Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, June 2008.

This thesis presents and discusses the conservation history of the archaeological and architectural heritage on Alaeddin Hill in Konya, its close surroundings, and the mentioned area itself as the cultural heritage. The aim of this discussion is, to emphasize the necessity for the preparation of studies like this one before the decision making processes in the urban areas, where the archaeological and architectural heritage are located in a multi-layered structure. This thesis also comprises a methodology proposal for similar studies of the future. The discussed period begins in 1867 dated fire, which resulted in changes in the urban fabric of Konya, and extends to 2009. This period is divided into seven sub periods for this discussion by some significant dates, which are accepted as breaking points, and different types of conservation related events are studied with their components. The thesis ends with the postscript, in which the studied processes and the applied methodology are evaluated.

In this ethnobotanical study, an ethnoarchaeological approach was adopted for the archaeological implications of the importance of wild food plants and their dietary uses in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods in Central Anatolia by exploring the dietary uses of these plants by the modern villagers of Konya Basin. The study was based on the indigenous knowledge of the modern villagers of Konya of managing wild food plant resource in their surroundings for the dietary uses. This knowledge was explored through ethnobotanical research strategies. The study was limited by both the research subject and the area for a better focus on the research. The geographical borders were limited to Central Anatolia as it included Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites with detailed archaeological investigations and it made a comparison available between different geographical zones. Because it was possible to study similar environments today in the Konya Basin, nine modern villages to collect ethnobotanical data were chosen from three different environmental zones in this area, which included wetland, forest and steppe zones. The wild fruit, nut and tuber species recovered from the archaeological excavations were selected for study in their current natural environments. The different strategies of harvesting, processing and storage local people used for the consumption of each plant species provided useful implications to archaeological recoveries.

The subject of this thesis is the restoration project of Zazadin Han, which is a 13th century Seljukid caravanserai near Konya. Following a brief description of the building, the values of the building and the aim of study are discussed in the introduction chapter. It is followed by the methodology of the study, detailed description of the building, analysis about the structural, material and construction features of the Han, historical study about the building type and the building itself, respectively. The restitution chapter is based on the information gathered in the previous parts. In the last chapter, a restoration project is proposed for Zazadin han.

This thesis aims to revise the established history of the passage of the Second Crusade through the Byzantine Empire and Anatolia in 1147. In particular, it seeks to readdress the ill-fated advance of the army nominally headed by King Conrad III Staufen of Germany towards Ikonion, the fledging Seljuk capital of RÅ«m. The work consists of four mutually supportive parts. Part I serves to introduce the thesis, the historiographical trends of the current scholarship, and the Byzantine notion of the Latin 'barbarian', a stock, literary representation of the non-Greek other which distorts the Greek textual evidence. Part II analyses the source portrayal of particular incidents as the army marched through the Byzantine Empire, provides analyses of those events based on new approaches to interpreting the sources and a consideration of the army's logistical arrangements, and argues that the traditional historiography has been and continues to be subject to textual misrepresentation. An understanding of the topology of Anatolia is required to appreciate why the army failed to reach Ikonion. Part III therefore consists of chapters devoted to the geography of Anatolia, the form, function and the population density of the typical twelfth-century town, the country's changeable medieval geopolitical landscape, and the settlement patterns and the way of life of western Anatolia's pastoral-nomadic warriors. Part IV revisits the Latin, Syriac and Greek sources which constitute the written history of the crusade in Anatolia, analyses the concerns of the army's executive decision makers within geopolitical, logistical, topographical and tactical frameworks, and offers a reconsideration of the established location of where the army ceased to advance on Ikonion, and a new version of the circumstances which led to the decision to retreat.

This dissertation is the first book-length study to analyse the production and patronage of Islamic illuminated manuscripts in late medieval RÅ«m in their fullest cultural contexts and in relation to the arts of the book of neighbouring regions. Although research concerning the artistic landscapes of late medieval Rūm has made significant progress in recent years, the development of the arts of the book and the nature of their patronage and production has yet to be fully addressed. The topic also remains relatively neglected in the wider field of Islamic art history. This thesis considers the arts of the book and the part they played in artistic life within contemporary scholarly frameworks that emphasise inclusivity, diversity and fluidity. Such frameworks acknowledge the period's ethnic and religious pluralism, the extent of cross-cultural exchange, the region's complex political situation after the breakdown in Seljuk rule, and the itinerancy of scholars, Sufis and craftsmen. Analyses are based on the codicological examination of sixteen illuminated Persian and Arabic manuscripts, none of which have been published in depth. In order to appropriately assess the material and to partially redress scholarly emphases on the constituent arts of the book (calligraphy, illumination, illustration and binding), the manuscripts are considered as whole objects. The manuscripts' ample inscriptions also help to form a clearer picture of contemporary artistic life. Evidence from further illuminated and non-illuminated manuscripts and other textual and material primary sources is also examined. Based on this evidence, this dissertation demonstrates that Rūm's towns had active cultural scenes despite the frequent outbreak of hostilities and the absence of an effective centralised government. The lavishness of some manuscripts from this period also challenges the often-assumed connection between dynastic patronage and sophisticated artistic production. Furthermore, the identities and affiliations of those involved in the production and patronage of illuminated manuscripts reinforces the impression of an ethnically and religiously diverse environment and highlights the role that local amīrs and Sufi dervishes in particular had in the creation of such material.