Antikitenin Gasp Edilişi: Batılı Seyyahlar, Lykia Anıtları ve Osmanlı Kültürel Egemenliğinin Kökenler
GÜLSÜN ACAR
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9498-1318
PHASELIS XII (2026) 15-49
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19466432
Geliş Tarihi: 08.01.2026 | Kabul Tarihi: 17.03.2026
Elektronik Yayın Tarihi: 09.04.2026
Abstract: Focusing on the geographies of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia, this article problematizes the 19th century expeditions of Western travelers and archaeologists (C. Fellows, T. A. B. Spratt, E. Forbes, E. T. Daniell, J. A. Schönborn and O. Benndorf). While traditionally framed as scientific progress and the preservation of universal heritage, these missions are analyzed through an epistemological and ontological perspective to expose their underlying extractive nature. The study examines the transition from romantic antiquarianism to multidisciplinary topographic archaeology, driven by cartography, visibility analyses, and epigraphic documentation. It argues that massive logistical extractions, such as the transfers of the Trysa Heroon to Vienna and the Nereid Monument to the British Museum, constituted ontological ruptures. These events necessitated a reconstruction of cultural property perception within the Ottoman Empire. Grounded in primary travelogues and unexplored documents from the Ottoman Archives (BOA), the research demonstrates how this evolved into a bureaucratic and legal reflex of sovereignty, culminating in the 1884 Antiquities Regulation (Âsâr-ı Atîka Nizamnâmesi) under Osman Hamdi Bey. Ultimately, the article exposes the historical conflict between metropolitan museums severing objects from their contexts and the emerging Ottoman ideal of in situ preservation, showing how Western exploration paradoxically catalyzed Ottoman cultural independence.
Keywords: Archaeological Historiography, 19th Century Travelers, Lycian Studies, Cultural Property, Ottoman Antiquities Legislation
Öz: Pamphylia ve Kilikia coğrafyalarına odaklanan bu makale, 19. yüzyıl Batılı seyyah ve arkeologlarının (C. Fellows, T. A. B. Spratt, E. Forbes, E. T. Daniell, J. A. Schönborn ve O. Benndorf) keşif faaliyetlerini sorunsallaştırmaktadır. Geleneksel olarak bilimsel ilerleme ve evrensel mirasın korunması çerçevesinde ele alınan bu misyonlar, temelindeki kaynak aktarımcı doğayı ortaya koymak amacıyla epistemolojik ve ontolojik bir perspektifle analiz edilmektedir. Çalışma, haritacılık, görünürlük analizleri ve epigrafik belgeleme gibi yöntemlerin yönlendirdiği, romantik antikacılıktan multidisipliner topoğrafik arkeolojiye geçiş sürecini incelemektedir. Trysa Heroonu’nun Viyana’ya ve Nereidler Anıtı’nın British Museum’a taşınması gibi devasa lojistik operasyonların ontolojik kırılmalar yarattığı savunulmaktadır. Bu olaylar, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda kültürel varlık algısının yeniden inşasını zorunlu kılmıştır. Birincil seyahatnameler ve Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA) belgelerine dayanan araştırma, söz konusu sürecin, Osman Hamdi Bey öncülüğünde 1884 Âsâr-ı Atîka Nizamnâmesi ile zirveye ulaşan bürokratik ve hukuki bir egemenlik refleksine nasıl dönüştüğünü göstermektedir. Sonuç olarak makale, metropol müzelerinin nesneyi bağlamından koparma eylemi ile Osmanlı’nın filizlenen in situ koruma ideali arasındaki tarihsel çatışmayı gözler önüne sermekte; Batılı keşif faaliyetlerinin paradoksal bir şekilde Osmanlı’nın kültürel bağımsızlığını nasıl hızlandırdığını ortaya koymaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Arkeoloji Tarihyazımı, 19. Yüzyıl Seyyahları, Lykia Araştırmaları, Kültürel Varlık, Osmanlı Âsâr-ı Atîka Mevzuatı
Analiz
Acar G. 2020, Batılı Seyyahların Gözüyle Likya: Keşif, Algı ve Siyaset [Lycia Through the Eyes of Western Travelers: Exploration, Perception, and Politics]. İstanbul.
