22.04.2025 16:50
The motifs in the tomb section of the Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital, located in the Divriği district of Sivas and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, evoke admiration with their meanings. At the entrance of the tomb in the hospital, where the graves of Ahmet Shah and his family members are located, there is a scale symbol created with a heart pattern. This symbol carries meanings related to the afterlife.
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The Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital, built in 1228 by Ahmet Shah, the son of Suleyman Shah, and his wife Melike Turan Melek during the Mengücek Beylik period, has reopened for worship and visitation last year after a comprehensive 9-year restoration process, impressing with its architectural features.
UNMATCHED IN ISLAMIC WORLD HISTORY
The motifs, reflecting the finest and most delicate examples of stone craftsmanship created by masters from Ahlat and Tbilisi, attract attention, especially with the doors and columns present in many parts of the complex. This complex, unmatched in the history of the Islamic world, is attributed to Ahlatlı Hürrem Shah, the architect and sculptor of its crown doors, who is recognized as one of the representatives of Islamic Sufism in the art field in the 12th-13th centuries due to the innovations he brought to the world of motifs, his architectural design genius, and especially the design of the paradise door at the qibla gate.
ANATOLIA'S EL HAMRASI
The work, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985, features thousands of motifs in its decorations that appear symmetrical from a distance but are asymmetrical in essence, with none of them repeating themselves. This characteristic signifies that different beings in the universe exist in harmony and balance, inscribed in stone. The structure, which gains importance with its architectural style, balanced and harmonious design of decoration and covering systems, is also listed among the remarkable works to be seen in the world. The work, which Evliya Çelebi also visited and described with the words 'In praise, tongues are tied, pens are broken,' is referred to as 'Anatolia's El Hamrası.'
ITS SECRETS HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY SOLVED YET
In the Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital, where every motif and pattern still holds secrets that have not been fully solved, there is also a burial chamber. In the burial chamber located in the hospital section, there are a total of 15 graves, including those of Ahmet Shah, who commissioned the work, his father Suleyman Shah, his mother Fatıma Hatun, his wife Turan Melek Hanım, and other family members. Above the entrance door of the burial chamber, there is a symbol of a scale made up of hearts, each interpreted differently. This symbol contains meanings related to the afterlife.
"LET THOSE WHOSE TIME HAS COME BE BURIED HERE"
Nail Ayan, the muezzin of the Divriği Great Mosque and the guide of the work, stated that the heart-shaped scale carries a deep meaning, saying, "The burial chamber is a chamber left with the construction of the mosque and hospital. Ahmet Shah, who commissioned the mosque, tells the chief architect, 'Leave a room inside the hospital; let this room be the burial chamber.' It is said, 'When we go to the afterlife, let those whose time has come be buried here.' And it has been so. There are 15 graves inside. We know 4 of them. The graves of Ahmet Shah, who commissioned the mosque, his father Suleyman Shah, his mother Fatıma Hatun, and his wife Turan Melek Hanım, and other family members are located here," he said.
"MAY YOUR HEART ALWAYS BE TURNED TOWARDS ALLAH"
Ayan explained that a simple but very meaningful symbol was made above the entrance door of the burial chamber, saying, "The chief architect Muğis oğlu Ahlatlı Hürrem Shah, who left this as a burial chamber, created a motif that seems very simple but is loaded with spirituality on the door. We approach this motif in two ways. The upper part is the top cover of the coffin. The whole thing can be seen as a scale. Hearts are weighed on the scales. There is also a heart on the middle balance bar of the scales, which is placed upside down and looks up. The Sufi message here is this: The deceased and the deceased inside say, 'We have passed away from this world. You will also pass away. But there is a place where we can see the results of what we did in this world. This place is the afterlife, and what we will take there is not our money, property, or possessions from this world, but our hearts and what is inside our hearts.' The meaning is this: 'What does a person do while in this world? In goodness, evil, right, wrong, in matters of reward and sin, hold the scale on one side, and may your heart always be directed towards Allah. Then do not be afraid of dying; enter the grave,'" he said.
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