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| The Slabs at Gobekli Tepe represent Star Constellations or cataclysmic world events |
Until recently the focus by mainstream researchers studying this site which has been dated to roughly 11000 BCE has been on figuring out how, what was in their view a hunter-gatherer society, could have possessed a standard of knowledge so far above ours.
But now it is obvious to everyone, that the quality of architecture, and the precisely arranged rocky megalithic T-shaped andromorphic and zoomorphic slabs, placed in several circular enclosures aligned with various constellations, tell an entirely and an amazingly different story from what has been presented so far to us by the main-stream scholars. What has emerged now is that even if the civilizational level during the Gobekli Tepe times was that of hunter-gatherers, the culture there was advanced and refined, or more likely, was exposed to a more advanced and refined culture and thus had access to a high level of knowledge. In a way, what is seen at Gobekli Tepe is in total contradiction with the theory that societies only evolve once they settle down.
What Gobekli Tepe also tells us is how and when the humans made the transition from a society of hunter-gatherers to that of an agricultural society is irrelevant to the level of knowledge that societies possessed.
This is where the knowledge hidden in the Sanskrit texts also becomes relevant for there are leads and clues everywhere in these texts as to the level of knowledge possed by these societies. One such lead lies in what Carl Sagan, one of the greatest astrophysicists of the 20th century, had observed. He said, "The Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology." In other words, civilizations on earth have been destroyed and restored many times. Each time there was a different cause of destruction, each time it was restored in a different manner. Therefore, the evolution of civilization is neither linear nor continuous, its level determined by the amount of knowledge that survives and is retrieved by the left-over societies after each cataclysm.
As research progresses and information emerges it has begun to appear that Gobekli Tepe is a record in stone of the various cataclysmic events that have taken place on earth, events that brought mankind, and perhaps more advanced civilizations, close to an absolute end more than once. The repeated episodes of destruction on earth which are recorded in Hindu Puranas and other scriptures can throw much light on the purpose of the existence of megalithic structures such as Gobekli Tepe. Excavations have revealed many layers of construction at Gobekli Tepe, and it appears that each one represents one cycle of civilization and its destruction.
Alternative Scholars too have speculated that various layers of construction at Gobekli Tepe represent either one or more, cataclysmic events that mankind or a more advanced species has undergone. The survivors of these catastrophic events recorded their experience and memory of these events, in stone at this site at different times in history.
The Puranas of India tell these stories of antiquity in great details and can be a great tool in decoding the mystery of Gobekli Tepe. According to the Dashaavatara, as mentioned above, life on earth has been destroyed many times and each time rebuilt from remaining knowledge. Hence, for example, the boar carving at Gobekli can be explained by the 'Varaha' (वराह) or 'boar' incarnation of Vishnu, who in his Avatara as the boar saved the world by carrying the earth out of the ocean when Hiranyaksha, the 'golden eyed asura' attempted to destroy the earth.
In another of the slabs we see an engraving of a vulture with a round object in front of him. If this has a Vedic connection, this slab is a representation of Garuda, who according to Garuda Purana, was the king of the birds, a sworn enemy of the serpents as well as a devourer of serpents, sometimes seen carrying Vishnu and Laxmi on his back. There are many sinister representations of snakes at Gobekli Tepe, and its sister site at Karahan Tepe, perhaps indicating that one of the cataclysms was brought about by snake-like creatures.
At other times Garuda the bird is likened with the sun, a representation of the path that we see sun as it travels across the sky. The Britannica says, "In the Rigveda the sun is compared to a bird in its flight across the sky, and an eagle carries the ambrosial soma plant from heaven to earth."
In the Vedas, Garuda is referred to as the wings on which one was transported to the realm of the gods. Sometimes, the word garuda which stems from Sanskrit 'gri' or 'to speak', is interpreted as a reference to mantras that transported one to the realm of the self where our consciousness is seated. It is also likened to the sun bird that carries 'soma' or 'elixir of heaven' to the earth. The round object on the slab is a representation of the sun.
This is where the knowledge hidden in the Sanskrit texts also becomes relevant for there are leads and clues everywhere in these texts as to the level of knowledge possed by these societies. One such lead lies in what Carl Sagan, one of the greatest astrophysicists of the 20th century, had observed. He said, "The Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology." In other words, civilizations on earth have been destroyed and restored many times. Each time there was a different cause of destruction, each time it was restored in a different manner. Therefore, the evolution of civilization is neither linear nor continuous, its level determined by the amount of knowledge that survives and is retrieved by the left-over societies after each cataclysm.