Akşit C. 2006, Lykia Tarihi [History of Lycia]. İstanbul.
Arkwright W. 1892, The Lycian Alphabet. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 13, 323-328.
Bean G. E. 1978, Lycian Turkey: An Archaeological Guide. London.
Bousquet J. 1975, L’épigramme grecque de la stèle de Xanthos. Revue des Études Grecques, 88.
Braudel F. 1989, Akdeniz ve Akdeniz Dünyası: II. Philip Dönemi [The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II]. Vol. 1. Translated by M. A. Kılıçbay. İstanbul.
Bryce T. R. & Zahle J. 1986, The Lycians: A Study of Lycian History and Civilisation. Copenhagen.
Cezar M. 1995. Sanatta Batı’ya Açılış ve Osman Hamdi [The Opening to the West in Art and Osman Hamdi]. İstanbul.
Challis D. 2008, From the Harpy Tomb to the Wonders of Ephesus: British Archaeologists in the Ottoman Empire 1840-1880. London.
Çelik Z. 2016, About Antiquities: Politics of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire. Austin.
Çelik Z. 2024, Antiquities: The Politics of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire. İstanbul.
Çevik N. 2021, Lykia Kitabı: Arkeolojisi, Tarihi ve Kültürüyle Batı Antalya [The Book of Lycia: Western Antalya with its Archaeology, History, and Culture]. Ankara.
Demargne P. 1958, Fouilles de Xanthos, Tome I: Les piliers funéraires. Paris.
Drummond A. 1754, Travels Through Different Cities of Germany, Italy, Greece, and Several Parts of Asia. London.
Dusinberre E. R. M. 2015, Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia. Cambridge.
Dyson S. L. 2008, In Pursuit of Ancient Pasts: A History of Classical Archaeology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New Haven. Eldem E. 2010a, An Ottoman Archaeologist Caught Between Two Worlds: Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910). Ed. D. Shankland, Archaeology, Anthropology and Heritage in the Balkans and Anatolia. İstanbul, 121-150.
Eldem E. 2010b, Osman Hamdi Bey Sözlüğü [Osman Hamdi Bey Dictionary]. İstanbul.
Faroqhi Suraiya 1984, Towns and Townsmen of Ottoman Anatolia: Trade, Crafts and Food Production in an Urban Setting, 1520-1650. Cambridge.
Friendly, Alfred, 1977, Beaufort of the Admiralty: The Life of Sir Francis Beaufort 1774–1857. London.
Gran-Aymerich E. 2007, Les chercheurs de passé: 1798-1945. Paris.
Horden P. & Purcell N. 2000, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History. Oxford.
Houwink ten Cate P. H. J. 1961, The Luwian Population Groups of Lycia and Cilicia Aspera during the Hellenistic Period. Leiden.
Jenkins I. 1992, Archaeologists and Aesthetes: The Sculpture Collections of the British Museum 1800-1939. London.
Jenkins I. 2006, Greek Architecture and its Sculpture in the British Museum. London.
Kalinka E. 1901, Tituli Asiae Minoris Vol. I: Tituli Lyciae Lingua Lycia Conscripti. Vindobonae.
Kalinka E. (ed.)., 1920-1944. Tituli Asiae Minoris, Volumen II: Tituli Lyciae linguis Graeca et Latina conscripti (Fasc. 1-3). Vindobonae.
Keen A. G. 1998, Dynastic Lycia: A Political History of the Lycians. Leiden: Brill.
Keil Josef 1946, “Ernst Kalinka”. Anzeiger der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 83.
Landskron A. 2015, Das Heroon von Trysa: Ein Denkmal in Lykien zwischen Ost und West: Untersuchungen zu Bildschmuck, Bauform und Grabinhaber. Wien.
Marchand S. L. 1996, Down from Olympus: Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany, 1750-1970. Princeton.
Marchand S. L. 2009, German Orientalism in the Age of Empire. Cambridge.
Meiggs R. 1972, The Athenian Empire. Oxford.
Melchert H. C. 2008, “Lycian”. Ed. R. D. Woodard, The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor. Cambridge, 46-55 .
