Oyster motif used in architecture in the pre-Ottoman Turkish-Anatolian period

It is known that oyster motif used as a decoration element in various cultures and religions since antiquity symbolizes ?rebirth and second life?. Oyster motif was used in interior and exterior sides of buildings with various positions, forms, and size in accordance with its sliced appearance. It was used not only alone with its sightly decorative appearance but also with other decoration elements like rosettes. In some cases it was linked with the motives around. Along with its decorative characteristic, it functions as a structural element as well used for transition from one surface to an upper one. Because of its multipurpose characteristic, it was preferred in interior and exterior decoration of buildings. Oyster motif had been used as a decoration element in architecture by some civilizations before the Turkish presence in Anatolia. However after the victory against Byzantium forces in Malazgirt in 1071 and their settlement in Anatolia, they used this motif more intensively and applied it at all levels of the structures. They applied it in most of the structures like mosques, madrasas, baths, tombs, caravanserais, fountains and in the most noticeable parts of them like altars, windows, portals, niches and in the parts of transition to the dome. In this study, I identify how, where, and in which structures oyster motif was used in architecture in the first and second period Pre-Ottoman Anatolian Muslim-Turkish principalities and deal with the similarities and differences between the periods.