AMYSINGER

THE MÜLKNAMES OF HÜRREM SULTAN'S IN JERUSALEM

In the spring of 1986, thousands of people in Washing­ Crafted writing is part of our everyday visual world. ton, D.C., visiting an exhibition at the National Gallery, Diplomas, citations, certificates, and invitations are all stopped to marvel at the elegant signature of the Otto­ associated with a distinctive choice of paper, lettering man Sultan Süleyman I. Its gold and blue curving form, style, and ornamentation, particularly when compared delicately embellished with tiny flowers in red and green, with the quotidien clutter of bureaucratic forms, corre­ together with the other stunning examples of calligra­ spondence, financial statements, and newspapers. Yet phy, textiles, jewelry, ceramics and painting on display, the message conveyed in each of these documents exemplified Süleyman's Western epithet, "the Magnifi­ would have had an identicalliteral meaning had it been cent" . Yet this audience of museum goers, and subse­ delivered typed in black letters on plain white paper. An quent crowds in Chicago, New York, London, Paris, and aesthetically pleasing presentation adds nothing to the Berlin, may not have appreciated that the imperial signa­ legal force or literal message of the document: deeds, ture on the wall was not intended to be displayed before stocks, wedding contracts, and university degrees have so many eyes, and indeed probably never had been prior the same validity on paper, parchment or vellum, large to this exhibition. Few, if any, knew something of the or small, whether engraved, hand-Iettered or scrawled. document which was written beneath the signature; in Once a piece ofwriting has been executed with some fact, the text was rolled up during the exhibit, hiding the attention to design and composition, however, it black and gold lines of intricate script which bore the acquires another vocabulary. In the language of its art, message of this imperial deed. It would have been impos­ the writing now speaks on more than one level and the sible for anyone to comprehend, then, the combined meaning of the document is conveyed emphatically by impact of the document's message and its physical form. I its total composition. Depending on the culture, black This dissociation of form and content forced upon the borders can add solemnity or represent bereavement; museum-goers reflects an attitude not uncommon ornate shapes and lavish colors announce important among historians of the Ottoman Empire as weIl. These celebrations; cartoon figures and skewed writing convey historians, to judge from published works, have only levity or festivity. An obvious omission of design and infrequently stopped to reflect upon the material charac­ embellishment can also deliver a visual message, indicat­ ter and aesthetic aspect of the documents they read, or to ing that a matter is routine and unexceptional, or in cer­ incorporate such reflections into a comprehensive analy­ tain circumstances seeking to convey insult. sis of the text. As one of them, I have recently recognized writing evolved the standard shapes and pro­ how utilitarian my general attitude has been towards the portions of the letters it has today by about the year external form of the documents I study, whose contents 1000. 2 At the same time, calligraphers created several provide the substantive basis of my historical research. variant alphabet styles for use in writing Arabic, Persian, Certainly, in reading documents one notes the style of and later Ottoman Turkish. Over time, more styles de­ the handwriting to help identifY which office may have veloped and each became associated with certain lan­ issued a particular item, whether the document is neat or guages and types of written compositions. These could messy, a draft or final format, the quality and shape of the be religious, literary, or bureaucratic, and executed on paper. Scholars have long paid attention to these fea­ any one of several media: paper, cloth, ceramic, metal, tures as they analyze the philology and diplomatics of or stone. Ottoman documents. But rarely does one stop to con­ Calligraphy has been a ubiquitous element of design sider how the physical form is part of the meaning of the and a field for decoration throughout the Islamic world. written text, the way in which form and content can work Any number of scholarly works have discussed the together to deliver a complex and powerful message. meaning of and its various uses as an THE MÜLKNÄMES OF HURREM SULTAN'S WAQF 97 element of decoration.3 Grabar regarded it as a kind of was then preserved in case the legality of the endow­ ornament that serves as an intermediary between the ment was ever challenged. In the