Göbekli Tepe and Mesopotamian Turkey

Overview

Göbekli Tepe rewrote the human story: hunter-gatherers raised these carved T-shaped pillars 11,500 years ago — more than six millennia before Stonehenge — and the implication that ritual may have preceded agriculture still unsettles archaeology. Standing under the canopy above Enclosure D, foxes and vultures carved crisp on six-tonne stones, is as close to the beginning of 'us' as travel gets. This eight-day route explores Turkey's deep south-east from Şanlıurfa: the city's superb archaeology museum and the sacred carp pools of Balıklıgöl (legendary birthplace of Abraham), the mud-brick beehive houses of Harran, then east to Mardin, a honey-stone town stacked above the Mesopotamian plain, and the working Syriac Orthodox monastery of Deyrulzafaran, where services are still sung in Aramaic. North of Urfa, Mount Nemrut's colossal toppled heads catch the sunrise on their 2,000-year-old summit terrace. Fly to Şanlıurfa via Istanbul and hire a driver-guide; check current FCDO advice, which warns against travel within 10km of the Syrian border — this route stays clear. April–May and September–October avoid the 45°C summer. About £850–£1,100 for eight days, sıra gecesi music dinners included.

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Prefilled for 1 October 2026 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.