Mumcu A. 1969, Eski Eserler Hukuku ve Türkiye [Antiquities Law and Turkey]. Ankara.
Neumann G. 1979, Neufunde lykischer Inschriften seit 1901. Wien.
Oberleitner W. 1994, Das Heroon von Trysa: Ein lykisches Fürstengrab mit homerischen Sagendarstellungen. Mainz.
Pedersen H. 1945, Lykisch und Hittitisch. Copenhagen.
Perez N. N. 1988, Focus on the East: Early Photographers in the Near East. Jerusalem: Domino Press.
Ptolemaios Klaudios 2006, Handbuch der Geographie: Griechisch-Deutsch. Ed. A. Stückelberger & G. Graßhoff Vols. 1-2. Basel.
Shaw W. M. K. 2003, Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire. California.
Slatter E. 1994, Xanthus: Travels of Discovery in Turkey. London.
Society of Dilettanti 1840, Antiquities of Ionia: Published by the Society of Dilettanti, Part III. London.
Stoneman R. 2010, Land of Lost Gods: The Search for Classical Greece. London.
Şahin, S. & Adak M. 2014, Stadiasmus Patarensis: Likya Eyaleti Roma Yolları [Stadiasmus Patarensis: Roman Roads of the Lycian Province]. İstanbul.
Tekin M. E. & Arslan M. 2025, “Archaeological Imperialism and Legal Resistance: Paradigmatic Transformations in Nineteenth Century Greek, Egyptian, and Ottoman Cultural Heritage Law”. Phaselis XI, 127-145.
Viollet-le-Duc, E.- E. 1863, Entretiens sur l’architecture (Tome Premier). Paris.
Wiltshire R. 2024, “Graves’ Concerns: The 1841–2 Xanthos Expedition”. The Antiquaries Journal 104, 343–365.
Yakubovich I. 2007, “Review of The Luwians, edited by H. Craig Melchert”. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 66/2, 140–144.
Zimmermann M. 1992, Untersuchungen zur historischen Landeskunde Zentrallykiens. Bonn.
Travellers and Travel Accounts
Beaufort F. 1817, Karamania, Or, A Brief Description of the South Coast of Asia-Minor and of the Remains of Antiquity. London.
Benndorf O. & Niemann G. 1884, Reisen in Lykien und Karien. Wien.
Benndorf O. & Niemann G. 1889, Das Heroon von Gjölbaschi-Trysa. Wien.
Barry A. 1867, The Life and Works of Sir Charles Barry. London.
Chandler R. 1775, Travels in Asia Minor. Oxford.
Chandler R. 1825, Travels in Asia Minor and Greece (Ed. N. Revett). Oxford.
Cockerell C. R. 1860, The Temples of Jupiter Panhellenius at Aegina, and of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae. London.
Cockerell C. R. 1903, Travels in southern Europe and the Levant, 1810-1817: The journal of C. R. Cockerell, R.A. (S. P. Cockerell, Ed.). London.
Fellows C. 1839, A Journal Written During an Excursion in Asia Minor. London.
Fellows C., 1841, An Account of Discoveries in Lycia, Being a Journal Kept During a Second Excursion in Asia Minor. London.
Fellows C. 1843. The Xanthian Marbles: Their Acquisition, and Transmission to England. London.
Lanckoroński K., Niemann G. & E. Petersen 1890, Städte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens (Band 1: Pamphylien). Wien.
Langlois V. 1861, Voyage dans la Cilicie et dans les montagnes du Taurus. Paris.
Leake W. M. 1824, Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor. London.
Luschan F. 1889, “Anthropologie”. Reisen im südwestlichen Kleinasien, Vol. II. (Ed. E. Petersen & F. von Luschan). Wien, 198-212.
Petersen E. & Luschan, F. v. 1889, Reisen in Lykien, Milyas und Kibyratis. Wien.
Pococke R. 1743, A Description of the East and Some Other Countries. London.
Ritter C. 1859. Die Erdkunde im Verhältniß zur Natur und zur Geschichte des Menschen, Theil 19, West-Asien (Kleinasien, Band II). Berlin, 1135-1139.
