Stone works with a Cristian theme in museums in Eastern Anatolia

The historical and cultural legacy of the Eastern Anatolian Region is extensive. Owing to its strategic and geopolitical location, this area has played a significant role in shaping the history of both the nation and the entire world. From antiquity to the present, it has been home to various communities and beliefs. There are many movable and immovable cultural assets belonging to these civilizations in the geography examined.. The majority of these cultural treasures are made up of stone items that are currently housed at the region's museums. Our thesis is titled "Christian Themed Stone Works in Museums in Eastern Anatolia". There hasn't been any comprehensive research done in this topic. A total of 108 stone artifacts—60 tombstones and 48 architectural pieces—with inventory records at the museums of Ahlat, Erzincan, Erzurum, Kars, Malatya, Tunceli, and Van were examined over the course of a four-year field study. Most of the artifacts are Armenian in origin. Furthermore, artifacts attributed to Russian, Georgian, Nestorians, Eastern Roman, American, and German cultures have been discovered. The inscriptions were written in Greek, German, English, Russian, Nestorian, and Armenian. 38 works with unknown dates been validated by the inscriptions. The oldest is a tombstone from 1179 that is housed in the Van Museum. The gravestone in the Kars Museum, which dates to 1909, is the most recent. It is significant that in inscriptions from the 19th century and onward, the dates are written in the Latin alphabet. Eleven of them are Armenian, three are Russian, one is American, and one is German. It is noteworthy to note that three of the five Russian tombstones at the Kars Museum are military in origin, and two of the tombstones in the Van Museum belong to German and American missionaries. The majority of the pieces are engraved crosses on stones. Plant, geometric, and figurative embellishments cover their surfaces. In terms of decoration, Armenian pieces are prominent. Techniques like engraving, relief, and carving were applied. From prehistoric times, numerous civilizations have flourished in Anatolia, leaving behind distinctive art historical and archaeological artifacts. We are responsible for, and guard these works in the Republic of Turkey. We have done our best to conserve them in our museums. With our analysis, the gaps in the museum inventory records have been filled in. We think that our study will be a valuable resource because it is the first to look at the museums in the area as a whole and to utilize objective, scientific approaches.