As research progresses and information emerges it has begun to appear that Gobekli Tepe is a record in stone of the various cataclysmic events that have taken place on earth, events that brought mankind, and perhaps more advanced civilizations, close to an absolute end more than once. The repeated episodes of destruction on earth which are recorded in Hindu Puranas and other scriptures can throw much light on the purpose of the existence of megalithic structures such as Gobekli Tepe. Excavations have revealed many layers of construction at Gobekli Tepe, and it appears that each one represents one cycle of civilization and its destruction.
Alternative Scholars too have speculated that various layers of construction at Gobekli Tepe represent either one or more, cataclysmic events that mankind or a more advanced species has undergone. The survivors of these catastrophic events recorded their experience and memory of these events, in stone at this site at different times in history.
The Puranas of India tell these stories of antiquity in great details and can be a great tool in decoding the mystery of Gobekli Tepe. According to the Dashaavatara, as mentioned above, life on earth has been destroyed many times and each time rebuilt from remaining knowledge. Hence, for example, the boar carving at Gobekli can be explained by the 'Varaha' (वराह) or 'boar' incarnation of Vishnu, who in his Avatara as the boar saved the world by carrying the earth out of the ocean when Hiranyaksha, the 'golden eyed asura' attempted to destroy the earth.
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| The Boar carving at Gobekli Tepe |
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The Boar or Varaha Avatara of Vedic
Lord Vishnu when he saves the world by
carrying it out of the Ocean
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The Dashavatara is the story of the ten avataras, the ten primary incarnations of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation, who restores the cosmic order as well as life on earth, after it is destroyed ten different times. Each time one avatara revived civilization on earth. The word Dashavatara derives from daśa, meaning 'ten', and avatara roughly equivalent to 'incarnation'.
So, at Gobekli Tepe, one may look for carving of other avataras. There have been ten, including Matsya (The Fish), Kurma (The Tortoise), Varaha (The Boar), Narasimha (The Man-Lion) Vamana (The Dwarf), Parasurama (The Angry Man), Lord Rama (The Perfect Man), Lord Krishna (The Divine Statesman), Balarama (Krishna's Elder Brother), and Kalki (The Mighty Warrior). As Gobekli Tepe is excavated chances are that representations of these avataras become visible.
In another of the slabs we see an engraving of a vulture with a round object in front of him. If this has a Vedic connection, this slab is a representation of Garuda, who according to Garuda Purana, was the king of the birds, a sworn enemy of the serpents as well as a devourer of serpents, sometimes seen carrying Vishnu and Laxmi on his back. There are many sinister representations of snakes at Gobekli Tepe, and its sister site at Karahan Tepe, perhaps indicating that one of the cataclysms was brought about by snake-like creatures.
At other times Garuda the bird is likened with the sun, a representation of the path that we see sun as it travels across the sky. The Britannica says, "In the Rigveda the sun is compared to a bird in its flight across the sky, and an eagle carries the ambrosial soma plant from heaven to earth."
In the Vedas, Garuda is referred to as the wings on which one was transported to the realm of the gods. Sometimes, the word garuda which stems from Sanskrit 'gri' or 'to speak', is interpreted as a reference to mantras that transported one to the realm of the self where our consciousness is seated. It is also likened to the sun bird that carries 'soma' or 'elixir of heaven' to the earth. The round object on the slab is a representation of the sun.
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| The Garuda with a round object representing Surya or sun |
Says Alex Putney in his write-up 'Resonance at Gobekli Tepe, Turkey', "The highly geometric forms of the megaliths and idealized animal pictograms adorning them correspond closely to geometric language forms of the worldwide Paleo-Sanskrit culture, associated in every region of our planet with monumental piezoelectric temples dedicated to the planet Jupiter. Identified as the Divine One, the giant planet Jupiter was signified all over the world during the Paleolithic Era by the square Indra glyph, reflected in the square or rectangular format of the top portions of the megaliths at Gobekli Tepe."
At Gobekli Tepe, Dr Siddharth adds, ".. in enclosure D there are 12 obelisks or pillars, one for each month. These pillars show the figure of a fox or wolf (Vrika)". The Vrika is a symbol of the moon. The Sanskrit Vrika (वृक्) has the meanings both of 'fox' or 'wolf' and 'moon'. To elaborate this point Dr. Sidharth quotes the Rig Vedic Hymn 1.105.18. which goes as follows:
अरुणो मा सक्र्द वर्कः पथा यन्तं ददर्श हि |
उज्जिहीते निचाय्या तष्टेव पर्ष्ट्यामयी वित्तं मे अस्य रोदसी ||
aruNo mA sakradvRkah patha yantaM dadarsha hi
uj jihIte nicAyya taSTeva prSTyAmayI vittam me asya rodasi
This verse is commonly translated as : 'A ruddy wolf beheld me once, as I was faring on my path. He, like a carpenter whose back is aching crouched and slunk away. Mark this, my woe, ye Earth and Heaven'.
