Following the Traces of the Seljuks

Acrylic, watercolor & gold on passepartout cardboard, 70 x 50 cm, Meram Municipality Collection

Konya, Turkey was the capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, and the city where the great sufi poet Rumi (pictured, upper right) lived after migrating from Balkh in Persia. This miniature painting follows the traces of the great Anatolian civilization built by the Seljuks as evidenced in the masterfully designed and crafted ceramic tiles of the Kubadabad Palace.  

Curator’s Note: The Sultanate of Rum was a state established by the Seljuk Turks (a clan of the Oghuz tribe) in territory conquered from the Byzantine Empire following their entry into Antolia after the historic Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Rum was a synonym for the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.