When I was in elementary school, I remember learning about the great buildings that man has built. When learning about this topic, the teacher would often talk about the Roman Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, and of course, the Great Pyramids of Egypt. From all the buildings that we studied, I remember being so impressed by the Pyramids because of their size and age.
The Pyramids are over 130 meters tall and thought to be around 4,000 years old, or so.
For me, it is just amazing to think that around 4,000 years ago, people had the knowledge and technology to build such amazing structure.
Until recently, I thought that the Pyramids in Egypt were the oldest structures that any human had every built. That was until I read about Gobekli Tepe.
Gobekli Tepe is a site in the country of Turkey. Buried under a large hill, many different structures and buildings have been found and slowly dug up.
Although not as impressive as the Pyramids of Giza, the structures are very similar to the Stonehenge in England. Large pieces of stone, some weighing over 40 tons are stacked on top of each other to create buildings and structures over a wide area.
The most interesting about Gobekli Tepe is that these structures are dated to be around 11,000 years old. To put that into perspective, these structures were made shortly after the last Great Ice Age (氷河時代)
Until recently, scientists didn't know that people had the knowledge or resources available to organize and create such large structures so long ago.
I'm so amazed by the knowledge that people had 11,000 years ago. They were able to build something that I can't build now.
I think this is a great example of what humans can really do if we try our best and decide to finish what we start.
Here are a few links to some major websites talking about Gobekli Tepe:
National Geographic
The Smithsonian
