The Sanctuary Essay Example for Free

The Sanctuary Essay The author of the publication is Elif Batuman. The article’s title is the Sanctuary published in December 19th to 26th in the year 2011. The origin version title is the Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean. It was about the world’s oldest temple built 11,500 years ago at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. Batuman embarks on a pilgrimage to the Gobelki Tepe temple where she finds much ancient memoirs concerning the way of life of the Neolithic man. She tries to analyse the Neolithic man, but her experience is quite captivating to the reader. The explanations that Batuman offers to regard the different remnants of the Neolithic man are quite convincing. She offers both scientific and biblical explanations for the existence of the evidence as presented by the remnants of the Neolithic man. Batuman has many questions regarding the way of life of the people who lived during the era. In her quest to seek a broader understanding and the way of life and origin of these people; she visits the excavation site where archaeologists are trying hard to unearth the finer details of the Neolithic man existence. There are many artefacts that she finds intriguing and has many questions concerning the animals and human sculptures that exist in the cave. She further tries to gather information from the local residents and raise questions to students and observes every detail and tries to analyse the situation in a logical manner. Batuman feels that these sculptures must surely represent the way of life and the thoughts of the Neolithic man but figures out that the Neolithic man must have had a connection with the Christian biblical origin of man. Batuman further cites many examples about the people from the bible like Adam and Eve, Abraham who are believed to have been among the first generations of mankind on earth. The remnants that are being unearthed from Gobelki Tepe are quite scary to an observer. Snakes, scorpions and other wild animals are naturally dangerous but were part of the creation that the Neolithic man had to contend with. Batuman feels that the men who had their penises exposed were trying to show the importance of children and that they were fertile. Towards the end of the story, Batuman says that Abraham wanted children in order for them to assure him of the continuity of the generation. Batuman tries to convince the reader by providing reasons as to why the Neolithic man became extinct. She feels that there were chances of an occurrence of a natural calamity that wiped out the Neolithic generation. The fact that people lived together with animals could have contributed to a disease outbreak or a natural calamity that wiped out the generation. Batuman further trusts her instincts that she is most likely to be a descendant of the large Neolithic man who is preserved in the museum. This can be somehow convincing to the reader because, sometimes human beings have been proven to have instincts, which guide them to some important discoveries. Elif Batuman tries to relate the Gobelki Tepe temple to the sacred nature of the Neolithic man. The man had a reference for a supreme being who was in control of mankind. The supreme God was recognized for his providence to the people. Among the fundamental things provided were children and food. However, she admits that the sculptures of animals may have been made in order to display a different message altogether. Batuman feels that the hunters should have done some sculptures or paintings in the caves that show hunting scenes. The message that the Neolithic man was trying to put across therefore may need further research in order to try and determine what the real meaning of the sculptures and animals could be.