event of an investiga­ work of art it enhances and the world.4 Grabar explored tion, a qadi might examine a mülkniime to confirm the "the meaning ofwriting in Islamic art";5 the discussion right of the waqf to a particular property. The nature of here will instead explore the meaning of art in Islamic the endowments, which were made in perpetuity, writing, taking the calligraphy of a particular group of explains in part why these documents were carefully documents as a case study. Strictly speaking, the lan­ preserved in general. In the present case, however, their guage of these documents is Ottoman Turkish. How­ splendor, as weIl as their origination in the imperial pal­ ever, because the formal composition of Ottoman docu­ ace also ensured their conservation. ments relies so heavily on Arabic legal and honorary Neither Süleyman's decrees nor Hürrem's actions formulae, many of which include invocations or refer­ were extraordinary; the transfer of properties and their ences to God, the writing may properly also be charac­ endowment as waqf were part of the standard repertoire terized as "Islamic" in terms of the cultural context ofits of imperial behavior, and both Süleyman and Hürrem production. were particularly generous benefactors. Numerous im­ The documents which prompted these reflections perial complexes throughout the lands formerly part of have been justly praised for their extraordinary artistic the Ottoman Empire remain to attest to this. They are investment.6 Perhaps it was the vivid juxtaposition of found not only in , but in Edirne, Bursa, Mecca, form and content that turned my attention away from Medina, Damascus, and Cairo, among other places. their texts. The stunning appearance of these docu­ Written records of their founding and operation exist in ments is impossible to ignore and provokes questions the various archives of Turkey and other former Otto­ which may justifiably also be asked of less exquisite man lands. works. What, then, is the purpose and meaning of the Hürrem's foundation in Jerusalem, comprising a artistic investment in the production of imperial docu­ mosque, rooms for students, caravanserai, and a soup ments? kitchen, was comparatively modest for an imperial endowment. The properties made waqf to support this HÜRREM SULTAN'S ENDOWMENT IN JERUSALEM complex - mostly villages in the region - were simi­ larly modest, and thus seem unlikely to have provided Arnong the imperial decrees (firman) issued by Sultan sufficient inspiration for the execution of such striking Süleyman were the group of twelve documents dis­ documents. The establishment of the Jerusalem waqf cussed here. They are dated between May 1550 andJuly was a conventional imperial act, and the foundation 1560 (21 Rebic ul-ahar 957-14 Ramazan 967).7 Each was itself in no obvious way uncommon. The impetus for lav­ a mülkniime, a deed to freehold of property, that Süley• ishing artistry and talent on producing the firmans, man presented to his wife Hürrem Sultan. The proper­ then, must lie outside of their immediate literal declara­ ties belonged to the imperial treasury; they were all clas­ tive task. sified either as imperial domain (hii$$-i ~iihi) or had formerly been tz mars which were now vacant. They THE FIRMANS AND THEIR MEANING included agricultural lands and buildings in the south­ ern Syrian districts of Jerusalem and RamIe and near The catalogue of the Topkapi Palace Museum archives Tripoli in northern Syria. Hürrem, in turn, endowed describes the firmans as containing "the most beautiful what she was given as revenue sources to support the examples of ornamented Süleymanic tuif;ras.,,9 However, waqf she founded in the city ofJerusalem. the tuif;ras are only the most dramatic element in these Before it could be given to an endowment, property documents. Taken together, the imperial signature and had to be proven to be held as mülk (freehold) by the the text in each case form a single composition. These founder. Sufficient proof could be given by the sworn twelve firmans, however, do not constitute anything statement of eligible witnesses, in accordance with the unusual: illuminated and embellished firmans were pro­ dictates of Islamic law. The addition of written docu­ duced in the palace studios from the time of Mehmed 11 mentation became more common over time but was not until the end of the empire. In Süleyman's own time, required by law until modern reforms were introduced.8 similar firm ans existed for other endowments of Hür• A document such as the mülkniime, formally composed, rem and her daughter Mihrimah Sultan, and diplomatic witnessed, and signed was also considered valid proof; it firmans could also be highly embellished.!O While the