An ancient pictograph on an obelisk has been discovered during excavations at the ancient city of Göbeklitepe in Turkey.
According to the researchers, this may be the earliest known pictograph ever discovered.
A pictograph is an image that uses its physical resemblance to convey meaning.
Pictographic writing, such as hieroglyphics or other characters used by ancient Sumerian and Chinese civilizations, typically contains such images.
Radosław Botev, CC BY 3.0 PL , via Wikimedia Commons
They are still used by some non-literate cultures in parts of Africa, South America, and Oceania.
Müslüm Ercan, Director of the Anlurfa Museum, told “The scene on the obelisk unearthed in Göbeklitepe could be construed as the first pictograph because it depicts an event thematically.
At Göbeklitepe, Ercan is leading the excavation. It shows a headless human body beneath the stela and a human head in the vulture’s wing. This figure is surrounded by a variety of figures, including scorpions and cranes.
Rolf Cosar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This is a moment in time depicted;It might be the very first pictograph.
They are not arbitrary numbers.
This kind of art was depicted on the walls of atalhöyük (modern-day western Turkey) between 6,000 and 5,000 B.C.
The ancient city’s artifacts have revealed information about the area’s ancient burial practices, which involved leaving bodies out in the open for raptors like vultures to eat.
Volker Höhfeld, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mr. Ercan claims that this made it possible for the deceased person’s soul to ascend into the heavens.
It was depicted on the obelisks in Göbeklitepe and was known as “burial in the sky.”
Around 12,000 years ago, such rituals were performed in and around the city.
Many of the items found on the site are the first of their kind because they have never been seen anywhere else in the world.
In the south-eastern part of Turkey, Göbeklitepe is on top of a hill about 15 kilometers from Sanliurfa.
The archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe: main excavation area with four monumental circular buildings and adjacent rectangular buildings – German Archaeological Institute, photo E. Kücük., CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
The city was first excavated by Professor Klaus Schmidt, supported by the German Archaeological Institute, and can be traced back to 10,000 BC.
It consists of a series of circular and oval-shaped structures.
Schmidt went to the location after hearing about it from accounts of other 1960s visits by anthropologists from Istanbul University and the University of Chicago.
Volker Höhfeld, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Because they believed it to be nothing more than a medieval graveyard, the location was ignored by both institutions.
The site’s artifacts indicate that the city was built for ritual purposes only and not for human use.
A ring of walls surrounds two T-shaped monumental pillars, each of which weighs between 40 and 60 tons and stands between 3 meters (9 feet) and 6 meters (19 feet).
Kerimbesler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Because of the human appendages that have been carved into the stone, archaeologists believe that these pillars are stylized representations of human beings.
These pictures are joined by those of creatures including foxes, snakes, wild hogs, cranes and ducks.
The archaeologists think that Göbeklitepe was a place where religion was practiced.
23 temple structures have been identified by georadar work in the region.
Two of the city’s obelisks were made to look like the letter T.
Radosław Botev, CC BY 3.0 PL , via Wikimedia Commons
They are next to each other in a circle of smaller, rounder obelisks.
According to Ercan, a small pig sculpture that was discovered in front of the central stelas in the “C” temple at Göbeklitepe can be found in the museum at Anlurfa.
It’s possible that these statues depicted sacred beings.
The foundation of a roof that will cover the site and help preserve its structures and artifacts has just been completed, preparing the roof for construction.
The archaeologists hope to complete this EU project within eight months.
