Kümbet: Medieval Anatolian Tombs is a collaborative web project designed to share information about Islamic tomb architecture in Anatolia. The project is conceived, in the initial phase, to accompany a graduate-level seminar on medieval Anatolian architecture in the History Department of Boğaziçi University, taught annually by Oya Pancaroğlu. Both students and instructor will contribute to the content of the site in the form of "Exhibits".
Hundreds of tombs survive in Turkey from the medieval period (ca. 1150-1450). The aim of this web project is to make available, in small and incremental steps, a dispersed body of knowledge about these commemorative buildings while exploring the possibilities offered by such digital publication for a cohesive and contextualized presentation of information.
Kümbet (from Persian, gumbad or gunbad) is one of two common terms--the other being türbe (from Arabic, turba)--used in modern Turkish to designate funerary structures (tombs) erected in the medieval period as grave markers of important figures. These tombs often take the form of a single-chamber buildings (with or without a crypt) with, usually, conical, polyhedral or hemispherical domes. Some were built as free-standing structures while others were attached to larger buildings such as mosques or madrasas. They incorporate an assortment of decorative elements as well as, in many cases, inscriptions. Reflecting a complex view of medieval Anatolia's social, religious, political and cultural landscapes, tombs constitute a significant historical resource.