An Unknown Grave and Gravestones Belonging To the Turkish Era in the City of Mardin

Abstract

Architectural works belonging to the Turkish era, particularly those of the Artuklu and Akkoyunlu periods, built in the city of Mardin - which is one of the most important centers of Southeastern Anatolia - play an important role in the historical texture of the city. Compared to these architectural products, the tradition of making gravestones appears as an artistic branch with a considerably weaker representation capacity. Nearly all of the gravestones included in the original structure of the city of Mardin belong to the late Ottoman period, and no example of an earlier period has yet been revealed. The sarcophaguses and gravestones analyzed in the scope of this study attract attention since they fall out of the scope of the general characteristics of the late Ottoman Period in terms of the materials, the form and adornment styles used. The exact date of these gravestones is not known yet but they have characteristics which are thought to date back to the pre-Ottoman period. They are of great importance and value as they are unique works that may have been built at the end of the Artuklu Period or the beginning of the Akkoyunlu period (end of the 14th, beginning of the 15th century).