Armenians
Armenians are an ethnic group native to the Armenian Highlands. Armenians constitute the population of Armenia and the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. There is a diaspora of around 5 million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside of modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, Georgia, Germany, Lebanon and Syria. With the exceptions of Iran and the former Soviet states, the present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian Genocide, most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a non-Chalcedonian church, which is the worlds oldest national church. Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus death, due to the efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew, in the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, the name Armenian has come to internationally designate this group of people.
It was first used by neighbouring countries of ancient Armenia, the earliest attestations of the exonym Armenia date around the 6th century BC. In his trilingual Behistun Inscription dated to 517 BC, Darius I the Great of Persia refers to Urashtu as Armina (in Old Persian and Harminuya. In Greek, Αρμένιοι Armenians is attested from about the same time, xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians and it is further postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. Movses Khorenatsi, the important early medieval Armenian historian, wrote that the word Armenian originated from the name Armenak or Aram, the Armenian Highland lies in the highlands surrounding Mount Ararat, the highest peak of the region. In the Bronze Age, several states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire, soon after Hayasa-Azzi were Arme-Shupria, the Nairi and the Kingdom of Urartu, who successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland.
Each of the nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people. Under Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire reached the Caucasus Mountains, the modern capital of Armenia, was founded in 782 BC by king Argishti I. T. Gamkrelidze and V. Ivanov proposed the Indo-European homeland around the Armenian Highland, eric P. Hamp in his 2012 Indo-European family tree, groups the Armenian language along with Greek and Ancient Macedonian in the Pontic Indo-European subgroup. In Hamps view the homeland of this subgroup is the northeast coast of the Black Sea and he assumes that they migrated from there southeast through the Caucasus with the Armenians remaining after Batumi while the pre-Greeks proceeded westwards along the southern coast of the Black Sea. However, fresh genetics studies explain Armenian diversity by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between ~3,000 and ~2,000 b. c
Ankara
Ankara, formerly known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of the Republic of Turkey. With a population of 4,587,558 in the center and 5,150,072 in its province. Ankara was Atatürks headquarters from 1920 and has been the capital of the Republic since its founding in 1923, the government is a prominent employer, but Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city, located at the center of Turkeys road and railway networks. The city gave its name to the Angora wool shorn from Angora rabbits, the long-haired Angora goat, the area is known for its pears and muscat grapes. Ankara is an old city with various Hittite, Hellenistic, Byzantine. The historical center of town is a hill rising 150 m over the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya River. The hill remains crowned by the ruins of the old citadel, as with many ancient cities, Ankara has gone by several names over the ages. It has been identified with the Hittite cult center Ankuwaš, although remains a matter of debate.
In classical antiquity and during the period, the city was known as Ánkyra in Greek and Ancyra in Latin. Following its annexation by the Seljuk Turks in 1073, the city known in many European languages as Angora. The form Angora is preserved in the names of breeds of different kinds of animals. The oldest settlements in and around the city center of Ankara belonged to the Hattic civilization which existed during the Bronze Age and was gradually absorbed c, 2000–1700 BC by the Indo-European Hittites. In Phrygian tradition, King Midas was venerated as the founder of Ancyra, but Pausanias mentions that the city was far older. Persian sovereignty lasted until the Persians defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great who conquered the city in 333 BC, Alexander came from Gordion to Ankara and stayed in the city for a short period. After his death at Babylon in 323 BC and the subsequent division of his empire among his generals, Ankara, by that time the city took its name Ἄγκυρα which, in slightly modified form, provides the modern name of Ankara.
Other centers were Pessinos, todays Balhisar, for the Trocmi tribe, the city was known as Ancyra. The Celtic element was probably relatively small in numbers, an aristocracy which ruled over Phrygian-speaking peasants. However, the Celtic language continued to be spoken in Galatia for many centuries
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument, brush, a contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as, the art of giving form to signs in an expressive and skillful manner. Modern calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable, classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may practice both. It is used for props and moving images for film and television, testimonials and death certificates, the principal tools for a calligrapher are the pen and the brush. Calligraphy pens write with nibs that may be flat, for some decorative purposes, multi-nibbed pens—steel brushes—can be used. However, works have created with felt-tip and ballpoint pens. There are some styles of calligraphy, like Gothic script, which require a stub nib pen, Writing ink is usually water-based and is much less viscous than the oil-based inks used in printing.
