General History

About Turkey GENERAL HISTORY Paleolithic Age ( 600.000 – 8000 B.C)  In this first civilization age, mankind began to take progress and had been overlapped by the Glacier Period. During this long period which nearly exceeds half million years, the mankind had not started the production process yet and they are at the primitive stage feeding by the natural sources, sheltering in the caves and tree trunks and construct primitive hunting tools from the natural stones. It is possible to find the traces of the Glacier Period in Anatolia. The Karain, Beldibi and Belbaşı Caves, which are located in the vicinity of Antalya, were used by mankind during the end of this period (BC 20.000 – 8000). Some of the remnants and ancient works discovered in Karain, Beldibi and Belbaşı Caves are displayed in the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum and Karain Museum. Neolithic Age ( 8000 – 5000 B.C)  Although mankind has learned to start fire and began to reach the physical capacities of their descendants 40 thousand years ago, they had attained the status which could be called civilized only twelve thousand years ago after the beginning of the foundation of the permanent settlements. The fact of permanent settlements had granted mankind the possibility of storing properties and provisions. Numerous small settlements founded in this age were discovered and brought into light at numerous locations around the world. The two most advanced settlements among these small settlements were the Hacılar and Çatalhöyük settlements located in Central Anatolia, in the neighborhood of Konya Province. In Çatalhöyük settlement, mankind was accommodating in adobe huts whose walls were decorated by illustrations and colorfully embossed designs in BC 7th and 6th thousands and adorn their rooms with colorful vases and miniatures constructed from cooked soil. The majority of the miniatures resembled a naked female goddess, the mother earth.. The stonemasons and other various professionals were using tools made of obsidian, and the farmers had cultivated wheat, barley and lentil at the crop fields plough by oxen. The businessmen owned seals made from the cooked soil and the women had owned mirrors made of polished obsidian.  The meal of the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük settlement was not only composed of bread, vegetables and fruits, but also goat and sheep meat was present. Domesticated and trained dogs protected their houses. An exploding volcano was depicted on one the walls of a house, and this volcano was probably Hasan Mountain. This illustration is the most ancient landscape painting known in the history of art and is exhibited with the other above mentioned foundlings in Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum. The museum also hosts one of the rooms founded in Çatalhöyük, which is exhibited at the original state and is known as “cult room”.  Calcolithic Age (5000 – 3000 B.C)  The Calcolithic Age, which is also known as mine – Stone Age, Anatolia encounters a standstill period. Although beautiful ceramic samples are produced in this two thousand-year period, Anatolia had fallen behind in development when compared with the civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia.  Bronze Age (3000 – 2000 B.C)  In this age period, bronze products obtained from the composition of copper, zinc and tin have been produced and the civilization in Anatolia begin to improve again respective to the previous age. The Troia I settlement is the brightest and most advanced center of the early Bronze Age (3000 – 2500 B.C) in Anatolia; but as the discovery of writing in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Anatolia is accepted to be still behind the civilization advances.  The development in Anatolia accelerates again in the Intermediate Bronze Age (2500 – 2000 B.C) after a standstill period which reaches nearly 2500 years. Although writing is not still in use, the Hatti Civilization founded in Central and Southeast Anatolia and the Troia II settlement in Northwest Anatolia are among the exceptional civilizations in the scope of the world civilizations.  HATTI CIVILIZATION (2500 – 2000 B.C)  The remnants of the Hatti language, which we encounter in the texts of Hittite Civilization, has its own special structure and do not display any similarity with other language used at the very same age period.  Although the Hatti Civilization displays the effects of Mesopotamia culture and civilizations, they represent a strong originality in the fields of art and especially physical culture. The effects of Hatti Civilization had influenced Anatolia for approximately two thousand years which had demonstrated major riches in religion, tradition, mythology and art. Therefore, Anatolia was called as the land of Hatti by the neighboring civilizations reigning between BC 2500 – 700 years. Again because of the same fact, the Hittites originated from Indo – Europe had mentioned Anatolia as The land of Hatti in their written sources during their history. The meaning of Cheta in the Old Testament was understood to be the folk accommodating in Anatolia after the discovery and study of the Boğazköy tablets in the beginning of the century.  