Karahan Tepe: Göbekli Tepe's Sister Site in the Taş Tepeler

How Old Is Karahan Tepe

Wikipedia dates Karahan Tepe to about 9750 BC (built) to about 9400 BC (abandoned), within the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B. Hürriyet Daily News has published wider ranges, from 10,000 to 6,000 BC, and goturkiye uses the 9th millennium BC. The safe reading is around 9500 to 10,000 BC, which puts it in the same era as Göbekli Tepe or slightly earlier. The Taş Tepeler project as a whole describes its subject period as roughly the 10th to 7th millennium BC.

Diet at Karahan Tepe was mainly gazelles and legumes, according to Wikipedia.

The Discovery and the Dig

The sources disagree on the start. Wikipedia credits Bahattin Çelik of Harran University with discovering the site in 1997. Hürriyet Daily News says it was identified in 2017 surveys, with excavation beginning in 2019.

The Şanlıurfa municipality confirms systematic excavations began in 2019, so the 2019 dig start is solid whichever discovery date you take. Klaus Schmidt led Göbekli Tepe until his death in 2014. The Karahan Tepe dig is associated with Necmi Karul.

Only about 5% of the surface had been excavated as of 2023. The site covers almost 10 hectares, plus about 5 hectares of T-pillar quarries, and more than 266 T-shaped pillars had been observed there as of 2000.

The Pillar Room and the Carved Head

The building called AB Structure is carved directly into bedrock and measures 8 by 6 m. The Şanlıurfa municipality counts four phallus-shaped obelisks in its front row and six in the back row, while Archaeology magazine reported 11 pillars and a human-head carving in the same building in a 2021 announcement by Necmi Karul's team. The counting likely differs on whether the carved head is counted as a pillar.

Karul reported the structure as about 11,000 years old and connected to three other structures. Wikipedia notes the site was partly preserved by being filled with dirt and rubble, which protected columns and carvings including a large human face. Four bedrock-carved buildings are labelled AA to AD, and AA has a seating bench with snake and fox depictions.

The Karahan Tepe Statue

The most famous Karahan Tepe statue was found in 2023. Wikipedia and Archaeology magazine give its height as 2.3 m, while the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's 2023 release says 2.45 m, so quote it as about 2.3 to 2.45 m. The figure is a naked man gripping his phallus with both hands, with a V-shaped collar and deep incised lines on the fingers and ribs.

The Ministry describes a seated male fixed to a bench, with emphasised rib, spine and shoulder bones and a vulture sculpture on the front of the bench. A separate vulture statue was found alongside. Nomadic Niko also describes a pit with 10 phallic obelisks and an 11th representing a snake.

In 2025 Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced a T-shaped pillar with a carved human face, dated by Archaeology magazine to some 12,000 years ago, and called the first known Neolithic self-depiction on a T-shaped column.

Protection and the Visitor Centre

A roof canopy covers approximately 5,000 square metres at Karahan Tepe as part of the 'Legacy for the Future' project. A 2026 Dünya report lists the excavation and research house at 2,000 m², a finds depot of 150 m² and a water tank of 35 m², and says the visitor reception centre was planned to enter service within 2026. A Nomadic Niko visit found the visitor centre not operating, so check its status before you go.

Hürriyet Daily News reported a 'systematic tour route', walking paths and information panels for the opening year.

The Sites in the Project

The project's own site lists nine locations: Sayburç, Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Sefertepe, Çakmaktepe, Gürcütepe, Harbetsuvan, Yenimahalle and Söğüt Tarlası. Wikipedia's article counts Göbekli Tepe plus at least eleven others and adds names such as Nevalı Çori, Hamzan Tepe, Taşlı Tepe, Kurt Tepe, Sayburç, Ayanlar Höyük and Çakmaktepe. The Ministry's 2023 release listed 12 sites with research ongoing at nine of them.

The table below compares the ones the sources describe, with the open-to-visitors column reflecting what the facts state.

Comparison of the Taş Tepeler Sites

Open status varies a lot between the sites. Only Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe have established visitor infrastructure in the sources. The others are research locations without a stated visitor route, so treat them as names to watch rather than stops to plan.

