of the rise in foreign tourists’ interest in the archaeological sites located in Anlurfa. President Recep Tayyip Erdoan inaugurated the archaeological site “Göbeklitepe” for a visit on March 8, 2019, designating that year the nation’s ” Gobekli Tepe year,” which increased traveller interest in it.
Researchers from the universities of Istanbul and the American University of Chicago found the Göbekli Tepe site in 1963, making it one of the planet’s oldest places of worship. For the next 54 years, they conducted excavations and studies there.
Numerous artefacts were unearthed in the region in 1995, including stone “T”-shaped obelisks from the Neolithic period with paintings, animal shapes, and statues of people. These obelisks ranged in length from 3 to 6 metres and weight from 40 to 60 tonnes.
The Gobekli Tepe region was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018 and is still the focus of several novels, movies, documentaries, television shows, and animations.