Normally, light boxes and templates are used to achieve straight lines without pencil markings detracting from the work, ruled paper, either for a light box or direct use, is most often ruled every quarter or half inch, although inch spaces are occasionally used. This is the case with litterea unciales, and college-ruled paper often acts as a guideline well, common calligraphy pens and brushes are, Quill Dip pen Ink brush Qalam Fountain pen Western calligraphy is recognizable by the use of the Latin script. The Latin alphabet appeared about 600 BC, in Rome, and by the first century developed into Roman imperial capitals carved on stones, Rustic capitals painted on walls, in the second and third centuries the uncial lettering style developed. As writing withdrew to monasteries, uncial script was more suitable for copying the Bible. It was the monasteries which preserved calligraphic traditions during the fourth and fifth centuries, at the height of the Empire, its power reached as far as Great Britain, when the empire fell, its literary influence remained.
The Semi-uncial generated the Irish Semi-uncial, the small Anglo-Saxon, each region developed its own standards following the main monastery of the region, which are mostly cursive and hardly readable. Christian churches promoted the development of writing through the copying of the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Two distinct styles of writing known as uncial and half-uncial developed from a variety of Roman bookhands, the 7th-9th centuries in northern Europe were the heyday of Celtic illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Durrow, Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells. Charlemagnes devotion to improved scholarship resulted in the recruiting of a crowd of scribes, according to Alcuin, Alcuin developed the style known as the Caroline or Carolingian minuscule. The first manuscript in hand was the Godescalc Evangelistary — a Gospel book written by the scribe Godescalc. Carolingian remains the one hand from which modern booktype descends
Emir Sultan Mosque
Emir Sultan Mosque is a mosque in Bursa, Turkey. First built in the 14th century, it was rebuilt in 1804 upon the orders of the Ottoman Sultan Selim III, and re-built again in 1868, along slightly varying plans each time. Emir Sultan, known as Şemseddin Mehmed Ali el-Hüseyin el Buhari, was a dervish and scholar from Bukhara and the advisor and son-in-law of the Ottoman Sultan Sultan, Bayezid I. The present-day mosque, bearing his epithet Emir Sultan, and situated in Bursa quarter of the name, was built after the collapse of the original 14th-century monument in the 1766 earthquake. Although the materials and the location were maintained, the style was adjusted to reflect the design that came into fashion in the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. Following 1855 Bursa earthquake, the mosque and the mausoleum of Emir Sultan was rebuilt again in 1868 by Sultan Abdülaziz, the mosque and mausoleum stand on opposite sides of a large courtyard with large basin at the entrance. The courtyard entrances are on the east and the west and the mosque, a wooden arcade with pointed arches wraps around the courtyard and rises to form portals with tall domes at bays leading into the buildings.
The mosque, on the south, is a tall single-unit prayer hall of masonry construction, there are two minarets at its corners on the north. The mausoleum, on the south, is composed of a room in the center and smaller rooms to its sides and houses the tombs of Emir Sultan. Other rooms on the corner of the courtyard are for use by imams. An old cemetery covers the downside of the hill from the complex, hundi Hatun, the wife of Emir Sultan and daughter of Bayezid I, built the hamam to the south of the mosque. There are numerous historic fountains scattered around the complex, the earliest dating from 1743, Istanbul, Türkiye Anıt Çevre Turizm Değerlerini Koruma Vakfı. Imperial Istanbul, a guide, includes Iznik, Bursa. Photos of Emir Sultan mosque The mosque in 38 pictures
Bayezid I Mosque
Bayzid I Mosque is a historic mosque in Bursa, that is part of the large complex built by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I between 1391-1395. It is situated in Bursa metropolitan district of Yıldırım, named after the same sultan and it underwent extensive renovation following the 1855 Bursa earthquake. The mosque comprises a hall with a large dome flanked by eyvans on the east and west with smaller domes. There are four rooms with fireplaces and cupboards to the north and south of side of the eyvans, the southern rooms are accessed directly from the central hall while the northern rooms are accessed thought small vestibules. Each northern room contains two niches on the sides that are accessed through the vestibules. The entrance hall of the mosque features high domed ceilings, the last prayer section is built with five sub-sections and each subsection is covered with an individual dome. In the Yıldırım Camii, all three eyvans were built three steps higher than the central hall, Yıldırım Camii was the first structure where a Bursa Arch was implemented.
