Abstract:

Traces of the Turkish art started to be seen in Ağrı and its surroundings when the city fell under the domination of the Great Seljukians as a result of the invasions by Sultan Alpaslan in Anatolia in 1064. There is a great number of historical cemeteries of the Turkish-Islamic period within the provincial boundaries that have reached the present day. The historical cemeteries that have reached the present day include; İshak Paşa Palace Cemetery, Eski Bayezid City Cemetery, Ahmed-i Hani Cemetery, Seslitaş Village Cemetery in the district of Doğubayazıt; Taşkın, Köseler and Ziyaret village cemeteries in the district of Patnos; Ocakbaşı, Bintosun village cemeteries in the district of Tutak and the cemeteries in Toprakkale Village in the district of Eski Eleşkirt. The tombstones in these cemeteries date back to the XIII. and XX. centuries, which is a broad period of time. The tombstones that are made of grey, cream, brown and black tufa rocks and marble being collected in the region show a rich variety with their typologies and adornment elements. Sahide and sarcophagus are used in various ways in the tombstones of the region where different and rich forms are used. Apart from these, the tombstones were also encountered as rams, sheep and horses, as well as abstract human statues during the Karakoyunlu-Akkoyunlu period, and turbans and quilted turbans in the Ottoman empire. Adornment elements primarily include tablets comprising of scripts with various characters, as well as geometric and herbal adornments, guns, iconographic stamps and signals, architectural forms comprising of arches and niche, daily objects like oil lamps, chandeliers and pitchers within the broad adornment repertoire of the Turkish art. The tombstones of Seljukian, Karakoyunlu-Akkoyunlu period reflect the traditions of the Seljukian tombstones in the close region of Lake Van Basin in terms of typology and adornment elements. The Ottoman tombstones, on the other hand, reflect the traditions of the classical Ottoman tombstones in terms of adornment and form features here and there.

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