Script in Danishmend, Anatolian Seljuk, Ilhanids and Eretnid period structures in Sivas

Since ancient ages, script has been used as a means of transferring emotion, thought and knowledge. In time, Arabic letters were written in different ways and an aesthetic appearance was gained. Turks and Göktürks having thousands of years of history in this geography used the Arabic alphabet everywhere and created ornamental boards that conveyed various messages with different arrangement of letters. In accordance with the formal characteristics of the Arabic alphabet, construction, repair and artist epigraphs as well as various scripts like verses and hadiths programmed according to the functions of the structures were used in the period of Anatolian Seljuks. In this study, the script program in the structures built in the Danishmend, Anatolian Seljuk, Ilkhanate and Eretnid period in Sivas was examined. Grand Mosque of Sivas (Danishmend), Sivas I. Izzeddin Keykavus Mausoleum (Anatolian Seljuk), Sivas Gök Madrasa/Sahip Ata Madrasa (Ilkhanate), Sivas Buruciye Madrasa/Muzafereddin Burucirdi (Ilkhanate), Sivas Çifte Minareli (Twin Minarets)/Şemseddin Cüveyni Madrasa (Ilkhanate) and Sivas Güdük Minare/Sheikh Hasan Mausoleum (Eretnids) are among these structures. The use of tiles in the monumental structures in Sivas is intensive. The use of thuluth and kufic calligraphic forms is common in the structures in Sivas. Thuluth is mostly seen in the epigraphs of structures. Kufic and Ma'kılî scripts were used in the sections where turquoise glazed and unglazed brick, a tile program, were used inside and outside structures. Glazed and unglazed brick is a suitable material for kufic and Ma'kılî scripts with geometrical fictional/vertical line due to their formal characteristics. The kufic scripts, which cover the high cylindrical pulley of Sivas Güdük Minare/Sheikh Hasan Mausoleum, are found on the frontons of the doors and windows on the northern front of Sivas I. V. Izzeddin Keykavus Mausoleum and on the horizontal strips on the cylindrical body and multifaceted minaret base of the Grand Mosque of Sivas, can be given as examples. Some of the structures examined include artist epigraphs. Artists names such as Marendi Ahmed at I. Izzeddin Keykavus Mausoleum, Kölük Bin Abdullah from Konya at Sivas Çifte Minareli/Şemseddin Cüveyni Madrasa and Kaluyan El-Konevi from Konya at Sivas Gök/Sahip Ata Madrasa are seen.