An Ottoman Gift to America

M. Uǧur Derman
Translated by Mohamed Zakariya

1959, I saw the think, with a few preliminary facts.

I
n june of
exhibition “150 Years of Turkish- From the time the United States gained its
American Friendship” at the American independence in 1776, the Ottoman state was
Information Center on Istiklal Street in Istan- interested in establishing trade relations with
bul’s Beyoǧlu District. What drew my attention the new country. The first such treaty was con-
most was a photo of an Ottoman inscription cluded in 1830, during the reign of Sultan
inside the Washington Monument in Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839). As a result of this
Washington, DC. I read the poem that was treaty, the warship Nusratiye was built with the
shown inscribed in stone. At that time, my help of two American naval officers who were
mentor, Dr. Süheyl Ünver (1898–1986), was sent to Istanbul to supervise the project. It was
in the United States. With excitement, I wrote launched in 1835.
to him, asking that he go see it. He answered Close relations between the two countries
my letter from New York, writing that although were further strengthened during the reign of
he had been in the vicinity of the monument, Sultan Abdülmecid (r. 1839–1861). As a result
the wait to enter the monument had been too of the rebellion that broke out in 1848 in
long because of the huge crowds. Essentially, France, the Hungarians rebelled against the
because he had no proof that such an inscrip- Austrian Empire, and the Poles rose in rebel-
tion existed, he explained that he could not lion against the Russians; both rebellions were
justify a return to Washington to search for it. eventually stifled. As the Austrian Empire and
Finally, about forty years later, on Russia began to extirpate the rebellion forces,
September 15, 1998, I was able to see the they were soon pushing against the Ottoman
1
inscription up close. I was able to climb a lad- borders. Our country Turkey was not intimi-
der to exactly its level, touch it with my hands, dated by the Austrian and Russian threats and,
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and take some photographs of it. How did this in fact, opened its arms to the refugees who
Ottoman inscription, the like of which has were streaming in. The Ottomans protected
not been encountered in any other country, these newcomers; the house of Lajos Kussuth,
come into being and find its way to such the leader of the Hungarian uprising, remains
an honorable spot in the Washington a museum in Kütahya to this day. Now, this
Monument? It will be easier to explain this, I behavior awakened in Europe an admiration

Translator’s Note: This article consists of the impressions of a renowned Turkish art historian. It was originally
published in the Turkish magazine Antik ve Dekor 150 (January 1999):146–8. I believe it is valuable to have such
candid views of scholars from other countries in mind when we consider the character of our own national
treasures. Note that in this translation, I have used Turkish spellings. “Abdülmecid” is pronounced
“Abdülmejid”; “paşa” is pronounced “pasha”; “Haşim” is “Hashim”; “kuruş” is “kurush”; and “Hicri” is “Hijri.”
In the Ottoman state, a pasha is a high civil rank. “Bey” is a title for a military or civilian gentleman, and “efen-
di” is a title for a scholar or member of the religious or literary establishment.
112
and enthusiasm for the Ottoman state. States for six months.3 Both then returned to
The Americans, too, received a large vol- Istanbul, where Emin Bey personally reported
ume of information about these events. This to Sultan Abdülmecid that the Americans had
show of affection led the American ambassa- shown much sympathy to the Ottoman state.
dor in Istanbul to propose to the Sublime This is how the inscription that is the sub-
Porte that a legation consisting of the secre- ject of this article came to be: In honor of the
tary of the embassy and a minister from the founding president of the United States,
Department of the Navy be sent to the United George Washington (1732–1799), the
States to find ways to secure the benefits of Washington National Monument Society
new scientific advances and to gather impres- sponsored the construction of a monument
2
sions of the country. The US government let designed in the shape of an obelisk. It was to be

ALL PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MOHAMED ZAKARIYA

plaque - general view

seasons
it be known that it was pleased with this plan.
Upon receiving consent from the Porte, an erected on a foundation of 16.8 x 16.8 meters
educator from the Department of the Navy, [55 ft x 55 ft] and was to rise to 169 meters
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Commander Emin Bey, was detailed to [555 ft] in the capital city, Washington, DC.
accompany the chief clerk of the embassy to On July 4, 1848, the cornerstone was laid. By
the United States. The American president 1853, the monument had risen to a height of
received Commander Emin Bey with all the 46 meters [152 ft], but construction was
honor and dignity due to a president of a stalled for nearly twenty-five years due to the
country, and they remained in the United Civil War and financial difficulties. When con-

