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A sensitive touch to Hatay's history

In Hatay, which is very rich in history and culture, historical artifacts that were under the rubble due to earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş are searched by experts meticulously. In Hatay, which was most affected by the February 6 earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, tens of thousands of settlements and historical buildings were destroyed. In Hatay, which is very rich in history and culture, work has been started to save the historical artifacts under the rubble. In the studies carried out under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, experts try to save the artifacts. Working in the Yeni Mosque, one of the 16th-century Ottoman mosques in Hatay's historical Uzun Bazaar, under the coordination of Associate Professor Muhammet Arslan, Head of the Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Kafkas University, the teams aim to reach the quality historical artifacts under the rubble. The teams, which carry out pinpoint studies in the regions where the artifacts are located, unearth the artifacts without any damage. The excavated artifacts are kept in temporary warehouses by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. If there is any damage, they are restored by expert teams and restored to their original form. “We are planning to unearth the epitapth, the crown gate and the qualified material belonging to the pulpit” Mosque, which is a work of the 16th century in terms of plan and decoration, Associate Professor Muhammet Arslan, Head of the Art History Department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Kafkas University, stated that the mosque was repaired in the 18th and 19th centuries, and said, "We worked with our teammates in the Yeni Mosque. We aim to unearth the qualified materials of the mosque from the rubble. The mosque has two inscriptions on both the harim door and the pulpit crown door. Apart from these, there is a qualified crown door made of marble material. This door has wooden materials. Its pulpit is also beautifully crafted, made of marble. We are planning to unearth the qualified material belonging to both the inscriptions, the portal and the pulpit from the rubble." Stating that they aim to produce important materials for the mosque, Arslan said, “We need to consider the pulpit and the crown door as a whole. 30-40 pieces belonging to these will be qualified materials that we will obtain. At the same time, the fountain is very important. Because this is a social complex. In the same way, there are stones with architectural ornaments in the fountain. We aim to unearth them from the rubble." They are looking for historical artifacts with the meticulousness of a doctor. Stating that he approaches the search and rescue activities of historical monuments with sensitivity, Arslan said, “I liken this work to search and rescue activities. In the first days of the earthquake, rescue teams headed directly to the bedroom to reach the people, because the earthquake was at night. Since we know the location of qualified materials such as inscriptions, columns, column capitals, portals, altars, pulpits, wooden door wings in historical buildings, we directly head to that area and apply a different methodology, which we call debris archeology, to unearth our artifacts in a solid or sometimes broken, fragmentary way. Stating that after the cleaning and inventory procedures, the artifacts will be taken under protection and restoration will be carried out if necessary, Arslan said, “After we do the necessary documentation, cleaning and inventory work, we take them to our temporary excavation house warehouse. Our damaged artifacts are put in their original places after the necessary restoration work has been carried out by the restorators in the laboratories by the relevant units of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism." “We have 720 registered cultural assets in an area of 307 hectares in Hatay" Stating that there are many cultural assets in a wide geography in Hatay, Arslan said, “Antakya is a very important region in terms of cultural assets. It is an important urban and archaeological site with both its historical and cultural texture. We have 720 registered cultural assets in Hatay. We are talking about an area of 307 hectares in total. We have been working here for about 50 days. We continue our program here with a team of 16 scientists from 9 different universities, 21 of whom are our students, and especially art historians, archaeologists, architects and civil engineers, accompanied by our undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.”

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A sensitive touch to Hatay's history

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