Bull and aurochs carvings at Göbekli Tepe and Sayburç

Göbekli Tepe · pillar · CHECKED 2026-10-22

Pillar 2

Enclosure A · PPNA, Layer III

Record sources: Göbekli Tepe – The first 20 Years of Research Göbekli Tepe: The Imagery of the Pillars in the Monumental Buildings A–D, F and H

Pillar 2

No licensed photograph of this object is in the image register.

Depiction in cited source: A bull is named among the animal reliefs. Göbekli Tepe: The Imagery of the Pillars in the Monumental Buildings A–D, F and H 2025

Interpretations recorded for this object

Scholarly debate

The reliefs are part of the repeated animal imagery on the enclosure pillars; their precise symbolic meanings are unknown.

By Excavation publications · Göbekli Tepe: The Imagery of the Pillars in the Monumental Buildings A–D, F and H Göbekli Tepe – The first 20 Years of Research

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Sayburç · relief · CHECKED 2026-10-22

Sayburç relief panel

Communal building, wall bench · PPNA, 9th millennium BC

Record sources: Sayburç: a new Neolithic site in southeastern Turkey Sayburç relief published as earliest known narrative scene

Rectangular trenches, low stone walls and upright stone blocks at the Sayburç excavation. — Sayburç relief panel: Excavated area at the Neolithic site of Sayburç.Photo: Frantisek Trampota, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Depiction in cited source: A crouching human faces an animal identified as a bull or aurochs. Sayburç relief published as earliest known narrative scene 2022

Identification note: The source uses both bull and aurochs descriptions.

Interpretations recorded for this object

Scholarly debate

The panel is interpreted as a narrative scene, while its story and the relation among figures remain open to interpretation.

By Özdöl Kutlu et al. · Sayburç: a new Neolithic site in southeastern Turkey Sayburç relief published as earliest known narrative scene

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Related glossary term

Aurochs motif — The aurochs was a wild bovine, now extinct. Carvings of large wild cattle occur at Göbekli Tepe and Sayburç; labels describe the depicted animal rather than a known symbolic code.

Sources: Göbekli Tepe: The Imagery of the Pillars in the Monumental Buildings A–D, F and H The Sayburç reliefs: a narrative scene from the Neolithic Relationality, Immanence, Hierarchy: The Nature and Culture of Being(s) at Göbekli Tepe

Sites in these records

Related Field Log

2022-12-08 · Sayburç relief published in Antiquity as the earliest known narrative scene

Sources

Source wording is attached to individual records above. The register includes sources used for depiction evidence and attributed interpretations.

Göbekli Tepe: The Imagery of the Pillars in the Monumental Buildings A–D, F and HGerman Archaeological Institute / Reichert Verlag · 2025 · scholarly-monograph · retrieved 2026-10-22
Sayburç relief published as earliest known narrative sceneTepe Telegrams, DAI · 2022 · excavator · retrieved 2026-10-22
Göbekli Tepe – The first 20 Years of ResearchGerman Archaeological Institute · 2016 · excavator · retrieved 2026-10-22
Sayburç: a new Neolithic site in southeastern TurkeyÖzdöl Kutlu et al., Antiquity · 2023 · peer-reviewed · retrieved 2026-10-22
The Sayburç reliefs: a narrative scene from the NeolithicEylem Özdoğan, Antiquity 96(390), 2022 · 2022 · peer-reviewed · retrieved 2026-10-22
Relationality, Immanence, Hierarchy: The Nature and Culture of Being(s) at Göbekli TepeE. D. Yurttaş, Cambridge Archaeological Journal · 2025 · peer-reviewed · retrieved 2026-10-22

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