Çukuriçi Höyük
The oldest traces of settlement in Ephesos can be found about 1 km south-east of the Hellenistic-Roman city limits on Çukuriçi Höyük. Human traces on this artificial tell date back to the Neolithic period, i.e. the phase in which humans settled in Anatolia in the 7th millennium BC. The Çukuriçi Höyük quickly developed into a trading hub between the Aegean and Central Anatolia, with valuable raw materials being traded thousands of kilometres away.
Co-Creative Forces?
Across Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent, it was common to find traditions centered on the veneration of the generative forces within the human body. At this 9,000-year-old settlement near Ephesus, similar practices may have taken place, where the reproductive organs were regarded not simply as functional, but as sacred—expressions of the divine itself.
Stating that experts had worked on the figure to determine its history, Topal said: “According to their evaluations, the figure dates back to the seventh century B.C., the Neolithic Age. At the time, the history of the settlement in and around Ephesus dated back to 7,000 B.C. The details on the figure completely have the traces of the Neolithic Age. Elements like breasts and hips on the figure are exaggerated; they were made with an engraving technique. The face is not detailed. Since it was used as an amulet, it has a hole in its neck part.”
Extensive Trade Routes over Land and Seas
The archetypal und archaic Anatolian goddess, Cybele, was revered not only throughout Anatolia but also on the neighboring (modern day) Greek islands.
Evidence of her cult can still be seen today in the cave formations and niches carved into hillsides. Her great gift to humanity is the mystery of rebirth.
Many of these caves symbolize the birth canal and end in womb-like forms. On the island of Samos, for example, one enters the caves as if stepping back into the darkness of the womb—not of a biological mother and father, but of the Great Goddess of eternity.
During our journey through Anatolia, we will visit many such places—caves and rock niches where Cybele was likely venerated long before the appearance and unveiling of the many goddesses who later emerged in human consciousness, in our hearts and in our souls.
