{"id":3492,"date":"2017-04-10T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T14:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tepetelegrams.wordpress.com\/?p=3492"},"modified":"2019-02-19T11:46:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T10:46:49","slug":"just-dont-call-it-the-garden-of-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/2017\/04\/10\/just-dont-call-it-the-garden-of-eden\/","title":{"rendered":"Just don’t call it the Garden of Eden …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sensations are\u00a0making stories. And archaeology-stories apparently are\u00a0no exception to this rule. That’s why even the most interesting\u00a0sites and finds often are further dramatised and\u00a0spiced up in public discourse. Somehow ‘interesting’ isn’t\u00a0satisfying enough to everybody.<\/p>\n

The early Neolithic site of G\u00f6bekli Tepe has it all: far reaching implications about prehistoric hunter-gatherer social group structures, the beginning of our very own modern sedentary lifestyle, and (some of the)\u00a0oldest yet known monumental architecture ever built. However, this still doesn’t seem to be enough. People love a good mystery and apparently social structures of early hunters are\u00a0(noted\u00a0without any complaint here) not exactly enigmatic enough to be entertaining.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

The mound of G\u00f6bekli Tepe. view from south. (Photo: Klaus Schmidt, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 2006 German magazine DER SPIEGEL came up with a cover story on the G\u00f6bekli Tepe excavations (“Die Suche nach dem Garten Eden. Arch\u00e4ologen auf den Spuren des biblischen Paradieses”<\/em> [external link<\/a>]), suggesting it was the (pre-)historical basis for the Biblical narrative about the ‘Garden of Eden’. Ever since this story multiplied and was picked up\u00a0then\u00a0and again, actually emphasising the great interest in our research on one hand, but also the pitfalls\u00a0of all too simplifying\u00a0analogies on the other. Only recently\u00a0Discovery’s Science Channel (which features, among others, a segment about our research at G\u00f6bekli Tepe) was digging up the story again (excuse the pun) for an episode of\u00a0“What on Earth”<\/em> called\u00a0“Gateway to Eden”<\/em>\u00a0[external link<\/a>].<\/p>\n

To be honest, it’s not even hard to actually see where this fascination is coming from. A\u00a0mythical garden, ‘paradise’ par excellence, is quite an archetypical narrative and a metaphor deeply rooted in our collective\u00a0memory. The story of that ‘Garden of Eden’ seems to have great\u00a0potential to fuel our\u00a0imagination. Yet actually looking beyond that metaphor for a real place and location would mean to somehow misconceive the whole narrative’s elucidating\u00a0intention.<\/p>\n

Since there are a number of peculiar elements brought up repeatedly in support of an assumed link between the G\u00f6bekli Tepe findings and the Eden myth,\u00a0it seems worth the time having a closer look into and a short evaluation of these arguments in the course of this blog post.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

The landscape surrounding G\u00f6bekli Tepe. (Photo: Nico Becker, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The topographical situation of this idyllic garden delivered in the Old Testament\u00a0(which, as probably most people would agree, is not exactly and specifically a proper historical source) tells of a river flowing from Eden, dividing into four streams: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates (Genesis 2, 10-14). While the latter two are well-known toponyms in the region to this day, the other two however don’t really fit into the picture, somehow raising the suspicion they might be as figuratively as the mythical gold-land of Havilah through which the Pishon is said to wind. Besides, there are no water sources at G\u00f6bekli Tepe at all (actually one of the arguments against an ideal settlement situation, cf. this discussion<\/a>). G\u00f6bekli Tepe hardly ever was a flourishing garden in the literal sense.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Pillar 30 in Enclosure D depicting snakes. (Photo: Klaus Schmidt, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

