ŞAHİDE-SELJUK GRAVESTONES

Seljuk vertical gravestones are known as  Şahide-witness-are divided into two ; headstone and footstone. Both of them were made from different metarials and the headstone generally has written inscriptions which give detailed information about the death in grave and the footstone has either symbols or no shapes on. In some cases both stones  had the written inscriptions. The Şahide gravestones were made stones or marble depending on the person’s wealth and the marble quarries. For example ; rich Seljuk people had the marble gravestones with written ephitaphs and beautiful carvings  as the cover of the tomb and poor people had cut stones. Seljuk high officials  used to have marble gravestones made in Karaman and ordinary inhabitants used to have Sille gravestones made from local cut stones.  Seljuk gravestones also has the some floral patterns especially on the footstones and majority of the female gravestones have the floral patterns & symbols reflecting the feelings of the ladies and showing the elegance of Seljuk art. Some high officials and rich merchants also ordered to be made the gravestones with floral patterns on their footstones. Male Seljuk gravestones did not have any headgears excepts scholars and sufis buried in dome shrines called Kumbets or Turbe. Ruling and judging class people used to have headgears on their headstones but at the end of the Anatolian Seljuk periods they began making  gravestones with headgears in order to Show his profession or his status in the soceity. Unfortunately most of the Seljuk gravestones have been lost and disappeared for some reasons and  a few thousands of them are on display both in open air museums  such as Ahlat and Gevaş cemeteries in the east part of Turkey and the rest of them are exhibited in museums today. Konya has the most Seljuk gravestones all over Turkey and Mevlana-Karatay-İnce Minare and Sırçalı museums have a few hundred Selçuk gravestones to protect in better conditions. All of the Seljuk gravestones have written inscriptions in Arabic from Koranic verses and hadits from prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon him ).