Born in 1935, M. Uǧur Derman is the leading world authority on Islamic calligraphy, its Ottoman Turkish
phase in particular. He is a professor at Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, and is a trained calligrapher.
He is the founder and curator of the Türkpetrol Vakfı Calligraphy Museum in Istanbul and the author of a
large number of books and articles on the subject of calligraphy.
113
 struction resumed, financed by funds raised by In support of eternal friendship,
subscription by the Society, the state of Abdülmecid Han allowed his honorable
Alabama offered an inscribed stone to be name to be written in the tall stone [monu-
placed in the monument itself. This idea ment] in Washington.5
received a wide acceptance, and the govern-
ments of thirty-one states and organizations This is the Turkish version:
began to contribute commemorative inscrip- Devam-ı hulleti te’yid içün Abdülmecid
tion plaques as reminders of their financial Han’ın yazıldi nam-ı paki seng-i balaya
contributions. Finally, funds were solicited Vaşinkton’da.
from foreign governments. One hundred and
ninety-eight commemorative plaques were Kadiasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi (1801–
actually installed. 1876),6 who had reached the pinnacle of
In Istanbul, the American Embassy accomplishment in the arts of calligraphy and
approached the Sublime Porte on February 9, music, was commissioned to calligraph the
1853. The office of the Grand Vizier proposed poem in the celi talik style. The tuǧra of Sultan
the following resolution: To the people of the Abdülmecid, written by the late Mehmed
United States of America, to honor them, and Haşim (d. 1846), was placed in an oval above
as a sign of the friendship of the Padişah (Sul- the poem.
tan Abdülmecid) that an inscribed marble
plaque be made, 2 endaze wide [130 cm or 4 ft 4
in] by 1 endaze high [65 cm or 2 ft 2 in], bearing
the imperial cipher (tuǧra) and a chronogram
verse (a verse in which the tally of the numeri-
cal values of all the Arabic letters equals the
date which commemorates the event). 4
Sultan Abdülmecid, who was personally
moved by the affection shown to Commander
Emin Bey in the United States, decided to have
this marble inscription plaque prepared and A Europeanized look that was popular at
sent to express his desire for friendship. A that time was employed in the design of the
poem appropriate to this topic was sought piece. Then, it was sculpted in marble. The
from the poet Ziver Paşa (1793–1861). He cost of 3,750 kuruş was paid by the Sublime
composed three poems containing the Porte. The work was finished in September of
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chronogram and informed the sultan that he 1853 and submitted to the American Embassy
should choose the best one for the job. Sultan for shipment to Washington.
Abdülmecid liked one of the three, and truly it Around the beginning of 1854, the Porte
was the most beautiful. In translation, it reads: paid 390 kuruş to ship the gift to the United

