Ottoman and early republican period tombstones in the town center of Edremit, Balıkesir province

Although the exact origins of the burial culture among the Turks are unknown, the earliest Turkish graves and tombstone monuments seen in Central Asia continued to evolve throughout history. A major transformation occurred with the Turks' adoption of Islam; from this period onward, they abandoned the tradition of carving human figures into stone and instead began inscribing epitaphs using Kufic script. The tombstone tradition, which continued to develop after the Turks' arrival in Anatolia, reached its finest expressions during the Seljuk, Beylik, and Ottoman periods. Balıkesir holds an important place in the Ottoman tombstone tradition, particularly standing out with its Edremit district. Within the scope of our study, a total of 146 tombstones were identified in the Ağa Mosque Cemetery, Kurşunlu Mosque Cemetery, Pazarlık Mosque Cemetery, and the Edremit Central Cemetery in the Edremit district center, The examined tombstones were analyzed in terms of form, headstone type, and ornamentation, and their current conditions were also observed and documented on site. These examples, which highlight the history and culture of the Edremit district, were evaluated separataly within the discipline of art history in terms of form, headstone type, ornamentation, script type, and inscription content. As a result, the importance of the cultural values belonging to the history of the Edremit district has been emphasized, and it is aimed that the aforementioned tombstones will contribute to the science of art history. This study is expected to serve as a source and reference for future research in this field.