TWO GRAFFITI DRAWINGS FROM THE OTTOMAN PERIOD OF AYASOFYA
TWO GRAFFITI DRAWINGS FROM THE OTTOMAN PERIOD OF AYASOFYA

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with two graffiti drawing in the south gallery in the former Christian church Hagia Sophia converted after 1453 into mosque Ayasofya. In view of the posture, clothing and headgear of the figure, most likely the author of the first drawing intended to present a whirling dervish. The attempt to date non-epigraphic graffiti with any degree of accuracy is often extremely difficult, but a terminus post quem of this graffito drawing can be the 15th century suggested on the basis of the established clothing standard for all members of the Mevlevi Order. The second drawing presents three weapons defined as “saber” and most likely they correspond to the well-known types of sabers in the Near East Zulfikar, kilij and Shamshir. The hypothetical time span for creating the drawing with the three sabers is between the 17th and the end of the 18th century.

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