About Catal Huyuk

6150 B.C.E. Anatolia

In the Shrine of the Vulture

Uncovered in 1961 by the British archaeologist James Mellaart, Catal Huyuk is a Neolithic settlement in Anatolia which some date to as early as 8000 B.C.E.

It is a city of honeycombed rooms and courtyards; a self contained unit with interconnecting walls. There were no doors between units. With the use of ladders, the people of Catal Huyuk entered their dwellings through the roofs.

They were agriculturalists and horticulturalists who also engaged in extensive trade. Obsidian from a nearby volcano offered them wealth.

Within these mudbrick enclosures, wall paintings abound. Each year, when the residents repainted and replastered they also covered or repainted many giant wall murals, which so clearly served a ritual purpose. The society lasted for almost one thousand years, carrying over continuous themes and images throughout that span.

Women were held in high regard and occupied high position. Everywhere is the presence of a female deity in Her many shapes and forms. Of the 139 rooms uncovered by Mellaart, 40 of them were shrines. Spirituality was central.

The striking absence of violent death in the remains of the people of this community, combined with an absence of depictions of violence in their artwork leaves us to wonder.

In Catal Huyuk was uncovered a shrine whose walls were painted with giant vultures with wide, spreading wings and hand like beaks. Between them are headless human bodies lying in the fetal position. Here, as in many early cultures, a process of excarnation was carried out upon death whereby the physical body would be left out for decomposition by the sun and local scavengers such as vultures. When the bones were clean and bleached white by the sun, they would then be given proper burial.

To the ancients, death was a passage; a transition. The vulture was the Goddess who could actually transmute flesh. She had chosen priestesses to assist Her in this task.

Sources:

Mellaart, James, Catal Huyuk, A Neolithic Town in Anatolia, McGraw-Hill, NY, 1967.

Gimbutas, Marija, The Civilization of the Goddess, HarperCollins, NY 1991.