Excavations of Amasya Harsena Castle and Maidens Palace pipe findings

A pipe is a utensil used for smoking tobacco. It is small bowl, which is filled with the tobacco or similar substances and has a hole on the side. In 1554, two merchants, Sems from Sam and Hakem from Halep came to Istanbul and opened the first coffee shops. Tobacco was introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, to the Ottoman lands and in the coffee shops which were meeting places of a non-religious meetings, tobacco was consumed using pipes together with coffee. This research was prepared for the purpose of investigating the pipe findings from the Harsena Castle and Maidens Palace Excavations which was conducted under the oversight of Prof. Dr. E. Emine Naza Donmez between the years of 2009-2021. During the excavations of Harsena Castle and Maidens Palace 216 pipes and pipe pieces were found. A catalog was created by taking photos and drawings of 70 pipes and pipe pieces. The measurements of the examined works were taken, clay and slip colours were specified, their descriptions were recorded, and they were dated in terms of ornaments and types. The type of pipes that can be defined are grouped according to their bowl and pedestal shapes. According to the bowl shapes, seven types were determined as round bowl, short round bowl, cylindrical bowl, strainer bowl, tulip-shaped bowl and keel bowl pipes, and according to their pedestal shapes, disc base bowls. The pipes of Harsena Castle and Maidens Palace are dated between the 17th and 19th centuries owing to their clay colour, type and form characteristics.