Palace architecture and iIts rhetoric in Seljuk Anatolia :|the conceptualization of Kubadabad

Abstract

The palace complex of Kubadabad near Beyşehir - regarding its good state of preservation - provides an ideal object for the study of palace architecture and the (courtly) rhetoric under the reign of the Rum-Seljuk Sultan ʿAlaʾ al-Din Kaykubad I (r.1219-1237). This thesis offers a new perspective to the existing studies by identifying common rhetorical methods, and tools that were used by the Sultan and Seljuk courtiers to articulate courtly/ royal messages on power and kingship. It argues that in facing the process of renewal - nature has become a key element of the courtly/ imperial of rhetoric in the thirteenth century Seljuk Anatolia as far as the palace architecture –i.e. the choice of architectural form, composition, and materials – and court literature – i.e. historical narratives/ dynastic histories and advice literature – took nature as a major model of thought and organization along with religion and legends. The assumed influence of nature on architectural and literary rhetoric of palaces will be examined based on two different sources on the extraordinary example of Kubadabad: The first part of the study investigates the archaeological data gathered from forty years of excavation at Kubadabad. The second part discusses the work Al-Awamir al-Alaiyya fi’l-umr’ al-Alaiyya written by the contemporary Seljuk courtier Ibn Bibi regarding architectural references and rhetorical elements.