Cultural Patterns in the Contexts of an Old Health Cult and the Sheikh Yusuf al-Hekim Bridge as a Votive Structure in Daphne

Ender Özbay

Article Details

Cultural Patterns in the Contexts of an Old Health Cult and the Sheikh Yusuf al-Hekim Bridge as a Votive Structure in Daphne

Authors:

Ender Özbay

Publisher:

Ege University

Main Topics:

İslam Sanatları | Sanat Tarihi | Teori ve Eleştiri (Diğer)

Journal:

Ege Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Vol.6 Issue 1, pp.65-107

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

1/2025

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001353919

pISSN:

2651-4982

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This study includes the introduction of a single-eyed, regularly cut stone bridge with an inscription that we discovered in Harbiye, Defne District of Hatay, eight kilometer south of the historical Antakya city center, known as Daphne in ancient times, which hosted temples of Zeus and Apollo, baths, villas, churches in the Byzantine period and became famous as Beytül-Mâ water house in the Ottoman Period, and a layered cultural research based on this bridge. The bridge, which is quite picturesque within the forest texture of ivy, plane trees and laurels on a stream, which is the main reason for its existence, is relatively beyond the aesthetic approach that can be expected from rural folk architecture, and imitates classical Ottoman bridges with its preferred material, knitting technique, arch form and symbolic miniature inscription kiosk. It has been understood that the bridge is a votive structure related to a health cult that developed around the legendary personality of Sheikh Yusuf el-Hekim and embodied in a group of tombs located nearby. Based on the building inscriptions, archaeological findings, historical and cultural data, the building features, the identities of the patron and master; the cult features from Asklepios to Yusuf el-Hekim as intangible cultural assets that may have affected the formation of the concrete cultural assets in question, and possible transformations, from Latakia to Antakya and Mersin, and the visuals supporting these are presented. This bridge, the associated tomb group and ancient fragments, which are rare tangible cultural assets remaining from the point of view of the town of Harbiye historical Daphne, which has reached the present day with great losses and losses of cultural values due to various destructions from its glorious past, are also important as critical cultural indicators and should be protected.

 This study includes the introduction of a single-eyed, regularly cut stone bridge with an inscription that we discovered in Harbiye, Defne District of Hatay, eight kilometer south of the historical Antakya city center, known as Daphne in ancient times, which hosted temples of Zeus and Apollo, baths, villas, churches in the Byzantine period and became famous as Beytül-Mâ water house in the Ottoman Period, and a layered cultural research based on this bridge. The bridge, which is quite picturesque within the forest texture of ivy, plane trees and laurels on a stream, which is the main reason for its existence, is relatively beyond the aesthetic approach that can be expected from rural folk architecture, and imitates classical Ottoman bridges with its preferred material, knitting technique, arch form and symbolic miniature inscription kiosk. It has been understood that the bridge is a votive structure related to a health cult that developed around the legendary personality of Sheikh Yusuf el-Hekim and embodied in a group of tombs located nearby. Based on the building inscriptions, archaeological findings, historical and cultural data, the building features, the identities of the patron and master; the cult features from Asklepios to Yusuf el-Hekim as intangible cultural assets that may have affected the formation of the concrete cultural assets in question, and possible transformations, from Latakia to Antakya and Mersin, and the visuals supporting these are presented. This bridge, the associated tomb group and ancient fragments, which are rare tangible cultural assets remaining from the point of view of the town of Harbiye historical Daphne, which has reached the present day with great losses and losses of cultural values due to various destructions from its glorious past, are also important as critical cultural indicators and should be protected.

 This study includes the introduction of a single-eyed, regularly cut stone bridge with an inscription that we discovered in Harbiye, Defne District of Hatay, eight kilometer south of the historical Antakya city center, known as Daphne in ancient times, which hosted temples of Zeus and Apollo, baths, villas, churches in the Byzantine period and became famous as Beytül-Mâ water house in the Ottoman Period, and a layered cultural research based on this bridge. The bridge, which is quite picturesque within the forest texture of ivy, plane trees and laurels on a stream, which is the main reason for its existence, is relatively beyond the aesthetic approach that can be expected from rural folk architecture, and imitates classical Ottoman bridges with its preferred material, knitting technique, arch form and symbolic miniature inscription kiosk. It has been understood that the bridge is a votive structure related to a health cult that developed around the legendary personality of Sheikh Yusuf el-Hekim and embodied in a group of tombs located nearby. Based on the building inscriptions, archaeological findings, historical and cultural data, the building features, the identities of the patron and master; the cult features from Asklepios to Yusuf el-Hekim as intangible cultural assets that may have affected the formation of the concrete cultural assets in question, and possible transformations, from Latakia to Antakya and Mersin, and the visuals supporting these are presented. This bridge, the associated tomb group and ancient fragments, which are rare tangible cultural assets remaining from the point of view of the town of Harbiye historical Daphne, which has reached the present day with great losses and losses of cultural values due to various destructions from its glorious past, are also important as critical cultural indicators and should be protected.

