Abdulmejid II: the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the only Caliph of the Republic of Turkey
AbdulMejjid II was the first of the last Caliphs, of the Republic of Turkey. He was the very last Caliph’s of the Ottoman Empire and the very last Caliph of Islam. Born in Dolmabahce Palace, he was the 2nd child of AbulAziz I, born on the 29th of...
World Bank: 10 years on, Turkey continues its support for an ever-growing number of Syrian refugees
STORY HIGHLIGHTS Turkey has been the primary destination for Syrian refugees, with the first camps set up 10 years ago. Today, Turkey is host to the world’s largest refugee population, with 4 million people, of whom 3.6 million are Syrians. Under the Syrians Under...
Mediterranean Encounters: Artists between Europe and the Ottoman Empire
Elisabeth A. Fraser. Mediterranean Encounters: Artists between Europe and the Ottoman Empire, 1774-1839. University Park: Penn State University Press, 2017. Illustrations. 320 pp. $89.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-271-07320-0. Reviewed by Erin Hyde Nolan (Maine College of...
Six-Winged Angels and Other Christian Imagery in Arts from the Ottoman Empire
At any given time, the Department of Islamic Art usually has objects from our permanent collection on loan to exhibitions at other institutions (such as The Fabric of India, currently on view at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London). In addition, we...
The Art of the Ottomans before 1600
At the time of its foundation in the early fourteenth century, the Osmanli or Ottoman state was one among many small principalities that emerged as a result of the disintegration of the Seljuq sultanate in Anatolia and subsequent instability caused by Mongol rule....
Islamic art
The term Islamic art not only describes the art created specifically in the service of the Muslim faith (for example, a mosque and its furnishings) but also characterizes the art and architecture historically produced in the lands ruled by Muslims,...
The history of Türkiye in 11 minutes
Hagia Sophia, 532–37
The church of Hagia Sophia (literally “Holy Wisdom”) in Constantinople, now Istanbul, was first dedicated in 360 by Emperor Constantius, son of the city’s founder, Emperor Constantine. Hagia Sophia served as the cathedra, or bishop’s seat, of the city....