TÜBİTAK

Prof. Dr. Enver ÇAKAR, Doç. Dr. Yavuz KISA, Doç. Dr. Korkmaz ŞEN, Doç. Dr. Tuba Nur OLĞUN, Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Ahmet TOPRAK, Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Murat ŞAHİN

The main purpose of bridges is to overcome the obstacles on the road routes and make transportation continuous and safe. Within the scope of this project, it is planned to identify and analyse all historical bridges in the provinces of Malatya, Elazığ, Tunceli, Erzincan and Bingöl within the borders of the Upper Euphrates Department in the Eastern Anatolia Region. In this context, 6 research questions related to the research topic were determined. These research questions are as follows: Are there any historical bridges in the Upper Euphrates Region that are not included in the literature and documents?, For what purposes were the historical bridges in the study area built?, Is there any erroneous information in the literature on historical bridges?, What is the relationship of the historical bridges in the study area with the road networks?, What are the architectural features of the historical bridges?, Have there been changes in the current status of the historical bridges according to the architectural data obtained from the sources? Within the framework of these questions, 6 project objectives including the main aims and objectives of the project were formed.

Various studies on historical bridges have been carried out regionally or periodically by local and foreign researchers in our country. These studies have concentrated especially on the regions outside the Upper Euphrates Section and in-depth interpretations and analyses have not been made. Therefore, it is designed to make a comprehensive evaluation of the historical bridges in the Upper Euphrates Region from historical, commercial, political, socio-cultural, military and architectural perspectives. The original value of this interdisciplinary study will be better understood in this way.

The geographical boundary of the study is the Upper Euphrates Region. The determination of this region was influenced by the fact that it is rich in water resources and located on important transit and expedition routes. The historical boundary of the study is from the Roman period to the last period of the Ottoman Empire. Some erroneous determinations encountered in the literature review also played an important role in determining the historical boundary.

This study is planned for 3 years. The methodological original value, which is missing in the literature and which is tried to be completed, is the problem-solving and document-based historiography method that deals with historical, written and visual evidence together. The research process of the project consists of 5 simultaneous and consecutive work packages. These are; data collection tools, field surveys, database creation, survey and restitution studies, and conclusion and evaluation. These work packages are planned in line with the research questions and the objectives of the study and will be carried out by well-equipped people who are competent in reading and interpreting archival documents, who are familiar with field studies, architectural drawing and geographical information systems.

Within the scope of this project, historical bridges in the Upper Euphrates Region will be identified in the light of various sources such as archival sources, Ottoman classical sources (chronicles), travelogues, memoirs and oral narratives, and their connections with historical, commercial and military routes in other regions will be determined. Thus, it is aimed to bring the unearthed cultural heritage to the world of science and to make a significant contribution to the tourism of the region and thus to the national economy, as well as to increase cultural activities by identifying historical bridges and commercial networks and transitions between regions. For this purpose, the identified historical bridges will be shared with the relevant institutions and organisations, especially the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.