The Mausoleum of Kara Koyunlu emirs or Mausoleum of Turkmen emirs (, ) also known as Emir Pir-Hussein Mausoleum, is a Turcoman

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

erected in 1413 and located in the village of Argavand,

Ararat Province Ararat ( hy, Արարատ, ), is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is the town of Artashat. The province is named after the biblical Mount Ararat. It is bordered by Turkey from the west and Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan ...

, on the outskirts of the

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n capital

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. The

acts as the

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

of Emir Saad, the chieftain of the Turkic Saadlu tribe, who had accompanied

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

from Central Asia.

History

The tomb was restored and ceremonially reopened to the public in 2002. In December 2012, during the high-level meeting between

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, it was proposed to jointly restore the monument and its dome. In June 2013, a project of restoration of the mausoleum was presented, and in February, 2015, the reconstruction and repair of the mausoleum by an Armenian construction company began on the order of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. There is an agreement between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia and the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan, on her part, will repair the Armenian church on the territory of Turkmenistan. J. Buchan Telfer, Captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, wrote in his 1876 book: "Near the hamlet of Djafarabad is a circular brick erection like a tower, said to be the remains of a monument raised by the Persians to commemorate a victory."

Architecture

The Kara Koyunlu mausoleum has a

decagon In geometry, a decagon (from the Greek δέκα ''déka'' and γωνία ''gonía,'' "ten angles") is a ten-sided polygon or 10-gon.. The total sum of the interior angles of a simple decagon is 1440°. A self-intersecting ''regular decagon'' i ...

al plan. Each of the monument's façades extend from the base of the tower until midway up the dome. Architecturally, it is divided into three sections; a lower section with an entrance, a middle section with two windows and decorative elements, and an upper section consisting a dome. The main body of the tower is constructed of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

stone, while

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

was used as the underlying material for the construction of the

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. Decorative elements include a blue and

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...

glazed

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

trim that is still visible along the upper portion of the tower, just below the base of the dome and above an inscription. Below the tile trim is some decorative molding, while a frieze in

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

encircles the top portion of the funerary tower is inscribed in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and begins with a famous

sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

from the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

. It then goes on to commemorate Emir Pir-Hussein, the son of Sa'ad. The inscription says: In the name of Allah gracious and merciful! Allah... there is no god besides Him, alive (or) real. Neither drowsiness nor sleep can seize Him. He owns everything in the heavens and on the earth. Who will plead, except with His permission? He knows what was before them and what will be after them, while they perceive nothing from His knowledge other than He wishes. His throne embraces the heavens and the earth, and He is not burdened by guarding them. Indeed great and high is He. Ordered to build this blessed tomb (kubba) the greatest, the noblest, abundant in generosity and magnanimity, the support of kings and sultans, refuge for the weak and the poor, guardian of scientists and those who seek knowledge, aid to the poor and wayfarers, the glory of the state and the faith, Emir Pir-Hussein, son of the late absolved Emir elevated to His patronage, the most merciful Emir Sa’ad… may the earth lie light upon him… in the days of the reign of the Great Sultan, the most generous Khaqan, the Sultan of Sultans in the East and the West, the aid of the state and the faith, Pir Budaq Khan and Yusef Noyän… may Allah perpetuate their power, on the fifteenth of Rajab of the year 816 (11 October 1413). There is a single entrance into the mausoleum's interior. Two small rectangular windows are located in the north and south façades, centered between the upper and lower portions of the tower.

Gallery

Image:Mausoleum of Turkmen emirs details 02.jpg, Signboard in the entrance to mausoleum in Turkmen language. Image:Emir Pir-Hussein Mausoleum, Argavand South.jpg, South façade of the mausoleum. Image:Emir Pir-Hussein Mausoleum, Argavand Southwest.jpg, Southwest façade of the mausoleum. Image:Argavand Tower Rear.JPG, West façade of the mausoleum. Image:Argavand Mausoleum Inscription 2.jpg, Detail of the inscription below the dome. Image:Argavand Funerary Tower3.JPG, Detail of the inscription below the dome. Image:Argavand Mausoleum Inscription 1.jpg, Detail of the inscription below the dome.

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mausoleum of Turkmen emirs Tourist attractions in Yerevan Buildings and structures in Yerevan Mausoleums in Armenia Monuments and memorials in Armenia Kara Koyunlu Decagonal buildings Islamic architecture