Kumbet
These type of buildings were inspired by the art of tents of the Turks in the land of Turkomans and then applied in architecture. Prior to Islam, the dead would first be washed and then would be wrapped up in a shroud despite the different burial traditions they had. The corpse would be mummified and put into a coffin and kept in the tents until the following spring or autumn. The tradition of burial resulted in the emergence of monumental Kumbet/Turbe, mausoleums.
The Kumbet/turbe's, the first examples of which were built using bricks or stone, were later built only with cut stone. However, there is also a great number of turbe's built with using both stones and bricks. Kumbet/Turbe's could be built as individual buildings or in the mosque and medrese complexes. Turbe's usually have two store's. The lower floor, access to which is gained by a flight of stairs, forms the base of the Kumbet/Turbe. This is the cell like tomb room where the mummified corpse is put into a sarcophagus or buried. In this room, used for visiting or worshipping, can be a mihrab niche as well as a symbolic sarcophagus. Its impressive door, in the direction of east, west or north, is reached by one or two flights of stairs. Along with polygonal and cylindered turbe's, which sometimes have different internal and external plans, there are also examples of square planned ones.
Cifte Kumbet - Kayseri
bunyamin
Doner Kumber - Kayseri
bunyamin
Bitlis - Ahlat
Erzerum - Uc Kumbet/Emir Sultan
Mennan_Ozdemir
Aksehir Nasreddin Hodja Tomb
kaplans
Van - Ikiz Kumbet
Hasankeyf
Iran - Damagh
Turmenistan - Kunya Urgench - Sultan Tekkesh Mausoleum
Konya
galpay
hasan42
memocan
k_Ghan
Baki_KARAKOC
And a modern Kumbet style, Selcuklu Kulesi.
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Pbase
Edited by Bulldog - 19-Dec-2006 at 14:06