The Hatti Civilization was composed of small governmental states. These minor kings also bear the high priest title and assisted the creation of very original works of art in their states. The samples of these works of art were discovered in the region located in the curve of Kızılırmak River like Alacahöyük, Horoztepe and Mahmatlar and resembled gods in the shape of animals; the bulls depict god of storm, the deer depict his wife, the goddess Vurushemu and the banners of the kings represent the Universium. This universe symbol which generally stands at the tip of the horns of two oxen is the source of the folk tale “the world stands at the tips of the horns of an ox, and if the ox shakes his head, earthquake happens” which is still told in the villages.  TROIA II SETTLEMENT (2500 – 2000 B.C)  The second major culture center of the Intermediate Bronze Age in Anatolia is the above-mentioned Troia II settlement located in the borders of Çanakkale. Schliemann executed the first excavation in Troia and he had accidentally discovered a treasure composed of golden household objects and various jewelry, which he named as the Treasure of Priamos. This unique and wonderful treasure was taken to the Berlin Museum but unfortunately this unique treasure was lost forever in the World War II. Today, only a small but very important part of this famous treasure remained in the Istanbul Museum. However, only beautiful galvanize copies of the lost golden bowls are present in the museum.  Although H. Schliemann had greatly ruined and damaged the city of Troia II at the excavation studies, today the entrance ramp, the city walls and some sections of the large megarons are still standing at the excavation site.  THE PERIOD OF HATTI – HITTITE CITY STATES (2000 – 1750 B.C)  The Hittites have reached Anatolia among Caucasia by the end of 3000 B.C during the great migration of the Indo – Europe nations travelling towards the warmer countries from the Northern Europe. But this migration of the Hittite tribes had occurred in the way of infiltration more than invasion. The Hatti city-states were dominating Anatolia Region during the period of the first quarter of BC second thousand while the Indo – European originated city-states begin to be founded suddenly. The number of the Hittite cities states begin to increase and by the 1750 B.Cthe Hittites invaded Anatolia totally and founded the Hittite State.  HITTITE STATE (1750 – 1200 B.C)  As mentioned above, the Indo – Europe originated Hittite tribes had entered Anatolia about 2000 B.C years had founded their first kingdom near 1750 B.C and in the mids of 2000 B.C , they have founded The Great Hittite Kingdom (Hittite Empire).  The Hittites founded one of the greatest states of Near East in 15th and 14th Centuries B.C. In 13th Century B.C, they share the dominance of the world with Egypt.  In 1875 B.C, there was a great battle between Hittites and Egyptians at Kadesh, where the King of Hittites Muvattalli had used 3500 chariots which was the most powerful strike weapon of the age and defeated the rival army. The text of the treaty which is written in the Hittite Language signed between Hattuşili IV and Rhamsesis II is exhibited in the Istanbul Archeological Museum. This document is the first political treaty signed between the two major states in the history of the world.  The pin writing was in use in the city of Kanesh (Kültepe in the vicinity of Kayseri) in 18th century B.C, which was one of the first settlement centers of Hittites. The Hittite civilization also used hieroglyphics (painted language), which was their invention for the understanding of the common folk. Therefore, the historic age in Anatolia had started with Hittites initially, 1000 years after Egypt and Mesopotamia.  We have mentioned above in the Hatti section that the Hittites had mentioned Anatolia as “the Land of Hatti” like Mesopotamians and the Chetans stated in the Old Testament have been originated from the Hatti language. During the decryption of the Hittite language, the philologists had accidentally named this Indo – Europe originated nation as Hittites instead of Nesi because they encounter the name Hatti frequently and they are also inspired from the Old Testament. The Hittites are called “Hititler” in Turkish, “die Hethister” in German, “Les Hitites” in French and ” Gli ititi ” in Italian. In Turkish, the Hittites were used to be called with the word “Eti”.  The Hittites were influenced from the Hatti civilization in all aspects of the culture and civilization. Their religion, mythology, tradition, costoms and in all fields of culture and art were influenced from Hatti and they have obtained the names of gods, rivers and cities from Hatti civilization. For example, the name of the Hittite capital Hattuşa is originally from Hatti language and is derived from Hattuş. Hattuşili, which is the name of the 4 major kings of Hittites are originated from the same root.  