New Proposals for the Brick and Tile Decorations on the Minarets of Cifte Minareli Medrese (Double Minaret Madrasah) In Sivas

With its current entrance facade and collapsed main building, Cifte Minareli Medrese (Double Minaret Madrasah) in Sivas is one of the buildings which has been the subject of various studies. We do not aim to repeat the information about the building but we wish to make new proposals about those decorations which have not been deciphered and which have been destroyed. The minarets of the building, together with their bases, were constructed with bricks and their decorations were made with bricks and tiles. Having undergone great destruction, the building has also been damaged by the restorations carried out in recent years and it has been determined that especially the decorations of the building on the minaret bases were ruined during these restorations. The arrangement worked in the ma'kili script style, in which the word "Allah (God)" was repeated, on the panel on the base of the minaret on the left (north) was intended to be made in conformity with its original, although partially. On the other hand, a decoration which seems like a geometric composition today but which has no arrangement set-up is striking on the panel on the base of the minaret on the right (south). This panel in particular has been restored very erroneously. It is clearly understood that the word "Allah (God)" was provided by placing it in four different directions and joined to a swastika motif in the middle on the panel on the left. As a result of our research, it has been established that the names "Muhammed (Muhammad)", "Ebubekir (Abu Bakr)", "Omer (Umar)", "Osman (Uthman)" and "Ali" were provided again with Arabic letters in the ma'kili script on the panel on the right. The current appearances of these panels, the originals of which the master worked on the basis of a mathematical formula in a perfect geometric system, are at an unacceptable level. The majority of the other tile decorations in the building have also been destroyed irreversibly.