The word 'vRkah' is translated as 'wolf'. But, if one were to refer to a Sanskrit dictionary, we find that the word 'vRkah' has the meaning of wolf and moon both. Sidharth clarifies further. He quotes the scholar Yaska of Nirkuta fame. Yaska had defined the property of the word 'vRkah' saying that it indicates an object whose 'light increases and decreases'. That is a property of the object moon.
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| The wolf carving represents the moon according to the Vedas |
Sidharth splits the next two words as 'masa krita' or 'creator of months' and the meaning of the verse changes to, "Moon, the creator of the months, passes through the houses (asterisms)".
He also says that the motifs on the pillars can be understood on the basis of the symbols of Rig Vedic Astronomy in which animals were assigned as symbols to star constellations. Then there are some easily recognizable symbols found in the artefacts at Gobekli Tepe. One is the artifact of the coiled serpent.
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Coiled serpents.
Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
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| A stele depicting Lord Siva and two coiled serpents, South India |
At Nevali Cori, in Turkey a sculpture of a human head, clean shaven with a Vedic shikha much like Hindu priests of antiquity and present day has lead to speculation that these sites were centres of Vedic learning.
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| Sculpture of clean shaven human head with Vedic shikha or ponytail excavated at Nevali Cori, Turkey, |
It is therefore far more likely that 'Gobekli Tepe' was an observatory and a centre for 'tapah' representing an advanced culture of which some traces survive in that area or the close by civilizations. For this site to have been a structure made by an unheard of group of people, where the shepherds grazed their cattle and buried their dead. In fact ,it is in the modern era that Gobekli Tepe was being used for grazing cattle until excavations
began on the site.
A bit about the name Gobekli Tepe. Surprising the ancient most known Armenian name of Gobekli Tepe is hardly ever mentioned. Then again the name Gobekli Tepe is almost always only translated as 'Potbellied Hill' but there are other interpretations to this name in the Turkish language. The most often presented view is that since the word 'gobek' is 'belly' in Turkish and tepe means mound, hence the name Gobekli Tepe. But Gobekli Tepe was not a hilly mound when it was constructed. The claim that it was intentionally filled with mud after its construction does not make sense because the whole structure was not built at the same time. This view is held out by the fact that the ancient most layer of the construction is the most refined. As one goes to the newer layers, one notices a drop in quality and finesse indicating not only a passage of time but also forgotten knowledge. So if the structure was built at different times at what stage was it filled. Besides the rest of the area around the site is almost the same height as the structure was the surrounding area filled up too. It is obvious that Gobekli Tepe is a name given to this site fairly recently when the entire history was forgotten.
Lets assume for a minute that by some quirk of fate the remnants of its original name are retained in the word 'gobekli', one might then look at some other cognates of the word 'gobekli' in Turkish. We find that there are other interpretations of the word 'gobekli' that do greater justice to the name of this site.
Lets assume for a minute that by some quirk of fate the remnants of its original name are retained in the word 'gobekli', one might then look at some other cognates of the word 'gobekli' in Turkish. We find that there are other interpretations of the word 'gobekli' that do greater justice to the name of this site.
For example, the Turkish words 'gok', 'gokada' and 'gezegen' mean 'sky', 'galaxy' and 'observe' respectively. 'Goc' is ‘migration’ or ‘roaming’. It seems here therefore that the sound 'go' in Turkish has to do with the 'sky', the 'universe' and 'movement'. Just as it is so in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is almost always used as a decoding tool by epigraphists and scientists involved in deciphering ancient languages.
'Go' (गो), for example, has many meanings in Sanskrit including 'sun', 'stars', 'ray of the sun', 'moon', 'earth' and 'thunderbolt'. 'Go' (गो) of course also means 'cow', 'cattle', 'ox' or 'cowherd' and the ‘sun sign Taurus'. ‘Go’ is also related to Goddess Saraswati who is linked to the Cygnus constellation. 'Go' (गो) also means 'migration' or 'transit' or 'to roam'. And all these explain the carvings of the bull (Taurus), and the swan (vehicle of Vedic Goddess Saraswati). All the carvings on the slabs , can be explained as the zoomorphic representations of various nakshatras, or 'lunar mansions' of astronomy or by the Vedic-Puranic characters of India's ancient scriptures.
