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The Pillars of Gobekli Tepe.

Clifford C. Richey January 2013

It might be helpful to read: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85335148/Native-American-Written-Sign-Language when reading this paper as it explains the use of Form, Imagery, Gesture signs, Stance, allusion and position as used in composing glyphs.

Illustration 1: Xux Ik, The Wasp Star, Venus Glyph from Tortuguero Monument 6 This paper is based on previous papers that identify and define the signs found here. It is also based on the premise that there existed an very ancient form of depicted sign language that was used to maintain the cosmology of the cultures using this system of composition. Illustration 1 has two major Form Sections. The Form on the readers left is in the rough shape of a Bee or Wasp. This sign was based on a metaphor made with Bees and Wasps as the sign for warriors who defend their hive or community. The sign on the reader's right appears to be in the rough Form of a female which was used to depict a concept of the female-earth. Starting on the reader's left we take the largest Imagery which is that of a (two toned tan) Face (his appearance) looking directly toward the reader. The Face can be further broken down into a Profile Face (the lighter tan) with the Stance of looking toward the Right or, west. The Profile Face's Nose an allusion to the dual orifices or holes makes the V shaped sign for an opening, positional, on the side of the earth-female's body. The Eye and on the reader's left is part of a (dark tan) Tadpole (a transformer) shaped creature. The Form of the Tadpole was based on the Curved sign for arising. The Eye refers to a Sun based metaphor. The Sun was seen as a great-spirit and Venus was often called the Wasp-star or the warrior-star. Metaphorically, Venus was called among, other things, the Wolf-star or the spy-star, and the scout-star. As the scout for the Sun it was also called the eye of the Sun. The Jaw and Mouth wraps around the Circular sign for a hill (based on the metaphorical Breast of the earth-female). The Mouth as mentioned above refers to a water-source and in the Imagery of the Full Face it is the hill sign that was positioned over where a Mouth would normally be present. Thus, the water-source, on the hill. This refers to springs that are often found on hillsides. We now come to a very important part (in terms of sign language composition and for understanding this Mayan glyph). The Vertical Line that stems from the Circular, hill, sign.

Illustration 3: The Wasp, The Warrior, His face Illustration 2: The Man, The Male, The One

In Illustration 2 we see the gesture sign1 for man or male. Aside from showing us how the gesture sign was positioned in relation to the face and the allusion to the Nose and its orifices this sign tells us that it is the man's spirit that is at the spring site on the hillside. This phase of the cosmology was based on the water cycle. Upon a warrior's death his spirit plunged into the underworld and became part of the earth. Because the earth was conceived as female in nature the spirit of the deceased became a female-spirit. As a female-spirit it followed the flow or currents of the subterranean streams and was referred to as a female-water-spirit. Eventually the water current (depicted in associative imagery as a Serpent) arose to the earth's surface at a spring site or pool of water. As the spirit of the deceased warrior rose toward the surface it transformed (the Tadpole metaphor) back into a male spirit. The spirit then awaits the Sun to evaporate the water and take the male-spirit up to the arc of the sky and the abode of the other ancestors among the stars. The rationale for the Two faces of the Wasp or warrior was related to the two faces of Venus in the east and west. In gesture signing the Left hand indicated the east while the Right hand indicated, the west The Face of the Wasp/warrior was positioned below the (green) Double Lined cave sign. The cave sign was a metaphor for, the womb of the earth-female.

1 Tomkins, William Indian Sign Language Dover Publications, Inc. New York. 1969. pp38-39.

Illustration 4: Color Code Continued The interior of the cave is Egg shaped which may indicate the unborn within the womb. On the roof of the cave (the surface of the earth) the Shepherd's Crook shaped sign means, bring or take and being Double Lined indicates unseen. The upside down U shaped sign means, turning on the surface. As mentioned earlier the (yellow) Form on the right was a rough approximation of the female figure. In this case the figure of the earth-female. The Body of the earth was composed of Double Lines meaning hidden or unseen. What is important in this section is the (green T shaped sign in the center it was composed of a horizontal-place sign and a vertical-place sign. The T form itself means, beneath the surface. Once one includes the place signs the meaning becomes one of a surface-place and a place of depth. The (light blue) Horizontal Half Circle indicates the upper-half or the upper world while the (light gray) Horizontal Half Circle indicates the under side or the underworld. The top of the T thus indicates the middle world or the surface of the earth. The Head or the Face of the earth-female (her appearance) is that of a Large Mouth (a great mouth of the earth) which, of course is the water source, the hillside spring. For cosmological purposes this area then becomes a center of the earth. Within the Mouth, the water source we note the two locational Circles that also mean, the two which are positionally joined together or united as one. The Curved Line that underlies the Circles is the sign for, held as in a bowl (of water). Thus the spirit of the deceased warrior lies within the pool at the spring site. Now that we understand the cycle of the afterlife, as described by the Maya, we can focus on the T shape of the Pillars found at Gobekli Tepe2. This archaeological site was built around 11,600 years ago in what is now known as Turkey. The head of the Gobekli Tepe excavations, archaeologist Professor Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeology Institutes has stated, ... the T-shaped pillars are stylized human beings, an idea bolstered by the carved arms that angle from the "shoulders" of some pillars, hands reaching toward their loincloth-draped bellies. The stones face the center of the circleas at 'a meeting or dance,' Schmidt saysa representation, perhaps, of a religious ritual.... This is partially correct as we have seen that many sign language compositions were based on Body
2 National Geographic February 2013. See http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text

