Due to carbon dating, an ancient ruin in southeast Turkey, called Edessa by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Gobekli Tepe by the Turks (which translates as “hill with potbelly”), is now believed to support a revolutionary theory about what part religion has played in the history of man.

Long thought to be a Byzantine ruin, Gobekli Tepe has been revered by Christians because it is believed to contain such historical goodies as the cave where Abraham was born and the site where God transformed Nimrod’s fire into water and coals into fish. It is also believed to contain the cave where Job suffered his boils. Some say it was in use by Jesus – for it showcases a handkerchief that he is said to have given to a leprosy sufferer, King Abgar V.

Despite these impressive – if imaginative – qualifications, the ruin’s true significance was not recognized until the 1990s, when radioactive dating revealed it to be thousands of years older than monotheism itself. It predates Abraham by 3,000 years, the Great Pyramid of Egypt between 6,000 and 7,000 and Jesus himself by 9,000 or so. Gobekli was created 1,000 years before cuneiform, the earliest known form of writing, yet it contains sophisticated bas-relief representational carvings. After a dozen years of excavation, the exposed area contains more than 60 T-shaped megaliths (pillars) decorated with bas-relief engravings of humans and animals.

The primary use of this place is not really known, but it is assumed to be religious. If this conclusion is correct, this “hill with a belly” offers a new look at the function of religion in the development of man.

The term Paleolithic was coined by archeologist V. Gordon Childe to represent a somewhat inexact period of time between the period when man existed as a hunter-gatherer and when he adopted agriculture, a development that in turn permitted organized societies. Only in a society in which there is some division of labor can there be people who have free time; only food storage can provide orators the leisure to prepare a Sunday sermon, to hang out at the local pub – or even to campaign for office. Consequently, deep thinkers have long theorized that religion did not develop until after the Paleolithic; there were no Sunday offerings until agriculture permitted organized society enough time to study the stars, to reflect on the “who” and the “why” – and to create the first church.

And there’s the surprise: This place indicates considerable community effort well before seeds were planted and crops were stored. There are many animal bones in fire pits, including aurochs, prehistoric cattle weighing up to 2,000 pounds – which must have provided a sizeable barbecue. Some scholars feel that the inhabitants had parties. How about a 10,000-year-old celebration of the winter solstice? Or a Republican presidential caucus?

The carved figures depict no game animals, only dangerous beasts such as scorpions, snakes, wolves and leopards. One has a necklace with a bull’s head ornament, suggesting an individual name such as “Sitting Bull” or Sen. “Bull-Poop.” Claus Schmidt, an archeologist who has spent much of his life at the site (moving to nearby Urfa with his family) feels that Gobekli justifies a theory of another deep thinker, Jacques Cauvin, who proposed that religion predated and encouraged man’s shift to agriculture – rather than agriculture coming first. Building this edifice would have required a division of labor and skills only possible in an organized society – and Gobekli was built before agriculture existed. Hence, the implication of Gobekli that religion inspired man to develop organized society.

Which was, depending on your viewpoint, either good or bad.

Devil’s Dictionary ?quote of the week

Religion: A convenient way of avoiding independent thought, a means of feeling superior to others, a cult which has achieved sufficient membership and economic clout as to merit social acceptance.

Rodney Quinn lives in Westbrook. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com.