Although the works of the past had been important for the Ottomans, who regarded them as heritage, for a long time, the first legal regulation on the subject was Âsâr-ı Atîka Nizamnâmesi, The Regulations of Antiquities, issued in 1869....
moreAlthough the works of the past had been important for the Ottomans, who regarded them as heritage, for a long time, the first legal regulation on the subject was Âsâr-ı Atîka Nizamnâmesi, The Regulations of Antiquities, issued in 1869. The most important code brought by the regulations which were updated several times was to establish the specifications of the excavation permits and to outlaw the transfer of the findings out of the country. Besides, in the regulations were some codes regulating the conservation of immovable antiquities. In this study, the state of the Anatolian Seljuq works in Sivas in the Ottoman Period is introduced through the archive documents and by tracking the traces of contents of these documents on the buildings.
Also featuring matters in the regulations, these documents, consisted of correspondence mainly in the 19th C and the early 20th C, comprise information about the understanding of antiquities in the last era of the Ottoman Empire. In the documents, Çifte Minareli Madrasah, Buriciye Madrasah and the Hospital of Izz ad-Din Kaykuas are mentioned. The record about restoration of the Hospital of Izz ad-Din Kaykuas, dated 1779, also documents that the building’s function was changed. Other records about the building are on the ceramic inscription of Izz ad-Din Kaykuas’ tomb in the hospital; it was removed under the pretext of restoration to be sold and taken out of the country. In the documents, the names of the bureaucrats who were involved in the smuggling and who prevented it were also mentioned. Also in the archive documents were the coverups during the trial and the following investigations. The documents about the Çifte Minareli Madrasah reveal that the whole building except the facade was demolished and a Military Junior High School was built inside the iwan. In the correspondences, what needed to be done to restore the building was mentioned putting an emphasis on its aesthetic value. The Buruciye Madrasah was only mentioned by name in the documents. Another smuggling of antiquities mentioned in the documents was about the 10 tiles, the original building of which was unknown. We learn from the correspondences that Osman Hamdi Bey, the Director of Müze-i Hümayun, today the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, took a personal interest in the matter. The same documents also reveal that part of Sivas Senior High School was turned into a museum. Through the documents we have researched, regardless of them being about restoration or smuggling, it is understood that the most important data revealing the understanding of antiquities in the last era of the Ottomans come from the archive documents. It is obvious that Osman Hamdi Bey, who also singed the discussed documents played the most important part in the development of the understanding of antiquities.