Although being majorly influenced from the cultures of Hatti and Mesopotamia civilizations, the Hittite culture displays interesting characteristics. The temples display original properties and the city walls are unique in the world with the characteristic of possibility to counter attack the enemy while protecting the defense position. Although the figurative art of the Hittites display the influence of Mesopotamian culture from the iconographic view, they have created an original and interesting style.  The Hittite State was the only state in Near East in which the women had important social rights and the human rights were under the protection of the laws.  HURRI CIVILIZATION  This civilization was founded nearly in the same period with the Hittites in the Eastern Anatolia Region and is reigned by a royal Indian family. Mitannis used the language of Hurri. This language forms a unique language group and is used by the Urartus (900 – 600 B.C) which are encountered in the first period of 13th century. The Hittites were majorly effected by the Hurri civilization in the 13th century.  Troia VI Civilization (1800 – 1275 B.C )  A kingdom had founded and developed the advanced Troia VI Civilization in Çanakkale, which was in the same period with the Great Hittite Kingdom. The nation forming this civilization was relatives of Mykens, and the settlement was the city of Illion stated in the epic of Ilias by Homer. The city walls and the megarons of the Troia VI was well preserved and forms one of the most valuable place of visit of Turkey. The important ceramic remnants discovered in the excavations of Troia are exhibited in Istanbul Archeological Museum.  “THE AEGEAN MIGRATION” AND THE INVASION OF ANATOLIA BY BALKAN NATIONS (1200 B.C)  As a result of the “Aegean Migration” occurred in 1200 B.C, the Indo – European nations from Balkans had primarily destroyed Troia VI and later Hattuşa and caused the removal of this two original cultured states from history. After 1200 B.C, because of the destruction of the two advanced civilizations, the usage of writing had ceased existence and Anatolia had regionally retreated to the poorly cultured level for 300 – 400 years. The hand made rude ceramic works discovered in the Troia 7b1 section and the Buckelceramic obtained from the Troia 7b 2 section belong to the above mentioned Balkan nations and are exhibited in Istanbul Archeological Museum.  At the first period of the 1000 B.C, in the Iron Age (1200 – 700 B.C), Anatolia peninsula was under the reign of various sized city states of various nations as is was in the first quarter of 2000 B.C. The Southeast Anatolia and some regions of Syria was dominated by Late Hittites, Eastern Anatolia was under the dominance of Urartus who are the continuance of Hurri state, Central Anatolia was under the dominance of Phrygia, Lydians and The Southwestern Anatolia was under the dominance of Karians and Lykians.  LATE HITTITE CITY STATES (1200 – 700 B.C)  The late Hittites have settled in Southeast Anatolia and North Syria of the present day and had majorly continued the Anatolian Hittite culture. The Late Hittites were influenced from the Babylonians, Assurians, Arabians and Phoenician in time and had especially played an important role in the development of the young Hellenistic art in the 8th and 7th Centuries.  URARTU CIVILIZATION (900 – 600 B.C)  The Urartu Civilization was founded in the regions of Van Region of the Eastern Anatolia, Iran and Russia of the present day. The language spoken in the Urartu civilization was a dialect of Hurri language, which was different than the languages of Sami, Indo – Europe and Hatti language. The Urartus had expanded their kingdom to the shores of Syria in 8th century for a short period and they had advanced mining and metalworking techniques. The bronze works of Urartus were found in the provinces of Phrygia and Etrüsk civilizations.  PHRYGIAN CIVILIZATION (750 – 300 B.C)  The Phrygians are one of the Balkan originated nations entering Anatolia after the destruction of Troia VI. But they had firstly appeared as a political community after 750 B.C and had reached to the level of a strong kingdom dominating Central and Southeast Anatolia in the period of Midas (725 – 675 B.C). Phrygians had become a nation of Anatolia in a respectively short period and had been majorly influenced from the late Hittite and Hellenistic cultures, but they were able to develop an original culture understanding. The metal and wood works and the textile products were used as models in the Hellenistic world. The Phrygians are the inspiration source of Hellens in the field of music.  LYDIAN CIVILIZATION (700 – 300 B.C)  The language of the Lydians is originated from the Indo – Europe origin but displays the elements of the native Anatolian languages before 2000 B.C . Although they had occasionally conquered the Ion provinces in 7th century B.C, they were majorly influenced from the Hellenistic culture. But their structure skills had been approved and used by the Hellenistic culture.  KARIAN & LYKIAN CIVILIZATIONS (700 – 300 B.C)  The Karian and Lykians display similar language properties with the Lydians and speak a dialect originated from the Indo – Europe origin but displays the elements of the native Anatolian languages. We have very limited information about Karians. Besides, the wonderful and beautiful stone tombs of Lykians standing in the Southwest Anatolia Region are among the breath taking monuments of Turkey.  