Sayburç and Nevalı Çori in Brief

Sayburç is worth knowing because of its relief. It is 3.7 m long, carved into bench backrests in a communal building, and shows five figures: a seated central figure in high relief flanked by leopards, and a squatting figure holding a snake or rattle facing a bull. Eylem Özdoğan published it in Antiquity as the earliest known narrative scene, and a replica is exhibited at the James Simon Gallery in Berlin.

Nevalı Çori was rescue-excavated from 1983 to 1991 by Heidelberg University under Harald Hauptmann, had two free-standing 3 m pillars in its cult complex, and produced a limestone head now held in the Şanlıurfa Museum, where you can also see the original Nevalı Çori Temple. The reservoir now covers the site.

Where It Is and How Far

Karahan Tepe sits at 37°05′33″N 39°18′13″E near Yağmurlu, within the Tek Tek Mountains National Park near the Kargalı neighbourhood. Hürriyet Daily News puts it 46 km from Şanlıurfa city centre. Wikipedia calls it roughly 46 km east of Göbekli Tepe, with a 2019 quote saying around 60 km, and My Turkey Adventure says about 35 km from Göbekli Tepe.

The site-to-site figure depends on road versus straight line, so treat it as roughly 35 to 60 km and plan around the 46 km distance from Şanlıurfa, which both Hürriyet and Wikipedia give.

Getting There on Your Own

Per Nomadic Niko, Karahan Tepe requires your own vehicle or a taxi or private driver from Urfa, because there is no stated public transport to the site. Agree the fare with the driver before setting off. The drive from Şanlıurfa is the sort of trip that fits well with the advice on the Şanlıurfa guide, where you will find the city base for both sites.

The Joint Ticket and Prices

The Ministry's tariff list prices 'Göbekli Tepe ve Karahan Tepe Örenyeri (Taş Tepeler)' at a joint 22 euro for foreign visitors, valid from 1 April, with MüzeKart accepted. Until then, secondary sources differ: Karekod lists Göbekli Tepe at 20 euro for foreigners and a combined Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe and Visualisation Centre ticket at 21 euro, Backpack Moments says 21 EUR for 2026, and Nomadic Niko reported paying 3 euro at Karahan Tepe or entering free with a valid Göbekli Tepe ticket. A fair reading is about 20 to 22 EUR for foreigners covering both sites, and you should check muze.gov.tr before travel.

The Ministry footnote says foreign-visitor prices include the audio guide where the service exists. Note that MüzeKart is valid only for Turkish citizens, so it is not a foreigner pass.

What to Expect on the Ground

You will see bedrock-carved buildings rather than rebuilt walls. The AB Structure is the centrepiece, with its rows of phallic obelisks and the carved human head, and the large carved face that filling with rubble preserved. The site is shaded by a canopy of roughly 5,000 square metres, which helps in a province where summer heat is severe and you should read the current travel advice for the province before you go.

Walking paths and information panels were reported by Hürriyet Daily News for the opening. Expect a smaller visitor setup than Göbekli Tepe: the reception centre was still being completed as of the Dünya report, and one visitor found it closed.

Which Listings Cover Karahan Tepe

The table below lists the tours whose site lists name Karahan Tepe, with the card prices in US dollars per person. Read the Karahan Tepe column carefully: one Şanlıurfa day tour marks the stop as not guaranteed, which means you could finish the day without seeing it. Prices are the catalog prices only, not anything an operator quotes on its own website.

Tour Comparison

The figures come from the tour cards on this site. Flights are included only where the listing says so.

Reading the Inclusions Honestly

Three things trip people up. First, the $145 tour lists Karahan Tepe as not guaranteed, so if the site is your priority, book a listing where it is named as included, such as Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe from Istanbul. Second, the 2-day tours do not all include admission in their inclusions lists: the $2,760 tour names only breakfast, and the $1,659.11 tour leaves admissions out of its inclusions even though the itinerary marks them included.

Third, flights appear only in the Istanbul tours. The Şanlıurfa tours from $145 and the $1,800 three-day trip start in the city, so you arrange your own arrival, as the advice on day trips from Istanbul by plane explains for the flight-based options.