The world’s oldest temple reveals a new secret: The hidden ritual statue at Göbekli Tepe.
This Turkish enclave, considered the oldest temple on the planet, has just revealed a symbolic gesture that forces us to rethink what we know about the earliest organized societies of the Neolithic.
A discovery that connects with the sacred
During the restoration ceremony of the monumental Structure C, in the presence of Princess Akiko of Japan, the statue, found between structures B and D, appeared horizontally embedded in a wall as if it had been offered to the sacred space. The gesture is interpreted as a votive offering, parallel to practices observed at the nearby site of Karahantepe.
Göbekli Tepe as a mirror of transition
The piece is more than an archaeological object: it acts as a lens into the symbolic thinking of the early communities that were transitioning from hunting and gathering to sedentary life. Its discovery adds a chapter to the narrative of how humans began to organize around rites, beliefs, and collective spaces.
Restoration and living legacy
It was presented alongside the completion of the conservation project for Structure C, a building with T-shaped pillars up to six meters high. The intervention included repositioning megaliths in their original location and reinforcing walls with techniques inspired by Neolithic methods, such as mortar with goat hair.