The word 'tepe' is almost certainly a distortion of 'tapa' (तप), which has the meaning 'sun', 'temperature' or 'heat' in Sanskrit. In the Vedic context 'tapa' signifies 'religious austerity, asceticism and penance and research.' It also means 'meditate' or 'study with devotion'. The word 'tepe' also has the meaning of 'mound' in Sanskrit which appears in its more familiar form as 'stuup' (स्तूप्). With time the word 'stuup' got associated with the stupas - the blunt, mound shaped Buddhist shrines. In Turkish the word for 'temple' is 'tapinak' - certainly derived from the
Sanskrit 'tapa'. But we must drop the interpretation from the angle of religion.
As per its Sanskrit and Turkish meanings, 'Gobekli Tepe' seems most certainly to be an astronomical observatory, or as some have argued, a site at which past events have been carved in stone. Says researcher Gene Matlock, "The ancient Indians and the Nahuatl speaking tribes in the Americas shared the same word for 'Hill or Mountain' - the Sanskrit 'Tapa' (तप्) and the Nahuatl, Tepetl or Tepec". In the Vedic context since all study, penance, austerity and meditations were done on mountains, the word 'tapa' is linked to mediation and mountains both.
And now a note about the Armenian name of this site which is more ancient than its Turkish name. The Armenians know this site as Portasar, however there is no appropriate translation of the name in the Armenian language. Given that one may look at the word from the Sanskritic lens. We find that the Sanskrit translation of this combination word is appropriate in its meaning. A cognate of porta is partas (परतस्) means 'beyond', 'far away', 'distant', 'high above', 'highest degree' and 'farther' etc. Sara' (सर) means 'a lake or a site, and is often a suffix in the names of towns or cities located near a lake or a waterbody. Sanskrit best explains not only this name too, but also reveals the function of this site, it was an observatory. It therefore also explains where the term Gobekli Tepe may have come from. It is a misinterpretation of what it name might once have been after the arrival of the Turks in this area. Perhaps Gozlemevi! Turkish for observatory.
Sanskrit 'tapa'. But we must drop the interpretation from the angle of religion.
As per its Sanskrit and Turkish meanings, 'Gobekli Tepe' seems most certainly to be an astronomical observatory, or as some have argued, a site at which past events have been carved in stone. Says researcher Gene Matlock, "The ancient Indians and the Nahuatl speaking tribes in the Americas shared the same word for 'Hill or Mountain' - the Sanskrit 'Tapa' (तप्) and the Nahuatl, Tepetl or Tepec". In the Vedic context since all study, penance, austerity and meditations were done on mountains, the word 'tapa' is linked to mediation and mountains both.
And now a note about the Armenian name of this site which is more ancient than its Turkish name. The Armenians know this site as Portasar, however there is no appropriate translation of the name in the Armenian language. Given that one may look at the word from the Sanskritic lens. We find that the Sanskrit translation of this combination word is appropriate in its meaning. A cognate of porta is partas (परतस्) means 'beyond', 'far away', 'distant', 'high above', 'highest degree' and 'farther' etc. Sara' (सर) means 'a lake or a site, and is often a suffix in the names of towns or cities located near a lake or a waterbody. Sanskrit best explains not only this name too, but also reveals the function of this site, it was an observatory. It therefore also explains where the term Gobekli Tepe may have come from. It is a misinterpretation of what it name might once have been after the arrival of the Turks in this area. Perhaps Gozlemevi! Turkish for observatory.
Intriguingly, the other Sanskrit cognate of Porta is 'purta' (पूर्त) and means both 'concealed', or 'magnificent' and 'perfected'! Which is what Portasar was. There can be other interpretations too. The greatest sage of astrology in the Vedic literature is Rishi Parashara. He is the author of the most ancient treatise of Vedic astronomy and astrology, the 'Brihat Hora Shastra'. He most certainly wore the shikha that we see sported by the Nevali Cori head artifact. Was the head found at Nevali Cori a representation of Rishi Parashara. Is Portasar a distortion of the name Parashara. We will never know.
Suggested Links:
Suggested Links:
1. For a detailed discussion on the Etymology of the word 'Tepe', Click Here.
2. Was Gobekli Tepe an Observatory? Here's why! Gobekli Tepe Constellations
3. Why Study Sanskrit? Click Here
4. Gobekli Tepe and Nevali Cori - Astronomy
5. Ancient Places in Asia: Nevali Cori
6. About Dr. B. G. Sidharth
7. Gobekli Tepe and its potential connection to the Vedic culture
2. Was Gobekli Tepe an Observatory? Here's why! Gobekli Tepe Constellations
3. Why Study Sanskrit? Click Here
4. Gobekli Tepe and Nevali Cori - Astronomy
5. Ancient Places in Asia: Nevali Cori
6. About Dr. B. G. Sidharth
7. Gobekli Tepe and its potential connection to the Vedic culture
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