templates but we have also seen that not all such templates were based on human bodies. As we have seen in the above Mayan glyph the Body of a Bee or Wasp was used as was that of the Body of the earth-female. The templates appear to have been used as a means of establishing an underlying organization to the compositions. More importantly we have seen how the T shaped sign was conceived as a center of the cosmological world often related to spring sites.

Illustration 5: Color Coded Signs on a T Shaped Pillar

In Illustration 5 we see that Arm and Hand sign that has been defined in several previous papers and the signs for a warrior and a steward of the Sun, a Sun-priest. In ancient Peru warriors were often called, rays of the Sun, the Sun being at once the sun in the sky (viewed as a powerful spirit) and the title of Inca leaders. The T shaped pillar was metaphorically viewed as the Body of the earth-female. We can see this in the (red) Triangle that was the sign for the earth-female. The Right Leaning angle made by where the Arm and the Triangle meet indicated, waiting. positionally, on the edge, the side of the earth. This was followed by a (green) Vertical Rectangle indicating, a vertical-place, a place of height and depth. Next we see the Hand (the steward) and its (tan) Fingers. The Fingers are horizontal-place signs in a vertical series or levels. This stack of levels bears a Count of Five which indicates the center. We have seen that such counts were a kind of shorthand with the number two indicating the plural, the number three indicating the many, and the number four indicating the four directions or everywhere.

Illustration 6: Color Codes Continued The sign for a ray of the Sun was that of a Knife (often in th shape of a Knife called the Tumi knife). See the Inset of a gold Tumi Knife from the Moche culture of Peru. The (orange) Knife was positioned on the side of the (green) vertical-place sign. The meaning was that the warrior, the ray of the sun was on the side of the earth. Next we find Two (yellow) U shaped turning signs these were position as on their sides and aligned with the Two Vertical Rectangles (vertical-places) signs that were connected or joined together. The two, in the east and west, on the sides,of the vertical-places (the eastern and western sides of the earth). The overall Form of this message is quite similar to the overall Form of the Moche Knife and its handle. We note that the Moche Knife was made of gold, the color of the Sun. At this point we should recall that the Eye in the Mayan glyph was a metaphor for the Eye of the Sun, Venus.

Illustration 7: The Great One, The Great Eye

We now will look at the Large, stone, Circle found at Gobekli Tepe. At the corners of its internal space we can see how the rock was cut to make the indentations found at the corners of the human eye. Thus the Space within the circle Formed an Eye. The Large Circle itself was the sign for (relative size, the great number, one) and the internal Space also very Large (the great, eye), The great one, the great eye of the Sun, Venus. Given the rather technical or mechanistic approach to the ancient cosmology as seen in previous papers it is suspected that this Stone Eye was positioned in such a manner that Venus at it highest point in the sky would steadily form the Pupil of the Eye. This event might well have alerted the people to a cosmological event such as the resurrection of the warrior-priest. The animal imagery found on the pillars of Gobekli Tepe is associational imagery as found in the Bee/Wasp imagery of the Mayan glyph presented above. Both the Maya and the Moche cultures used Fox imagery as the sign for a wonder and in the sense of something akin to a miracle. The Fox imagery found on the pillars announced the miracle of resurrection.

Illustration 9: Gesture Sign for Arising

Illustration 8: The Fox, The Wonder The Form of the Fox is a Curved line indicating arising. This is repeated in the Form of the Body which was composed of a (tan) Finger pointing the direction upward. At the Finger's base is the (blue) sign for a male-spirit (based on the Form of the glans penis).The Tail, possibly indicating the past tense, points downward below. The Four Arms and Legs of the Fox, positioned, above and below, indicated the four directions or everywhere. They also represent the Arms, the warriors and the Hands, the stewards of the Sun. The Legs of the Fox are made up of multiple V shaped opening signs. These signs were positioned on the sides of the Body. The Face of the Fox, his appearance, seems to be a (brown) Human Foot indicating a walk or a journey. Within it is the Eye (Venus). The Mouth is of course, the water-source, Lower Jaw is a Finger pointing the direction, here, on the side. Roughly the translation of the Fox glyph would be something like:

The Arising, the wonder From below The great arising Of The male-spirit, on the side, His appearance, Here at, The water-source, The journey, of the Eye, Venus. Above and Below The warriors, the stewards, Everywhere, At the openings,

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