“But what about the snakes?” is an argument often put forward in favour of\u00a0the Eden narrative. Yes, there are depictions of snakes at G\u00f6bekli Tepe. A lot, actually<\/a>. Quite a lot. It almost is a snake pit rather than the single seducer trying to sell forbidden fruits. And what about all those other animal reliefs<\/a>? There are spiders and scorpions, foxes and vultures, cranes, ducks, and boars. And more. In numbers certainly equalling those of \u00a0snake reliefs. So, this sole focus on the serpent seems a bit unfair towards the other animals. Are we going to ignore all these many additional animals (and few human depictions) \u00a0– or how do these fit into the story?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Plaquette with depiction of a snake, a human (?) and a bird (Photo: Irmgard Wagner, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another small find produced by the G\u00f6bekli Tepe excavations, a so-called plaquette, is also often referred to as a\u00a0clue in the ‘Garden of Eden’ line of argument. The small stone tablet is showing three carved symbols among\u00a0which some recognise\u00a0a\u00a0snake and\u00a0a\u00a0tree (and we all can see where this would be heading). However, with a view to the recent discussion\u00a0of the ambiguity of prehistoric art and the challenge to properly ‘read’ (let alone understand) it\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0this particular find seems\u00a0a weak advocate. Upon closer inspection of G\u00f6bekli Tepe’s iconography<\/a> and its analogies from\u00a0other sites, it becomes much more likely that the ‘tree’ actually might depict a person and the third object to its right may be understood as a bird – somehow changing the whole narrative of this object quite a bit.<\/p>\n

Returning to that recent “What on Earth”<\/em> episode, one could find the idea attractive that the remarkable pair of central pillars in each enclosure somehow could be interpreted as a mythical couple (even without the all too obvious ‘Adam and Eve’ analogy), some male and female ancestor. The show seems to suggest this, prominently quoting myself in this context. But – and this is the important point here, I \u00a0would like to make (and actually made in\u00a0“What on Earth”<\/em>, which somehow may have got lost on the cutting floor) – there are\u00a0convincing\u00a0leads showing that this is not<\/em> the most favourable interpretation. The fact that both central pillars of Enclosure D are shown wearing belts and loincloths, for instance, seems\u00a0to hint at two male individuals here – in analogy to\u00a0contemporary clay figurines.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Belt and loincloth at one of the central pillars of Enclosure D underline the anthropomorphic appearance of the T-shaped pillars. (Photo: Nico Becker, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Projecting a much younger and much later mythology onto archaeological material predating it for millennia leaves any secure grounds for substantial conclusions.\u00a0Linking the early Neolithic, 10th millennium BC, structures of G\u00f6bekli Tepe with a narrative written down not earlier\u00a0then\u00a0the 11th or 10th century BC (thus about 9,000 years later – after these enclosures were long abandoned and backfilled) would seem more than just a bit far-fetched.<\/p>\n

As we already noted in our\u00a0FAQ<\/a>\u00a0here:<\/p>\n

\n

“We disagree wholeheartedly with any parallels drawn between G\u00f6bekli Tepe and the \u2018Garden of Eden\u2019, for which there is absolutely no archaeological evidence. Certainly, G\u00f6bekli Tepe lies in a chain of hills north of the Harran plain, the scene of numerous biblical narratives, though this is where any associations with the Bible end. Anything more is pure conjecture.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Or, as Klaus Schmidt once put it in an interview [external link<\/a>]:
\n“Just don’t call it the Garden of Eden.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sensations are\u00a0making stories. And archaeology-stories apparently are\u00a0no exception to this rule. That’s why even the most interesting\u00a0sites and finds often are further dramatised and\u00a0spiced up in public discourse. Somehow ‘interesting’ isn’t\u00a0satisfying enough to everybody. The early Neolithic site of G\u00f6bekli Tepe has it all: far reaching implications about prehistoric hunter-gatherer social group structures, the beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6247964,292,72587,116,668],"class_list":["post-3492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-garden-eden","tag-media","tag-rebuttal","tag-religion","tag-research","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3492"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7350,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3492\/revisions\/7350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}