The Gravestone Inscriptions Signed by The Calligraphers in The Cemetery of Merkez Efendi Complex in Istanbul

Abstract

The Cemetery (Hazire) of Merkez Efendi Complex has been developed around the dervish lodge and the tomb of Sheikh Müslihiddin Musa (d. 1552) which is one of the important pilgrimage places in Istanbul. Based on the existing tombstones, it is thought that the burial was started in the middle of XVIIIth century and it was intense in Ottoman and Republican Period. Therefore half of the graves in cemetery belong to the Republican Period. Although it began to develop as a cemetery of the dervish lodge, the people from different professions, classes and the strata of the community were buried here. The development of cemetery was influenced by the fact that Merkez Efendi Lodge (Tekke) was the second important center for the Khalwati Sünbili Order after Sünbül Efendi Lodge in Istanbul during Ottoman period. Additionally, the burial of Kenan Rıfai (d.1950) and his followers here during the Republican period was enabled the development of cemetery to continue. Thus a large cemetary with two hundred twenty four gravestones was formed. The stones in the cemetery can be subject of many kinds of researches but our study focuses on the inscriptions of gravestones which were signed by the calligraphers. Twenty six inscriptions of gravestones which carry the signatures of eleven calligraphers have been identified. Some signatures belong to Sâmi [Efendi], Mahmud Cemâleddin, Emin [Efendi], Sûud, Halim [Özyazıcı], Hâmid [Aytaç], Aydın [Yüksel], Kemal [Batanay] and Nuri [Efendi]. By examining all the gravestones inscriptions which were signed by a calligrapher from the perspective of art history and art of calligraphy, the importance of the cemetery of Merkez Efendi will be tried to be determined.