Carved Stone Age Turtle Reveals Ancient Middle East Religion

Archaeologists working in the Manot Cave system in Galilee have found a mysterious carving deep within the darkness. The sculpture, apparently of a tortoise or turtle, is extremely unusual.

For one, it is incredibly old, a Paleolithic relic thought to date back 35,000 years. Perhaps even more intriguingly, we do not know whose god this was.

There is conclusive evidence that the cave system was used by early man, but also by our close relatives the Neanderthals. Either species could in theory have carved this turtle, which means that it is possible we are looking at a Neanderthal deity.

The find, published in PNAS, details the carving. The geometric design which looks like a turtle’s shell is carved from a single dolomite boulder. Omry Barzilai, head of the team that are studying the find, believes it to be ceremonial: “It may have represented a totem or spiritual figure.”

In fact the find is part of a larger realization about Manot Cave. Researchers had previously thought that our ancient ancestors only used the area near to the cave mouth, relying on natural light and seeing the cave as a practical shelter: we have seen evidence here of butchered animal bones and knapped flint edges.

But the carving was found in a gallery deep within the system. No natural light penetrates this far, but this part of the cave seems to have been converted into some kind of ritual space, hidden and secret.

The gallery in which the turtle was found has been arranged around this carving, which is placed in a niche at the heart of this chamber. The area is also clearly separate from the living areas close to the cave’s mouth: this was a sacred place in the depths of the cave.

Wood ash found in the gallery confirms that this area would have been lit by flickering fire. The shape of the chamber containing the turtle also has a high, vaulted roof, suggesting it may have been chosen in part for its acoustics. What howls of Stone Age religion echoed off these walls?

Tiny scratches on the turtle’s surface show that flints were used in its carving, and the researchers have also ruled out the possibility that the carving may have ended up here by accident. The turtle is too heavy, and in any case is positioned carefully with its uncarved reverse up against the rock wall.

Why a turtle? This will, unfortunately, have to remain a mystery for now but turtles appear regularly across multiple religions. Perhaps the most prominent is the World Turtle of Hindu mythology, a giant creature carrying the world on its back as it floats through the void.

So we don’t yet know the why, or even the who, but we can say one thing for certain. This turtle represents evidence of the first religion in the Levant, tens of thousands of years before the events of the Bible. Whoever worshipped in this secret cave, they were the first.