“Virtual Archaeology” in Light of a New Document on the Topkapı Palace’s Waterworks and Earliest Buildings, circa 1509
This article introduces an unpublished document concerning the water distribution network of the Topkapı Palace. Preserved in the Topkapı Palace Museum Archive, the undated document sheds light on not only the palace’s waterworks but also the locations and names of its earliest buildings. Clues sugg...
| Published in: | Muqarnas |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2014
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| In: |
Muqarnas
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| Further subjects: | B
earliest palace waterworks
earliest palace buildings
renovations after the 1509 earthquake
architect Acem Ali and his son Hamza
Byzantine and Ottoman water sources
Halkalı Channel
Aqueduct of Valens
Byzantine cisterns
hydraulic engineering
prestige of water-jet fountains
water as conspicuous consumption
necessity of archival and archaeological research
palace grounds as an archeological site
acropolis of Byzantion
spolia
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This article introduces an unpublished document concerning the water distribution network of the Topkapı Palace. Preserved in the Topkapı Palace Museum Archive, the undated document sheds light on not only the palace’s waterworks but also the locations and names of its earliest buildings. Clues suggest that it was written immediately after the 1509 earthquake. Its heading reads: “Description of the fountains and water jet fountains, some of which have been flowing since olden times and some of which were added later.” This oldest written source on the hydraulic landscape of the Topkapı Palace elucidates the original layout of the palace complex. It refers to the two architects responsible for this project as ʿAcem Miʿmar and Miʿmar Hamza, who are identified in this article as the chief architect who preceded Mimar Sinan, namely, Miʿmar ʿAlaʾüddin, nicknamed ʿAcem ʿAli (Persian ʿAli), and his son Hamza. The document is significant for understanding the water distribution networks and layout of the palace before a rebuilding campaign in the 1520s under this first chief architect of Sultan Süleyman. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-8993 |
| Contains: | In: Muqarnas
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22118993-0301P0013 |