Anthropomorphic megaliths on the UNESCO-listed Göbekli Tepe archaeological website, a few of which date again to almost 10,000 BCE, are engraved with wild animals – the work of hunter-gatherers on the cusp of an agricultural revolution. It’s a unprecedented place, essentially the most well-known of a constellation of 12 Neolithic sites, collectively generally known as Taş Tepeler, or “Stone Mounds”, unfold throughout the plains and mountains exterior of Şanliurfa.
Start there, and for a deeper dive, rent a automotive for the hour-long detour to Karahan Tepe, a more moderen dig amid the wind-sculpted bushes and low summits of the Tektek Mountains. Walkways thread between its new excavations, which have produced among the most thrilling Neolithic finds in latest reminiscence, together with a pillar with an expressive human face and animal collectible figurines arrayed in what researchers consider is a three-dimensional narrative.
Any go to to Taş Tepeler must be adopted by a visit to the city-centre Şanliurfa Archaeological Museum (Haleplibahçe Mahallesi), whose huge assortment consists of lots of the websites’ best artefacts, spanning snarling animal heads and the plates, and grinding stones of each day Neolithic life. There’s additionally a to-scale recreation of Göbekli Tepe’s Temple D, the place you possibly can settle right into a stone seat to channel humanity’s deep previous amid intricate lions, vultures and foxes.
A quick stroll away is the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum (Haleplibahçe Mahallesi), with its well-preserved Roman-era mosaics of spear-wielding Amazons and different figures of mythology. From there, proceed to close by Balıklıgöl (Balıklı Göl Street), a sacred lake – stuffed with a whole lot of sacred carp – believed to mark the spot the place a miracle saved Abraham from a pyre, turning its flames into water and the blazing logs into fish. Bring just a few cash to purchase a handful of meals pellets, then be a part of the group of pilgrims, locals and vacationers, guaranteeing the holy fish keep perpetually plump.
Take in an evening of music
At any time of day, snatches of tune – the faucet of a darbuka drum, the twang of a long-necked baglama lute – drift by the pale, stone lanes of the previous metropolis. Şanliurfa, which was named a UNESCO City of Music in 2023, lives for marathon periods of music, dance and poetry known as sıra nights, a practice celebrated within the Ibrahim Tatlises Music Museum (136 Harran Kapı Street) named for town’s most famed musician. Though completely in Turkish, it is nonetheless worthwhile for aficionados.