ION CIVILIZATION (1050 – 300 B.C)  As former İzmir excavation exposes, the Ion provinces are founded around 1050 B.C. Ions had formed primitive agricultural communities for 300 years, in the second half of the 8th century, the Ion nation began to develop with the influence of Egypt, Phoenicia, Assur and Hittite centers and lived their most advanced period between 650 – 545 B.C.  The major importance of the Ion civilization in the history of the world is that the primary rising of the free intellect and free scientific researches were experienced in the cities founded by Ion civilization. Especially the philosophers from the city of Miletos had researched the nature and the natural events in a manner freed from the religious rules and superstitious beliefs of the period. The nature philosopher Thales, whose father was Karian Hexamies and mother was Helen and thinkers like Anaximondros and Anaximenes had laid the first foundations of the positive sciences like philosophy, mathematics, geometry and astronomy based on the information they had gathered from Egypt and Mesopotamia with a new free attitude. Thales, who had visited Egypt and Mesopotamia, had calculated the date of a nature event, the eclipse of the sun in May 28,585 B.C for the very first time in the world depending on the information he had gathered from the countries he had visited. This scientific determination was the first step: the developments occurred in the Islam world by Arabs, Persians and Turks between 9th and 12th centuries A.D and that had been the first Renaissance movement. This was the first step of the scientific researches that leaded to the conquest of moon by mankind founded in the Renaissance age in Europe and later in the l9th and 20th century.  The Ionia was also the most important center of poetry and art fields in the world at that age. The Arthemis Temple in Ephesos with the dimensions of 55 x 110 meters had been totally constructed from marble for the first time in the world and the Ion architecture structure had been carried to Athens and had survived until the beginning of the 20th century as an architectural structure which Europe and America found pleasure in repetition of the style.  The beautiful and well preserved ruins of the Ion architecture are standing in ancient cities of Bergama, Sardis, Ephesos, Priene, Miletos, Didyma, Aphrodisiacs and Aizanoi. The statues of the Ion art are under preservation in the Turkish Museum. Although the Ion vase artistry is at the second place when compared to the creations of Greek culture, they are unique with their lovely humor style.  THE PERSIAN DOMINANCE (545 – 383 B.C)  Anatolia was under the dominance of Persia until the invasion of Anatolia by Alexander the Great in 6th century and the defeat of Dara in 333 at Issos. After the total invasion of Anatolia by Persians, the leadership of the Ion civilization in the world had ended. However as some of the Persian governors acted like independent kings, worldwide art works were created especially in Karia, Lykia and Propontis by the end of 5th century B.C and in the 4th century. Among these, the Nereidler monument in Xanthos and the Mausoleum in Bodrum could be counted. The architectural and statue works of these two monuments are majorly exhibited in the British Museum and some ruins and finding are present in Bodrum.  HELLENISTIC PERIOD (333 – 30 B.C)  As Alexander the Great had wiped the Persian invasion from Anatolia and freed the Hellenic provinces from dominance, the Peninsula once again become the leading place of the world art.. The cities like Assos, Bergama, Magnesia, Ephesos, Tralleis ( Aydın ), Miletos and Didyma had gained power again and the architectural works produced in these cities had effected the Roman art.  THE ROMAN AGE ( 30 B.C- 395 A.D )  As the Romans had invented and developed the method of joining the bricks with plaster and constructed wide volume structures as aqueducts, vaults and domes and therefore created the first major engineering works among the world. Although the primary major works were constructed inside the country of Rome, Anatolia had become the country in which this new construction technique had been successfully employed. Cities developed not only at the Western and Southern Anatolian Regions, but also in various locations inside the peninsula. There are monumental buildings like Agora, Government Building, Gymnasium, Stadium, Theatre, Baths and Fountains inside all of the cities and most of these buildings were constructed from marble. Marble plaques covered the roads and there were caravansaries with pillars on each side of the road. Therefore, the citizens were protected from sun and dust in summer seasons and from cold and mud in winter seasons. Strong and well-maintained roads and stone bridges connected all regions of the peninsula to each other. There were milestones on the sides of the roads to display the distances for the first time in the world. Especially during the 2nd century A.D, Anatolia was one of the most advanced states of the world and the wealth, comfort and the beauty of its cities had reached to a level which can challenge the cities of Rome itself. There are numerous picnics sites preserved at a state of Roman age in West and South Anatolia and are open for the visit of tourists.  