114
States. According to American records, it cation.
arrived in New York on May 11, 1854. It is not When one descends to the level of one hun-
known how and when the plaque was trans- dred ninety feet (the seventeenth floor level;
ported to Washington. the two lowest levels, at ten feet and twenty
Work was resumed on the monument, feet, have no landings and are not counted as
after a hiatus of nearly twenty-five years, with floors), we find the plaques for Brazil, the
material help from the federal government. It Greek Islands, Greece, Siam (Thailand),
was completed on December 6, 1884, at a cost Bremen (Germany), and Switzerland; set
to the US Treasury of $1,350,000, and dedi- higher than the others, at 220 centimeters [7 ft
cated on February 12, 1885.7 2 in] above the floor, the Ottoman gift to the
The monument is constructed of white United States presents itself to view. Its exact
marble. Aside from its entrance and the two dimensions are 152.7 centimeters wide by
windows on each of the four sides at the fifti- 83.9 centimeters high at the center [60.1 in x
eth floor, there are no other openings 33.3 in], and it is set into a specially cut mortise
looking out on the outside world. The fifty- in the wall. “The Hicri (Islamic calendar) year
foot high, pyramid shaped summit is topped 1269” (1853 ad) is inscribed in a section to the
with a thirty-three hundred pound marble right side of the verse and, like the verse itself,
capstone, which is, in turn, capped with a is written in the celi talik script. On the left of
nine-inch cast aluminum pyramid. the verse, in a composition in the celi talik
One ascends to the fiftieth level in seventy script, we read, “Written by (the calligrapher)
seconds in the capacious elevator. Looking Mustafa Izzet.” The imperial monogram,
out of one of the windows at the observation or tuǧra, of Sultan Abdülmecid reads,
floor at the monument’s summit, the observ- “Abdülmecid Han, son of Mahmud (II), the
er sees the four quarters of the city of ever victorious.” Under it, and slightly to the
Washington, as well as the alluring curves of left is the signature of the tuǧra calligrapher
the Potomac River, as it wanders past the city. Haşim.8
It gives the impression one would have while
flying over the city, and the view fills the
human mind with beauty and wonder.
Finally, after tirelessly descending by foot all
896 steps of the staircase that surrounds the
elevator, the observer exits through the seasons
entrance gate. Spaced every 305 centimeters
(10 ft), there is a wide landing. These land-
ings—the floors of the monument—are From some traces of gold leaf still remain-
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connected by stairways. Set into the interior ing in the upper right and left cornices, we can
walls of the building are 198 inscribed see that before the plaque was sent to America,
plaques of various sizes and materials; the the calligraphy and decoration cut in bas relief
plaques were donated to the monument and were gilded with gold leaf. In spite of the bro-
generally consist of eulogies to George ken letter elif in the lam-elif of bala (high, lofty)
Washington. There are few plaques on the and the fact that the dot over the letter nun (n)
highest levels, second to the highest being the of Vaşinkton has fallen off, and that some of the
Alaska plaque, which was the last to be finials are later restorations, the plaque has
installed. Made of jade mined in Alaska, it is fared quite well over its 147-year existence.
quite valuable. At each level, there is a list of This artifact left me pondering its complex
plaques found at that level to simplify identifi- meanings and implications as I bid it farewell 115
 3
and began to descend the remaining 340 The president at the time was probably
steps. Although the stone was not of the same either Zachary Taylor, 1849–1850, or Millard
practical benefit as things of our time, and Fillmore, 1850–1853.—Trans.
4
ought not be given a retrospective signifi- Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi I. HR. 4660/1.
cance, I nevertheless have no doubt that it was Talip Mert, who is in charge of the sciences sec-
with sincere feeling that the stone was sent to tion of the archives of the Arts and Literature
Washington and installed there by the College of Marmara University was most helpful
Americans with reciprocal sentiment. It was with documentation about the inscription stone.
felt to have value equal to the other plaques in Although he gave me his unstinting and continu-
praise of George Washington. Even in that ous aid with this material, I did not want to
time of Ottoman decline, was it not a literary compromise his research, so I did not use it here.
and eternal expression of dignity and refine- I am thankful to him.
5
ment? The Ottoman spelling of the name Vaşing-
It must be that, over the years, this piece of ton (Washington) is usually spelled using a gayin,
stone has had the silent good fortune to be like but here in the plaque it is spelled with a kaf (k),
a grand ambassador of our Ottoman Vaşinkton. I retained this unusual feature in the
Turkishness, its tuǧra representing us without article. It would be pronounced, “Vashinkton.”
6
being defaced, its calligraphy suffering no Kadiasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi (1801–
intentional mishap or accident and remaining 1876) was one of the most interesting figures of
protected from the catastrophes that have the late Ottoman empire. He was an important
befallen so many inscriptions in its own home- figure in the highest levels of the religious estab-
land. Kept in a semi-private place out of the lishment, an illustrious calligrapher, and a
elements, it did not suffer any deterioration. singer, flute player, and composer. Many of his
In the same vein, the poet Hami-i Amidi works are still performed in Turkey. He learned
(d.1747) said in the following verse: “Ehl-i Dil the celi talik script from Yesarizade Mustafa Izzet
Aram eder, her kande kim raǧbetlenir. Gah olur Efendi (d.1849). Works by the Kadiasker in the
gurbet vatan, gahi vatan gurbetlenir.” This means, celi talik script are rare.
7
roughly, “Some among the sensitive and cul- It was officially opened to the public on
tured people come to live where they find their October 9, 1888.—Trans.
8
hearts’ desire. To some, strange places will Mehmed Haşim Efendi came originally
become home, and sometimes some will stay from the Caucasus region. He became a student
home but not knowing its value, will suffer the of the foundational master calligrapher Mustafa
pain of alienation.”9 Rakim Efendi (1758–1826). A master of several
| spring – summer 2005 | seasons

scripts, Haşim was famous for his skill in writing

notes tuǧras. He died in 1845.
1 9
Because the interior of the monument was In addition to personal observation, I utilized
closed to the public for restoration during my the following sources: Mehmed Ihsan, “The
visit to Washington in 1998, the American callig- Washington National Monument and the Late
rapher Mohamed Zakariya and his friend David Lamented (Cennet Mekan—Dwelling in Heaven)
Shayt, who works in the Smithsonian Institution’s Sultan Abdülmecid Han’s Imperial Gifts” (Sehbal
Museum of American History, were able to get a 9/15 August 1325/1907 AD), 171. Ibrahim
special waiver and a guide from the National Park (Kemal) Baybura, “America: Its History, Historical
Service so we could examine the interior and the Turkish American Relations, Excursion Notes”
plaque. For this I am grateful. (no publishing information available), 150–2.
2
“Sublime Porte” refers to the central office Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of
116 of the Ottoman imperial government.—Trans. American History brochure.