 Bu çalışma, Hatayın Defne İlçesinde, tarihî Antakya kent merkezinin 8 km güneyinde yer alan Harbiyede tespit ettiğimiz tek gözlü, düzgün kesme taş örgülü ve kitabeli bir köprünün tanıtımını ve bu köprüden hareketle katmanlı bir kültürel araştırmayı içermektedir. Antik dönemde Daphne olarak bilinen, Zeus, Apollon tapınaklarına, hamamlara, villalara, Bizans döneminde kiliselere evsahipliği yapmış ve Osmanlı Döneminde Beytül-Mâ su evi olarak ünlenmiş Harbiyedeki köprü, altından akan derenin vesile olduğu sarmaşıklı, çınarlı, defneli orman dokusu içinde oldukça pitoresk özelliklerde, kırsal halk mimarlığından beklenebilecek estetik yaklaşımı görece aşkın bir yapıdır. Tercih edilen malzeme, örgü tekniği, kemer formu, sembolik nitelikteki minyatür kitabe köşküyle klasik Osmanlı köprülerine öykünen bir mimarlık eseridir. Köprünün, yakınlarında bulunan, Şeyh Yusuf el-Hekim menkıbevi kişiliği etrafında gelişen ve türbeler topluluğu halinde somutlaşmış bir sağlık kültüyle ilişkili bir adak yapısı olduğu anlaşılmıştır. Makalede, yapı kitabelerinden, arkeolojik bulgulardan, tarihsel ve kültürel verilerden hareketle yapı özellikleri, bâni ve usta kimlikleri hakkında bilgi sunulmakta; söz konusu somut kültür varlıklarının oluşumunu etkilemiş olabilecek soyut kültür varlıkları olarak Asklepiostan Yusuf el-Hekim kültüne olası dönüşümler, baniler, benzerlikler bağlamlarında Antakyadan Mersine, Lazkiyeye varıncaya tespit ve değerlendirmeler yapılmaktadır. Görkemli geçmişinden günümüze türlü tahribatların yol açtığı kültürel kayıplarla, büyük değerler yitirerek ulaşan Harbiye tarihî Daphne beldesi ve Antakya açısından elde kalan nadir somut kültür varlıklarından olan bu köprü, ilişkili türbe topluluğu ve antik fragmanlar, kritik kültürel göstergeler olarak da önemlidir ve korunmalıdır.

Article Details

Cultural Patterns in the Contexts of an Old Health Cult and the Sheikh Yusuf al-Hekim Bridge as a Votive Structure in Daphne

Authors:

Ender Özbay

Publisher:

Ege University

Main Topics:

İslam Sanatları | Sanat Tarihi | Teori ve Eleştiri (Diğer)

Journal:

Ege Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Vol.6 Issue 1, pp.65-107

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

1/2025

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001353919

pISSN:

2651-4982

arch bridges

Asklepios

Antiochia

Daphne

tomb

architectural history

cult structuresköprüler

Asklepios

Antakya

Daphne

türbe

mimarlık tarihi

kült yapıları

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Ender Özbay

Publisher: Ege University

Main Topics: İslam Sanatları | Sanat Tarihi | Teori ve Eleştiri (Diğer)

Journal: Ege Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Vol.6 Issue 1, pp.65-107

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 1/2025

Document Language: Turkish

Document ID (Org No.): 2001353919

pISSN: 2651-4982

Issues

Authors:

Ender Özbay

Publisher:

Ege University

Main Topics:

İslam Sanatları | Sanat Tarihi | Teori ve Eleştiri (Diğer)

Journal:

Ege Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Vol.6 Issue 1, pp.65-107

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

1/2025

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001353919

pISSN:

2651-4982