The Holy Mound: Göbekli Tepe and the Archaeological Origins of Eden

The Holy Mound: Göbekli Tepe and the Archaeological Origins of Eden presents a revolutionary reinterpretation of humanity's oldest temple. This scholarly yet accessible work argues that the 11,600-year-old site in southeastern Turkey preserves the historical kernel behind the Sumerian Duku and biblical Eden traditions. Drawing on archaeological evidence, Sumerian texts, and biblical scholarship, the book traces how cultural memory transmitted across six millennia through geographic continuity, ritual practice, and symbolic vocabulary.

The work challenges conventional narratives by demonstrating that sophisticated religious architecture preceded agriculture rather than following it, suggesting that organized religion catalyzed the Neolithic Revolution. Chapters examine the T-shaped pillars as ancestral beings, the handbag motifs linking Göbekli Tepe to later Mesopotamian iconography, the skull cult and excarnation practices, and the deliberate burial that transformed the functioning temple into the mythological "holy mound." The book engages seriously with scholarly debates while critiquing pseudoarchaeological theories, ultimately arguing that Göbekli Tepe reveals humans as ritual beings before agricultural beings, driven by the fundamental need to create sacred centers and tell origin stories.