This flattened arch is located in between the hall and south eyvan and connects and supports the two large domes. There are two minarets on the sides of the mosque, unlike similar mosques of its time in Bursa, Yıldırım Camii was constructed entirely out of dimension stones and bricks were not used in any part of the mosque. Yildirim Bayezid Külliyesi, Archnet Some 45 pictures of the complex
Balyan family
The Balyan family was a prominent Armenian family of Ottoman court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and members of the Ottoman dynasty during the 18th and 19th centuries. The nine well-known members of the family served six sultans in the course of almost a century, Mason Bali, a masonry craftsman from the Belen village of Karaman in central Anatolia, was the founder of the dynasty. He moved to Constantinople, where he learned of an Armenian palace architect of Sultan Mehmed IV, when Bali died in 1725, his son Magar took his place as architect at the sultan’s court. Architect Magar was charged with important projects and was frequently promoted to higher ranks. However, as a result of a denunciation, he was away from the court of Sultan Mahmud I to exile in the eastern Anatolian town of Bayburt. There, Magar taught his elder son Krikor architecture before being pardoned, following his retirement, his son Krikor took over his position. Magar’s second son Senekerim collaborated with his brother Krikor and he was called Baliyan or Balyan after his grandfather and adopted this as the family name Balyan.
He was the son-in-law of Mason Minas and father-in-law of Ohannes Amira Severyan, Krikor received his credential of architecture from Sultan Abdul Hamid I. He became unofficial advisor to Sultan Selim III, and was close to Sultan Mahmud II and he was exiled in 1820 to Kayseri in central Anatolia, because of his involvement in a dispute between Gregorian and Catholic Armenians. He was pardoned and allowed to return to Constantinople shortly after a friend of his in the palace, Krikor died in 1831 after serving the empire during the reigns of four sultans, Abdul Hamid I, Selim III, Mustafa IV ), and Mahmud II. His young and inexperienced son Garabet Amira succeeded him and he worked together with his brother, but remained in the background. He rebuilt the Beyazit Fire Tower, which had constructed in wood in 1826 by his brother Krikor. He died in Jerusalem and was buried in the Armenian church yard, senekerims works include the Beyazıt Fire Tower and the Surp Asdvadzazdin Armenian Church in Ortaköy.
Garabet Amira Balyan was born in Constantinople, at his fathers death, he was very young and not experienced enough to take over his fathers position by himself. Thus he served alongside his uncle-in-law Mason Ohannes Serveryan, Garabet served during the reigns of Mahmud II, Abdul Mecid I, and Abdulaziz, and constructed numerous buildings in Constantinople. The best known of his works is Dolmabahçe Palace, which he built in collaboration with his son Nigoğayos, another notable architectural work of his is Beylerbeyi Palace, which was built in cooperation with his other son Sarkis. Garabet Balyan was active in the Armenian communitys educational and administrative matters and his four sons, Nigoğayos, Sarkis and Simon, succeeded him after he died of a heart attack in 1866 while conversing with friends. In 1843, he was sent to Paris together with his brother Sarkis to study architecture at the Collège Sainte-Barbe de Paris, due to an illness, however, he and his brother had to return to Constantinople in 1845
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