Excavation and restoration work, carried out with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Van Governor's Office, is continuing at full speed at the Seljuk Cemetery located in the Çelebibağı neighborhood of the Erciş district on the shores of Lake Van. A team of 15 experts in archaeology, art history, restoration, and conservation is working at the cemetery, which covers an area of approximately 30 decares.
Under the leadership of the Van Museum Directorate and the scientific consultancy of Associate Professor Dr. Ercan Çalış, a faculty member in the Art History Department at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, the work has reached a depth of approximately 50 centimeters in the designated buffer zone. So far, stabilization work has been completed on 15 tombstones, while lichen cleaning has been carried out on 5 tombstones whose surfaces have been damaged by biological growths.
The inscriptions and decorations of the tombstones, which reach heights of 2.5 meters, are also being analyzed. In a statement to an AA correspondent, Associate Professor Çalış noted that the Erciş Selçuklu Cemetery is one of the most important sites of Anatolian and Turkish-Islamic civilization.
Emphasis on Cultural Heritage
Çalış said that the work being carried out is not limited to cleaning the tombstones, but is uncovering a culture. 'We are striving to bring to light the art of its period and the cultural values inherited from our ancestors,' Çalış stated, noting that after excavations conducted between 1992 and 1995 under the consultancy of Professor Dr. Abdüsselam Uluçam, the site was neglected and suffered serious damage.
Çalış explained that in the comprehensive project relaunched under the coordination of the Van Governor's Office, the team consisting of restorers, an epigraphy expert, art historians, archaeologists, and architects is strengthening the ground stabilization of the tombstones. One of the biggest problems is lichens. Lichens cover the surface of the stones, gradually destroying both the inscriptions and the motifs on them, he said.
Reminding that the cemetery also houses the graves of the folk poet Ercişli Emrah and his beloved Selvihan, Çalış emphasized that they believe it will become an important destination for cultural and faith tourism.
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Artistic Value of the Stones
Çalış stated that each tombstone in the cemetery, which dates back to the Middle Ages, has its own unique decorative program, and said, When evaluated from a holistic perspective, this area is virtually an art gallery. He reported that the tombstones predominantly use limestone found in the region, and that the decorations are dominated by the Seljuk style.
Çalış added that the inscriptions include, in addition to information about the deceased, hadiths and verses from the Holy Quran reflecting the belief in the afterlife, and that the tombstones are silent but powerful narrators of history.
