The Protection of Historical Artifacts in Ottoman Empire: The Permanent Council for the Protection of Ancient Artifacts

Abstract

The historical artifacts that reveal the social, political, aesthetic, moral, architectural, etc. stages, through which the human beings have been; which transfer and reveal information from past to present and future; which have an artistic, historical or archaeological importance are very important physical elements that the present-day civilized societies protect or must protect as cultural values. Such works both strengthen the ties to the past due to the transfer of cultural heritage to existing and future generations and plays a very important role in the writing of the past through the data provided to the researchers. The protection of the historical artifacts was under sharia laws until 1858 in Ottoman Empire, since then, some regulations were done about this issue, in the end, The Permanent Council for the Protection of Ancient Artifacts was established on 21 May 1917 and they reported their one-year activities. In the report prepared by the Council, the first point that draws attention is the fact that they divide Istanbul into two parts as old and new. While the old Istanbul draws attention with the artifacts of Rome and Byzantium and is the region to which the archaeologists give great importance; the new Istanbul is the eximious Istanbul that started after the conquest, formed with the examples of beautiful lore artifacts and examples of the civilization. Another important detail of the report is the emphasis on the fact that the Ottoman Turks left the artifacts which demonstrate that “the lore of the Ottoman Turks and their ability in civilization cannot be rejected and denied”. When both the Turkish presence in Istanbul and the similar proclamations of the right to life of the Turks here are brought together, the same emphasis is seen that as well as the protection of historical artifacts, the Permanent Council for the Protection of Ancient Artifacts tried to prove its reasonable and legal grounds of its presence in the Ottoman territories, particularly in İstanbul. Within the scope of this study, the point of view of the Ottoman State towards the historical artifacts before the establishment of the Permanent Council for the Protection of Ancient and the establishment, functioning, duties and activities of the before-said council are tried to be explained.