BYZANTIUM CIVILIZATION ( 330 – 1453 A.D )  The Byzantium art was born in Anatolia at the end of the Roman Period. At the end of the 3rd century A.D, as the Roman art had entered in a period of degeneration in the fields of sculpture and architectural ornamentation in the cities of the peninsula, the artisans of the early Christianity period had granted a rebirth and a new meaning to these fields of art. We can tell that, the early Christianity and Byzantium Period art works are the expressionist interpretation of the late Roman art. The early Christianity and Byzantium art is the new stage and development in the Architecture field in the history of the World.  This new art style appearing in the cities of Anatolia like Sardis, Ephesos, Aphrodisiacs, Hierapolis, Side, Perge, Antakya had developed and reached to its cultured stage in the city of Constantinopolis, which was founded by Emperor Constantine in 330 B.C,which is currently known as Istanbul. The city of Constantinopolis had become the most important culture and art center of the world for nearly two and a half century between 330 – 565 B.C. The early Christianity civilization had encountered its most advanced period during the reign of Emperor Justinian ( 527 – 565 B.C). Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia) (532 – 539 A.D) which is a Central Domed Basilica is the most important wonder of the Byzantium art and is one of the most important and most famous art works of the World.  The Church of Aya İrini (6th and 8th century B.C), the St. John basilica in Ephesos (Justinian Period) and the Church of Maria (4th and 6th century B.C), the Alahan church in South Anatolia ( 5th and 6th century A.D) are among the most important and well preserved religious structures of Byzantium period. The Fethiye Mosque which was St. Mari Pammakaristos Church (1310 A.D) and Kariye Mosque which was Chora church in Istanbul are among the most important and well preserved religious structures of the late Byzantium period. The walls joined with the multi-domed cover and the three layered archways display a very harmonious sight.  The still standing ruins of the Tekfur and Laskaris palaces and partially preserved city walls in Istanbul represents a breath-taking spectacle with the multi colored brick works.  The ground tiles of the great Palace in Sultan Ahmet, the wall mosaics of Aya Sofya, Fethiye and Chora churches are in high quality and have unmatched beauty. The silver bowls discovered in the vicinity of Finike in Southern Anatolia and other silver and gold embroidered objects are the proofs of the advanced Byzantium jewelry.  THE SELJUK CIVILIZATION (1071 – 1300 B.C)  The first nation to settle and inhabit in the entire Anatolia had been the Turks. Hittites, Frigs and the Greeks had been able to settle in particular sections of the peninsula as the preceding nations. The Persians (543 – 333 B.C) and later the Romans (30 B.C 395 A.D) had succeeded in conquest of the entire Anatolia but they did not settle in entire Anatolia, instead they hold the political control of the entire land.  The Turks had reached Anatolia by continuos raids from Central Asia and by migration. The Turks had gained the sympathy of the Anatolian nations, the majority of which are of Indo – European origin by their administration based on tolerance. The citizens accepting the Islam Religion had become Turks, so the native nations and the Turks began to fuse with each other starting from 1071. Therefore, Turks have accepted the ancient civilizations as the heritage of all humanity, not only as their national riches.  The Seljuks had developed a high-level tolerance culture in accordance with the boundaries of the above-mentioned first Renaissance movement developed in the Islam world in 9th -12th centuries A.Din the Ion civilization section. Mevlana Celaleddin Rumî was teaching and writing about a humanist point of view with a modern expression in 13th Century in the Province of Konya and the value of his teachings is appreciated especially in the current century. Medical studies and researches were executed at the major hospitals founded in every Seljuk province and astronomic studies were executed at the observatories.  As in the Roman Period, The Seljuks had connected various regions of Anatolia which are separated from each other by mountain chains and different climates by strong, well-maintained roads and stone bridges. And the trade caravans could stay at the beautifully crafted and constructed caravansaries, which are the bright artworks of architecture.  