The Göbekli Tepe Experience Area, established as part of TEKNOFEST Southeastern Türkiye in Şanlıurfa, gives visitors the opportunity to explore approximately 12,000 years of history in three minutes.
The area at GAP Airport, where the festival events are being held, brings history and technology together through Göbekli Tepe. Built around 360-degree screens and a stone monument, the experience focuses on the question, "Where did it all begin?"
A journey through technology from the past to the future
Visitors examine the development of technologies from the past to the present, including defense industry technologies. The experience traces the connection between tools developed in ancient periods and modern technologies, as well as the transformation leading to the technologies of the future.
Alper Aslan, the coordinator of the experience area, said they aimed to build a bridge between the past and the future. Aslan said a TEKNOFEST aircraft is positioned in the center of the screen stretching from the past to the future and that developments in defense industry technologies are presented in approximately three minutes.
İlanur Yaşar, one of the festival visitors, said she was impressed by the experience area. Yaşar said that while visiting Göbekli Tepe in person, she associated it with history and saw the combination of this heritage with technology and civilization in the area.
The archaeological history of Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe is located approximately 18 kilometers north of Şanlıurfa city center. The site first attracted attention during fieldwork conducted by researchers from Istanbul and Chicago universities in 1963.
The archaeological site's importance became more apparent after a statue was discovered in the area during agricultural work in 1986. Excavations have continued since 1995 through cooperation between the Şanlıurfa Museum and the German Archaeological Institute.
Excavations uncovered large T-shaped stone pillars dating to the Neolithic Age. The pillars, which range from 3 to 6 meters in height and weigh between 40 and 60 tons, feature reliefs of wild animals.
The work also revealed circular and rectangular structures ranging from 8 to 30 meters in diameter. Alongside these structures, considered some of the oldest religious buildings discovered in the world, researchers found a 65-centimeter-tall human statue dating back approximately 12,000 years.
Göbekli Tepe was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 2, 2018. Following the completion of conservation and improvement work, the site officially opened to visitors at a ceremony attended by Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 8, 2019.
Festival organizers
TEKNOFEST Southeastern Türkiye is organized by Türkiye's Ministry of Industry and Technology, the T3 organization, and the Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Company.
