Professor Klaus Schmidt, a pioneer of excavations in Göbeklitepe in the eastern Turkish province of Şanlıurfa, died of a heart attack while swimming in Germany at the age of 61. Schmidt had been working at Göbeklitepe for 20 years for the German Archaeology Institute. Through his works, he proved that the Neolithic-age ancient site was the world’s oldest temple. Şanlıurfa Provincial Culture and Tourism Deputy Director Aydın Aslan said they were saddened by his death, adding that Schmidt had a significant role in the promotion of Göbeklitepe. “We are in great shock,” Aslan said.
The archaeological remains in Göbeklitepe, which date back to 10,000 BC and are considered one of the most exciting recent archaeological findings, show that hunters and gatherers of the Stone Age, while struggling to survive and meet their basic needs, also tried to understand nature, believing in superpowers and/or gods and came together to worship. Built thousands of years before previously known temples, Göbeklitepe has changed the way scientists think about the Neolithic Period and the birth of civilization.
Perhaps, Schmidt says, the site was a burial ground or the centre of a death cult, the dead laid out on the hillside among the stylized gods and spirits of the afterlife. If so, Gobekli Tepe's location was no accident. "From here the dead are looking out at the ideal view," Schmidt says as the sun casts long shadows over the half-buried pillars. "They're looking out for a hunter's dream.