Although the Seljuks are greatly influenced from the Arabic and Persian art and culture, they had developed an original civilization. The originality of the Seljuk art is formed from the elements, which they had carried together from their motherland, Central Asia. The mausoleums are the monumental interpretations of Turkish tents transformed into stone buildings. The tile crafting, metal and woodworking, art of miniature greatly demonstrate the effects of Central Asia. The method of curved carving is an original method used in Central Asia originating to Turkish clan of İskit. The Seljuks had granted appropriate volumes and adobes to the structures of caravansaries, mosques, mausoleums and theological schools relevant with the Anatolian climate. The Persian originated monumental entrance gates are adorned with the beautiful representations of Turkish art.  Either these high entrance gates or their adornment elements resemble the Gothic churches. The Gothic architecture structures constructed with bricks in North Europe are of Seljuk origin and carried among that distance after the Crusades. There are unpaired and unique Seljuk structures in the cities Konya, Kayseri, Niğde, Sivas, Divriği, Amasya, Urfa and Malatya. The art of the Seljuk civilization is present in Anatolia with the selected samples of original tiles, metal and wood works.  THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1299 – 1923)  Anatolia had been the power source of the great Ottoman Empire, which had leaded the Islam world for six centuries. The Ottomans had improved the culture and art of the Seljuk Turks and adapted new dimensions to these facts. The Ottomans were inspired from the Byzantium architecture and combined this inspiration with new progress and stages and therefore granted one of the most authentic architecture styles to the history of art.  The Turkish art of construction had encountered a development from the disorganized volumes of Seljukian Period towards an assembled residence. In fact, the Turkish architecture had undergo a stage by stage evolution of 300 years towards the assembled and gathered under a dome cover construction style. The Seljuk theology schools in Konya, Karatay and the Şehzade (prince) and Selimiye mosques represent this evolution.  The Yeşil Mosque in Bursa (1424) is also assembled under two relatively large domes. However, the presence of a heavy wall between two domes had definitely separated the interior section into two parts. Despite this fact, this solution was the fist step for the space integrity. As a matter of fact, the south dome of the Rumî Mehmet Paşa Mosque (1471) in Istanbul and the Atik Ali Paşa Mosque (1497) in the vicinity of Çemberlitaş had been transformed into semi – domes in order to remove the walls encountered in the Yeşil Mosque and therefore instead of two separate rooms, a single interior section was obtained. In fact, the two domed interior sections had been decreased into a one and a half domed interior section, meaning that the volume had been shrinked though the space integrity had been obtained. This is the second major step.  When Sinan was in charge, he had found the Turkish art of construction following this development line and he had carried this evolution to its final stage. Besides the two semi – domes of Bayezit Mosque, one is located in the south, and other is located in the north, we see four semi domes in Şehzade Mosque (1548) one of each in the either direction. Therefore, the sections excluded from the space integrity in the west and east directions until that day had been assembled under the same space integrity.  If we consider the style of the mosques of the Turkish architects following Sinan, we should say that these architects consider Şehzade Mosque as the most important artwork of Sinan. Because, the works like Sultan Ahmet Mosque (1616), Yeni Mosque (1663) and Fatih Mosque (1771) are the reproductions of the Şehzade Mosque from the point of plan and style. Therefore the apprenticeship work of Sinan had become the classical sample of the Turkish Architecture. However Süleymaniye and Selimiye are so unique and one-time monuments that no architect had dared to copy these artworks and therefore preferred to employ the Şehzade Mosque as the sample to obtain the space integrity objective.  Sinan had exposed the most successful and most harmonious sample of central construction style in the world with Selimiye Mosque. The increasing of the number of the supporting pillars from four to eight and therefore shaping the structure in a way that it could be seen exactly the same from each direction faced is an unmatched success of Architect Sinan. Architect Sinan could not materialized this will in Şehzade and Süleymaniye mosques. The four minaret of the mosque support this harmony of masses. The excellence of the harmony of the inner and exterior view and the beautiful and effective silhouette reaching up to the sky grants Selimiye Mosque to be among the wonders of the world.  The architects of the Ottoman Empire produced marvelous works of architecture and engineering with the construction of mausoleums, theology schools, libraries, mansions, palaces, baths, commercial buildings and especially aqueducts and bridges. The mansions are counted among the most attractive structures of the world art.  The Ottoman art of miniature carries a different meaning from the other eastern miniature by the embroidered daily and historic subjects.