Ottoman calligraphy pieces in Kuwait Tareq Rajab's Museum

This research examines calligraphy works from the Ottoman period at the Tareq Rajab Museum of Islamic Calligraphy. The calligraphy collection of the museum, which includes many works of the leading names of the Ottoman calligraphy school, has not yet been adequately documented and studied. With this study, a description of the Ottoman period calligraphy works in the museum was made and the examined works were cataloged. The research focused only on the Ottoman period and works written beyond these borders were excluded. In the study, there are 147 calligraphy works (kıt'a, Hilye-i Şerif, Levha and murakkaa) from the museum, excluding the manuscripts, Fermans and the applications of calligraphy in other crafts such as inlay and embroidery. Each piece was photographed and measured. The works were named for cataloging, the script, calligrapher, and dates were determined by examining them. In addition, the written texts were transcribed in the original language and transliterated with modern Turkish alphabet. The study also includes sections on the subject and method of the research, the components of the museum's collections and its historical background based on the literature and findings obtained from the semi-structured interviews conducted for the purpose of the thesis. Also, there is a section on the scripts common during the Ottoman era. This study aims to make a cultural inventory for the Ottoman calligraphy collection in in Tareq Rajab Museum of Islamic Calligraphy and to contribute to the historiography of calligraphy by documenting existing works and bringing them into Turkish literature. In the last part of the study, besides the results obtained, suggestions for the development of the collection and future research are given.