GREAT SeLJUK EMPIRE PERIOD

 Seljuk empire is one of the biggest and the long lasted Turkish empires which included about 10 millions square miles from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Caspian Sea, Arabian peninsula, Asia Minor to Mediterrenean Coasts  in between 10th and 13th centuries A.D. Seljuks were also the pioneeers Turks who conquered Asia Minor later called Anatolia. They came from Kınık arm of Üç Ok tribes. They were the oigins of Oghuz nation and the founder of the empire is Seljuk Beğ so the big empire was noted  for his name. By the end of the 10th centuries A.D., they accepted Islam as the  main faith and they began expanding after the end of the Abbasids. As soon as Baghdad became the capital of the empire, Seljuks have  invited all  enlightened people such as scientists, philasophers, artisans, writers and thinkers to make this city as the enlightment center of Moslem world. They have established the first great univesities of the world, they have created new cities and they have translated all Greek ,Roman and Latin written manuscripts and books into Arabic language. In short they have made a great Turkish-Islamic civilization as a rebirth of Turkish nations.  Seljuk Empire masterpieces are seen as mosques, caravanserails, madrasahs, medical colleges, big complexes as the core of modern university campuses ,  palaces, bath houses, mental hospitals, stone bridges over the rivers and shopping malls called Bazaars in old towns especially in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria today. One of the main remains of the great Seljuks are also the domed shrines and endengared tombstones. Anyone who has a journey from Afghanistan to Turkey on the ancient silk road can see Seljuk sultans’domed shrines  with wonderful tiles and Arabic calligraphy inscribed on. Turkey is so rich that cemeteries, mosques and museums are full of Seljuk gravestones. These endengared tombstones give us a lot of information about Seljuk arts, culture, social events, immigration and so on. Seljuk tombstones have special features that can be seperated from Ottoman gravestones easily. The language of Seljuk gravestones both horizontal sarcophagus named Sandukalı  and  the vertical tombstones named Şahide is Arabic.  Most of the horizontal gravestones and tombs are kept  either in domed shrined as the private buildings  called Kümbet which are visited by Turkish poeple  to give a respect them  or in the museums  as cultural heritage items from the past time to the present. Both types of the Seljuk gravestones  are curved with Arabic inscriptions as Koranic verses. The holy verses from Koran which can be seen on Seljuk gravestones are associated with the existence of Allah, his uniqueness, the inevitability of death and the mortatlity of the universe. The hadiths, the words of prophet Mohammed (peace upon him ) are also seen on the tombstones which give advises  to the Muslims to find the true way in life. Seljuk gravestones  have been carved by stone cutters in Kufic style with the diamond-tipped pens so all of them are considered as Islamic works of art which can be seen some western museums such British, Victorian & Albert museums in Britain and Metropolitan Museum in the United States.

AHLAT GRAVESTONE

Ahlat, the world's largest Muslim cemetery and the first foot set on the land of Asia Minor by the Seljuk Turks, is located  on the shores of lake Van in the province of Bitlis in the south-eastern part of Turkey. Ahlat is about 55kms far away from Bitlis and was founded by Seljuk Turks to be used as the military base for raids through inner parts of Asia Minor which used to be under authority of Byzantines. Ahlat became the Turkish town after the Mankizert battlefield in 1071A.D. so the town is full of Turkish cemeteries for martrys lost in wars whom they were buried in graves and the stones were erected as the oldest Turcoman traditions with written inscriptions on behalf of them.  That is why Ahlat is accepted as the biggest Turkish-Islamic cemetery with more than 8000 endengared Seljuk gravestones and sarcophagus.The tombs and stones in Ahlat are unique and Ahlat cemetery is  accepted as the biggest & the oldest open-air gravestone museum in Turkey today. The mass Ahlat graves and tombstones which reflect  Turkish architecture of medieval ages are  usually located in the old part of the town. About 1000 of them are very large dimensions  in 3.5-4 metres in height and  has beautiful decorations with written inscriptions as rectangular shapes on each side. Each of them is unique and has a private article in meaning not two is similar. Ahlat tombstones are also considered as monuments by the scientists and they are approximately 900 years old written documents in Turkish history. The written documents have been examined in details, the inscriptions read by the experts and  have been translated into Turkish from Arabic. Turkish government has declared  Ahlat as one of the preserved area and has applied to UNESCO taking Ahlat gravestones into the list of Worl Heritage in 1983.

KUMBET

The domed Seljuk grave  is called Kumbet and Turbe also is the grave on which tomb was built with the dome. The domed  or open air tombs of hero & saints  are called Turbe in Islamic faith which  are  commonly visited by everybody. The  Kumbet are formed with three main parts ;  the place where the corpse or mumy was buried in earth  at the bottom, a symbolic sarcophagus  & the altar are located on top of it and the covering in the upper part. Due to rich  burial traditions of Turkish nations which have been done for thousands of years, Kumbet and Turbe have been converted into Islamic form  after Turks accepted the faith in 8-9 th centuries A.D. Turks also have continued to use  mummification tradition with new deleopments in İslam  until 15th century altough  it is forbidden. Kumbets, proven that  Anatolia has been the land of the Turks for centuries, are the ancestral documenting graves with great designs,shapes and architectures and the best examples of reflecting Turkish  burial art in marble and stone. All of the Kumbets and Turbe belonging to Seljuk period are  original & unique in  the world and they can be found in a large geographical locations from great wall of China to Adriatic coasts. Where ever Turks settled down, there must be traces of Kumbets & Turbes. Kumbets & Turbes are also called as Turkish tent form  in architecture by using brick, stone and marble. The main bodies of Kumbet & Turbe is made in circular or polygonal and the base is made in square shape. When switching from polygonal to square shape, triangle or  prismatic shapes are used as well.  Kumbet & Turbe has a pyramidal or cone-shaped  like funnel. They are in two floors and the ladder is used to go in downstair. The main grave is below where the mummified body was buried in earth.  The upper part has a symbolic sarcophagus that is called   “ Sanduka “ by the İslam believers.

SARCOPHAGUS

Sarcophagus, made from wood, marble, tile or stone  covers of graves, is an Arabic word that means box or chets where the coffins were buried in. It is mentioned in the holy book of Koran which Moses was put in to send to his mother by using the river Nile so it has been considered as the holy container for thousands of years. The sarcophagus was first used to bury prophet Josep’s corpse made from marble and it was buried on the bank of river Nile in Egypt and that sarcophagus was discovered by Moses later and it was unearthed and taken to Damascus. The first sarcophaguses were made from stone or wood depending on the wealth of the death and were used in the reign of Abbasids in moslem world. Sarcopgahus in burial tradition became widespread  during the reign of Seljuk empire in the places of  Khorasan, Iran, Afghanistan in 11 th century AD and it was practised by all islamic states later. Sarcopgahus  used not only the cemeteries and graveyards but also used in domed shrines-kumbets,  cemeteries and graveyards. Seljuk sarcophagus have  two standing stones ; one as the headstones and the other as the footstone. Different metarials were used to make the sarcophagus and the main ones were ; marble, cut stone, limestone and wood. The written inscriptions which gave the information about the grave were Arabic and they were carved on the grave by stone etchers by great adroitly. The workmanship on the sarcophagus were excellent carvings either made on the wood or stone floor. The interior part of the sarcophagus were emptied and the corpse was buried in the soil. The verses from holy Koran and  the wise words of prophet Mohammed-Hadits (peace be upon him ) were widely used as both warnings and advices to the visitors who come to kumbets, graveyards and cemeteries to obey the Islamic principles and not to break the community rules so Seljuk sarcophagus made an important role for centuries to discipline the moslems.