Do these mysterious stones mark the site of the Garden of Eden?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now \u2013 I do not think that this is \u201cthe Garden of Eden\u201d (although perhaps some here will disagree) but the archaeological finds stretching into our distant past do shape how we think of ourselves as a people, as a species. This construction predates human settlement \u2013 dating from a period of hunters and gatherers.\u00a0 Yet these people, our ancestors, constructed a truly remarkable place, many of the carvings and representations are astounding. It is hard to fathom the thought processes that led to this construction.<\/p>\n
![\"Gobelki](\"https:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/Gobelki%202.JPG\")
<\/span><\/p>\n\nFrom the Smithsonian article:<\/strong> \u201cThere\u2019s more time between Gobekli Tepe and the Sumerian clay tablets [etched in 3300 B.C.] than from Sumer to today,\u201d says Gary Rollefson, an archaeologist at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, who is familiar with Schmidt\u2019s work. \u201cTrying to pick out symbolism from prehistoric context is an exercise in futility.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nOne of the things that this site may indicate is that the coordinated effort of humans gathering to construct such a site may have laid the groundwork for farming, settlement, and the development of complex societies. This contrasts with the standard paradigm that settlement led to construction of such monuments.<\/p>\n
Gobekli Tepe is one of the most impressive finds, but not the only indication of ancient human cultures. The Clovis culture of North and Central America dates to roughly the same time frame (ca.<\/em> 12000 +\/- 1000 years ago).\u00a0 An article a couple of years ago in Science (Science 23 February 2007: Vol. 315. no. 5815, p. 1122) established dates of ca. 11,050 to 10,800 14<\/sup>C yr B.P. suggesting that this was not the first culture established in the Americas. Mankind had spread around the globe by the time the Gobekli Tepe temple was built. (14<\/sup>C yr is a carbon-14 dating year. There is a calibration between this and the calendar year \u2013 but the calibrations all suggest that the carbon-14 year is slightly longer than the calendar year.)<\/p>\nHow do we fit this information into our interpretation of scripture?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nDo we let scripture define how we interpret these finds (can\u2019t be so old\u2026 14<\/sup>C dating is flawed\u2026the tower of Babel after all is later than Noah only a few thousand years BC)?<\/p>\nDo we let our new found knowledge dictate our interpretation of scripture \u2013 the stories of Genesis are merely etiological creation stories similar to the myths of superstitious cultures around the world?<\/p>\n
Or is the relationship more nuanced (as many of us believe)?\u00a0 If so how?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Michael Kruse brought these articles to my attention earlier this week. An ancient temple at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey revolutionizes thinking about ancient human culture and thought. A prehistoric construction, a \u201ctemple\u201d dating from some 8000-12000 years ago.\u00a0 This is truly an impressive find.\u00a0 The Smithsonian artice on the find is fascinating: Gobekli Tepe: The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,480],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-science-and-faith"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Gobelki](\"https:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/Gobelki%201.JPG\")
<\/span><\/p>\n