Ruskin J. 1849, The Seven Lamps of Architecture. London.
Scharf G. 1841, Lycian Sketches. London.
Sharpe D. 1841, “Appendix B: An Essay on the Lycian Language, elucidating the Characters upon the Coins of the Ancient Inhabitants and many of the Inscriptions brought from Lycia”. Ed. Charles Fellows, An Account of Discoveries in Lycia, being a Journal kept during a Second Excursion in Asia Minor. London, 427-520.
Spratt T. A. B. & Forbes E. 1847, Travels in Lycia, Milyas, and the Cibyratis, in Company with the Late Rev. E. T. Daniell (Vol. I-II). London.
Spratt T. A. B. 1865, Travels and Researches in Crete (Volume II). London.
Solly Nathaniel Neal 1875, Memoir of the Life of William James Müller, a Native of Bristol, Landscape and Figure Painter: with Original Letters and an Account of his Travels and of his Principal Works.
Texier C. 1839, Description de l’Asie Mineure: faite par ordre du gouvernement français de 1833 à 1837, (Tome 1). Paris.
Archival Documents
Republic of Türkiye, Directorate of State Archives, Ottoman Archives (BOA)
BOA, A.MKT. 40/63, 1258 (1842). Sadaret Mektubî Kalemi [Office of the Grand Vizier’s Secretariat].
BOA, HR.TO. 167/66, 1841-1842. Hariciye Nezareti Tercüme Odası [Foreign Ministry Translation Office].
BOA, İ.MSM. 12/285, 1257 (1841). Mesail-i Mühimme İradeleri [Decrees on Important Affairs].
BOA, MF.MKT. 77/59, 17 September 1882. Maarif Nezareti Mektubî Kalemi [Ministry of Education Secretariat].
Internet Sources
Society of Dilettanti, 1840, Antiquities of Ionia: Published by the Society of Dilettanti (Part III). London: W. Nicol. https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4326.
Ptolemaios, Klaudios, ca. 1460-1480, Geographia, Manuscript, ff. 31v-32r. HM 1092. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Digital Archive No: 46301. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll7/id/46301.
Leake, William Martin, 1824, Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor: With Comparative Remarks on the Ancient and Modern Geography of That Country. London: John Murray. Accessed via: https://archive.org/details/gri_000033125011216732.
Beaufort, Francis, 1817, Karamania, or, A Brief Description of the South Coast of Asia-Minor and of the Remains of Antiquity. London: R. Hunter. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6c4GAAAAQAAJ.
Wiltshire, Roswyn, 2024, “Graves’ Concerns: The 1841–2 Xanthos Expedition”. The Antiquaries Journal 104, 343-365. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003581524000155.
Scharf, George, 1843-1844, View of the Remains of the Nereid Monument at Xanthus. Drawing on paper, 355 x 506 mm. Museum Number: 2012,5034.5. The British Museum, London. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_2012-5034-5.
Fellows, Charles, 1841, An Account of Discoveries in Lycia, Being a Journal Kept During a Second Excursion in Asia Minor. London: John Murray. https://archive.org/details/accountofdiscov00fell.
Fellows, Charles, 1843, The Xanthian Marbles: Their Acquisition, and Transmission to England. London: John Murray. https://archive.org/details/xanthianmarblest00fell.
Daniell, Edward Thomas, 1842, View of the Acropolis of Xanthus, with the Theatre and Harpy Tomb. Pencil and watercolor, 247 x 337 mm. Museum Number: 1872,1109.18. The British Museum, London. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1872-1109-18.
Benndorf, Otto & George Niemann, 1889, Das Heroon von Gjölbaschi-Trysa. Wien: Adolf Holzhausen. https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/trysa1889.
Acar G. 2026, “The Expropriation of Antiquity: Western Travelers, Lycian Monuments, and the Origins of Ottoman Cultural Sovereignty”. Phaselis XII, 15-49. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19466432
Gülsün ACAR
PhD Cand., Akdeniz University, Mediterranean Civilizations Research Institute, Department of Mediterranean Antiquity Studies, Antalya, gulsunacar952@gmail.com | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9910-9492