New Statues and New Discoveries at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe (9600 B.C.) and Karahan Tepe (9400 B.C.) are once again in the spotlight after a series of surprising new discoveries in southeastern Turkey. Located just 37 km southeast of Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe is part of the Tash Tepela (Stone Hill) project. Excavations began in 2019, but the site has been known to archaeologists since 1997.
Karahan Tepe has the oldest winter solstice placement ever recorded and occupies a larger area than Göbekli Tepe. However, in September 2023, two remarkable statues unique to the site were discovered in a new enclosure at the top of the hill.
One is a statue of Callahan Tepe, the world’s oldest example of a realistic depiction of a human being. It was found 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 meters) tall, broken in two, with the upper part lying on the floor. The legs appear to have been found in situ and were originally placed sitting upright on a bench.
The statue of Callahan Tepe is characterized by a strong, wide “V-neck” motif, with raised square projections carved between the ribs and arms descending from both sides to support the phallic surround. This is similar in style to the 10,300 year old Ulfa (or Barkgor statue), which is similar to the Sabulçi panel.
World’s Oldest Human Statue Found at Callahan Tepe
The history of Karahan Tepe dates back 11,400 years, making the discovery of this human statue the oldest ever found on earth. The difference between Urfa and Callahan Tepe is the eyes. The eyes of the statue of Callahan Tepe are clearly sculpted, while the eyes of the statue of Barukul Ger are black obsidian.
Another difference between the two statues is that the statue of Urfan appears to be bald, while Callahan Tepe has a prominent beard and hairstyle. In addition, the tops of the ears on the Callahan Tepe statue are shaved, raising interesting questions about the hairline and mohawk-like shape found on various statues of Gobekli Tepe.
Speaking of the Callahan Tepe statue, who is depicted and why is he so tall? The statue of Callahan Tepe is 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 meters) tall, while the Ulufa man is only 5 feet 9 inches (1.8 meters). Is this statue, therefore, an early giant statue? Is this the first ever detailed human statue of the Anunnaki of Sumerian lore, or of the watchers in the Book of Enoch?
The New Enclosure of Callahan Tepe
When Andrew Collins, J.J. Ainsworth, and I visited the site in September 2023, we were given permission to see the partially excavated enclosure and were stunned by the sight.
Embedded in the north wall was a stone with a huge circular hole between two large T-shaped columns. Immediately below and slightly to the right was a statue of a vulture, and immediately to the right was a human figure originally placed on a stone bench.
The carved stone slabs were placed on the floor in front of these Callahan Tepe statues. The vultures had prominent beaks and wings that curled around their fronts. All of these seemed to indicate important spaces within the enclosure.
What surprised us was that the enclosure appeared to face about 20 degrees east of north from the location of the porthole stone, which Andrew Collins and Rodney Hale are currently analyzing for the direction of Deneb and Cygnus. This is particularly noteworthy since the vulture motif is associated with this constellation (vultures are also depicted on Pillar 43 of Göbekli Tepe). Collins states:
New Statues and New Discoveries at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe
The exact calculations were done on site using Google Earth and Stellarium. What this shows is that at the time the enclosure was constructed, the stars of Cygnus, especially the bright star Deneb, were in position to rise in the northern opening of the dark rift in the Milky Way marked by Deneb.” A vulture was found standing in the enclosure, underscoring the connection to Cygnus. This is because among the Neolithic peoples of the Pre-Earth Age and later the Anatolian Earthen Age, the bird was the ultimate symbol of birth, death, and rebirth. Furthermore, the star of the constellation Cygnus in the Near East was recognized as the vulture. This still persists in Armenian star lore today, with Cygnus being the vulture. Armenians once lived in this region of southeastern Anatolia”.
As I approached the edge of the excavation area and looked down, I saw two huge T-shaped columns that would have been in the center. We spoke to several archaeologists who said that this enclosure may have been larger than Structure AD (the main enclosure excavated), which was about 75 feet (23 meters) wide.
Symbols of fertility
The symbolism of the giant figures is very similar to another site at Tash Tepela, the Seybuluh panel, west of Shanlıurfa. The strong motif of male fertility, the V-shaped neck and ribs are remarkably similar.
This suggests that male fertility was a theme of the Tash Tepela culture, along with the male figure at Urfa and other male figures with phalluses. This theme may also be related to the construction AB (pillar shrine) at Callahan Tepe. The ten pillars carved into the bedrock have a pronounced phallic shape and may be an early form of the “Shiva lingam” of the Vedic tradition.
New Statues and New Discoveries at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe
Recent Finds at Göbekli Tepe
On the same day, it was also announced that a boar statue was found in enclosure D at Göbekli Tepe. Excavations and site cleanup have been conducted at Göbekli Tepe over the past several months, but as at Callahan Tepe, only a small portion of the site has been excavated.
The boar statue and carving are located just below the porthole stone in enclosure D. The boar is painted in white, red, and black paint, and a snake, snake head, and the letter “H” are embossed in relief on a horizontal panel that appears to be part of a stone bench directly below it.
The boar statue and carving are located just below the porthole stone in enclosure D. The boar is painted in white, red, and black paint, and the snake, snake head, and the letter “H” are embossed in relief on a horizontal panel that appears to be part of the stone bench directly below it.
Anadolu Agency quotes Professor Necmi Kalu, head of the excavation at Gobekli Tepe, as saying, “The statues are not the same, but they are different:
The difference between these statues is that they are painted. That is, the tongues and hair layers are painted in their original colors. This is what makes this piece different”.
Another porthole stone from enclosure D was also excavated. This appears to be carved into a fallen T-shaped column placed horizontally on the wall.
This government project aims to reveal a vast and sophisticated culture that is believed to have begun some 12,000 years ago, long before any civilization was thought to exist.
With the discovery of the precise winter solstice placement, and now this startling new discovery, evidence is accumulating to suggest that the world’s first super-civilization existed nearly 7,000 years before Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt.
He will be speaking at the Conference on Age Differences and Ancient Knowledge (CPAK) in the United States on October 20-22, 2023, and at the Origins Conference in Wiltshire, England on November 4, 2023, where he will introduce this book. He is also planning a tour to southeastern Turkey.
Source: New Statues and New Discoveries at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe
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New Statues and New Discoveries at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe