The Concept of “Tap” in Foundation Documents and a Survey on Their On-Site Examples in Istanbul
Muradiye Şimşek, Nilgün ÇevrimliOne of the foundation types of which the largest numbers of pious foundations were established in the history of waqf is water foundations. It is known that all kinds of services related to water, which are considered among the municipal services today, were provided through pious foundations at that time. In many of the foundations established for this purpose by high-ranking people such as Sultans, Lady Sultans, Pashas and other benefactors, many structures have been built at every stage of the water process from its source to being made available to people. Waterways, canals, wells, maksems, charis, kastels, fountains, water scales, water treasuries, fountains, stone tanks (e.i. musluk) and similar water structures built for the daily water needs of people were generally defined in foundation charters such as sikâye, sâkiye, ebniye-i mâ and ebniye-i sikâye.
In this study, among these structures, the elements defined as “tap” (e.i. musluk) in the foundation charters, where water meets people and from where people receive direct service, which has not been extensively studied until now are included. First of all, the importance of water in established foundations, the factors underlying the establishment of water foundations and the meanings of the term “tap” in foundation charters are expressed with examples. It has been determined that the term “tap” is used in more than one sense; therefore, is grouped into four main headings. It was figured out that the most interesting and the least studied ones of these are the special types of taps defined by the term “stone tank, (taş tekne)” or “stone tap (taş musluk)”. In the site survey, the stone taps in Istanbul, where the examples with the most foundation charter records do exist, were tried to be identified through the records, and the examples matching the records in the site were examined in terms of originality, form, material and ornamental features.
Vakıf Belgelerinde “Musluk” Kavramı ve İstanbul’daki Örneklerine İlişkin Bir Araştırma
Muradiye Şimşek, Nilgün ÇevrimliOsmanlı tarihinde kurulan vakıflar arasında su vakıflarının önemli bir yeri vardır. Günümüzde beledî hizmetler arasında sayılan su ile ilgili her türlü hizmetin o dönemde vakıflar aracılığıyla verildiği bilinmektedir. Başta padişahlar, hanım sultanlar, paşalar gibi üst düzey kişilerin yanı sıra diğer hayır sahiplerince kurulan vakıfların birçoğunda, suyun kaynağından insanların hizmetine sunuluncaya kadar geçtiği her aşamada pek çok yapı inşa edilmiştir. İnsanların günlük su ihtiyacı için inşa edilen suyolları, kanallar, kuyular, maksemler, karizler, kasteller, sebiller, su terazileri, su hazineleri, çeşmeler, musluklar ve benzeri su yapıları vakfiyelerde genel anlamda sikâye, sâkiye, ebniye-i mâ, ebniye-i sikâye şeklinde tanımlanmıştır.
Bu çalışmada bugüne kadar kapsamlı bir biçimde incelenmemiş olan, insanların suyla buluştuğu ve doğrudan hizmet aldığı bu yapılardan vakfiyelerde “musluk” şeklinde tanımlanan ögelere yer verilmiştir. Öncelikle, kurulan vakıflarda suyun önemi, su vakıfları kurulmasının temelinde yatan unsurlar ve “musluk” teriminin vakfiyelerde hangi anlamlara geldiği örneklerle ortaya konmuştur. Musluk teriminin birden fazla anlamda kullanıldığı tespit edilmiş ve dört ana başlık altında gruplandırılmıştır. Bunlardan en ilgi çekici olan ve en az araştırılan muslukların ise “taş tekne” veya “taş musluk” terimi ile tanımlanan türdeki musluk örnekleri olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Saha çalışmasında, bu konuda en çok vakfiye kaydı bulunan örneklerin yer aldığı İstanbul’daki taş musluklar vakfiye kayıtları üzerinden tespit edilmeye çalışılmış, kayıtlarla sahada eşleşen örnekler özgünlük, form, malzeme ve süsleme özellikleri bakımından irdelenmiştir.
Throughout the history of humanity, water has been one of the most decisive elements in the life of human beings, in terms of the geographies where civilizations were established. Especially in the religion of Islam, it has been accepted that one of the greatest rewards is to deliver water to people and other living things. These services were encouraged and expanded through foundations, which are one of the most important parts of Turkish and Islamic tradition. In the foundation civilization, which reached its peak in the Ottoman Empire, especially the sultans, lady sultans and high-level administrators had waterways and water wells dug, built maksems, fountains and public fountains and put them at the service of humanity. The endowments recorded centuries ago show how detailed these services were handled. It is noteworthy that different terminologies are used for water services in foundations. One of these terms, which draws attention in terms of the variety of usage in documents, has been the term “tap”.
As it is known, the content of some terms and concepts changes over time, leaving their place for new meanings. During the studies on ndowments, this concept was considered a subject that should be addressed later on. In this study, it has been determined that this term corresponds to more than one meaning by drawing attention to the term “tap”, which is built in the service area of water foundations and mentioned in the foundation charters, and the areas where it is used. These are; the tap as a mechanism directing the flow of water, the tap as an architectural type of edifice, the tap built within an architectural program, and the tap as a freestanding stone tank.
The types of tap in the first three groups were also emphasised with examples of the parts selected from the endowments and detailed explanations were given. It has been observed that the first group is today’s faucets, and the taps in the second group are individual foundation-originated architectural edifices and are early examples of public fountain structures built to provide water service to people, especially in hot climates during summer times. The third group of taps are elements designed together with and placed into the building within an architectural program. These are usually found in mosques for ablution areas, built as a large reservoir with taps on them, or in the form of carved stone tanks with taps placed inside a building or a wall.
The taps, on which very limited research has been done and which constitute the main subject of this study, are the individual elements that will be defined and named as stone taps in the fourth group. These are architectural elements carved from marble or stone, in the form of tanks with taps, placed in a place that is independent of the architecture but functionally related. Most of these taps are items dedicated to people for drinking water, performing ablution or watering animals in courtyards of social buildings such as mosques, madrasahs, dervish lodges and tombs, as well as near the city gates. The fact that they have been interfered with due to technological changes in water transportation over time and the portability of these taps has made it difficult to see in-situ examples today. Some of them were taken from the building they were in, transferred to another building or museum, or used for other purposes in the same location. Some of the taps have been preserved in their original states, with a well or a pump next to which water is drawn.
In this essay, especially since the term tap is frequently written in the endowments of foundations established in Istanbul, the documents about the buildings in Istanbul were studied being selected by the drilling method. Four examples found in the physical locations which are mentioned in the selected documents were evaluated in terms of forms, materials and ornaments.
The stone taps studied in this essay are rectangular, made of marble and rough-cut stone. Only one example has a stone-made cap on it. In this stone cap, a hole where the water is filled draws attention. It is understood from traces that the hole was covered with a hinged and locked bronze cover. None of the stone taps have taps, that is armatures, varying from one to five on the front and side faces. However, they have holes pointing to the armatures’ locations are visible. It was observed that, geometric niches, vegetal ornaments and inscriptions declaring the donors, who made the stone tap, in the form of cartouches were preferred in the decoration programs.
When historical buildings and their surroundings are examined in light of this information obtained from archive documents, it is possible to encounter such elements not only in Istanbul but also in many other historical settlements. For this reason, it would be scientifically beneficial to conduct more comprehensive research and a site survey on stone taps.
