ZEYNEL BEY COMPLEX

X: 41.405872 Y: 37.715669 Z: 475.25

Around the Zeynel Bey Tomb, which is the symbol of Hasankeyf, a large complex was unearthed during the excavations carried out in 2004-2005 under the chairmanship of Prof.Dr. Abdüsselam ULUÇAM. In the area called “Zeynel Bey Kulliye” because of the tomb, it was determined that there were 3 madrasahs, 1 soup kitchen, 1 tomb, 1 inn and 1 bath located on the edge of the Tigris (Fig. 1), (Fig. 2).

The two madrasah buildings, the inn and the bath belong to the Artuqid Period (XIII. century). Tomb and soup kitchen (mosque) Akkoyunlu (XV. century); the third madrasah, the range inn and other additional buildings are from the Ottoman period (XVI.-XVIII. century). Despite the period and architectural style differences, the kulliye as a whole XVIII. used until the end of the century.

The tomb (kümbet) was built by the Akkoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan for his son Zeynel Bey in 1473. The tomb is cylindrical on the outside and octagonal on the inside. Vegetal and geometric decoration consisting of turquoise and dark blue glazed bricks and mosaic tiles is placed on the body surface. Arabic script with ma'kili kufic calligraphy, in which the names "Allah, Muhammad, Ali, Ahmed" are repeated (Fig. 3), (Fig. 4), (Fig. 5), (Fig. 6).