Calligraphy in the art of stonecarving in Mardin

Mardin has been a haunt for a lot of cultures and beliefs throughout the history. Mardin has a rich culture. Societies with different religions and cultures such as Muslims, Christians, Yakubi, Assyrian Nestorian, Yezidi, Jewish, Kildani have been living there peacefully for centuries, and Mardin has continued to have this property. Mardin which is on the historical silk road and was the homeland of Omayyads, Artuqids, Akkoyunlus and Ottomans respectively, has been a science town with the madrassahs, socials complexes and mosques with monumental quality and brought up a lot of scientists. Main construction material in these buildings is yellow limestone which is mined again in Mardin Region. Mardin stone is the main element of construction and decoration since there are a lot of quarries, the stone is durable and has insulation properties, and it is easy to be operated on. There are a lot of buildings which include cultural, architectural and religious properties of that period. Remarkable properties on these buildings are the examples of rich decorations, stonemasonary, building epitaphs on which the art of the period is reflected. In this study, whose theme is the evaluation of Mardin stone carving, epitaph writing in terms of calligraphy, stone carving and epitaphs, which extant present day, in historical Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque), Zinciriye (Sultan İsa) Madrassah, Zairi (Şeyh Mahmu Ezzerrar) Mosque, Latifiye (Aldullâtif) Mosque, Melik Mahmud Mosque and Hatuniye Madrassah in Mardin city centre were examined. Keywords: Mardin, Calligraphy, Stone Carving, Decoration, Epitaph