Abstract:

Siverek, which is within the borders of the Southeastern Anatolia Region, is located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia, the oldest settlement in the world. The city, which joined the Islamic lands in the time of Umar I, the second caliph, has many artifacts belonging to the states that dominated the region from that time to the present day. Among these artifacts are tombstones and stamps, which are historical documents, and they occupy an important place in Turkish Art. Tombstones reflect the style of the period with their various forms, motifs, and local features. Stamps that stood for the modern logos were used as a symbolic sign on tombstones, architectural structures, and ornaments as well as stones, rocks, trees, animals, and portable cultural assets such as pots, pans, seals, amulets, weapons, armors, clothes, carpets, and rugs in Turkish culture since the First Ages. In this study, the featured tombstones and stamps on them are discussed, among examined in surface explorations on the cemeteries, mosques, and tombs in Siverek and nearby villages carried out in 2021 within the scope of the Islamic period explorations. In this context, the tombstones found in the cemetery on Çermik road, in Asri Cemetery, Abdal Ağa and Gülabi Bey Mosque cemeteries, and village cemeteries of Gaziköy, Karpuzcu, Karabahçe, Turna, and Keş were examined in terms of form, typology, period, material, technique, ornament, language, stamp, and font type. Furthermore, their place in the Turkish tombstones, and the symbolic meaning and value of the stamps were determined by comparing them with similar ones in and outside the region.

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