GREAT SELJUK AND MALIK SHAH (NUR) TOWERS

1089/90

Following the conquest of Diyarbakır in 1085, the Great Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah commissioned two towers in the southwest part of the outer fortifications a year apart and these towers are noteworthy for their kufic inscriptions and figural decoration.

The Great Seljuk tower has a square layout and is located to the north of Ulu (Evli) Beden tower of the Artuqid period; the Malik Shah, or Nur tower, which has a polygonal layout, is located to the east of the monumental Yedi Kardeş tower of the Artuqid period.

The Great Seljuk tower was completed in 1088/89 and the Malik Shah tower in 1089/90 by architect Muhammad bin Salamat of Urfa under the supervision of Qadi Abu Nasr Muhammad bin Qadi Abd al-Wahid during the governorate of Shams al-Din Abu Ali bin Hasan on the order of Sultan Malik Shah, the son of the Great Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan. The inscriptions and figural decoration on the front sides of these towers form a meaningful unity. Between the floral kufic inscription lines are depictions of animals like lion, eagle-rabbit fight, eagle, horse, hawk or gazelle as well as a sultan and a naked female figure. Their symbolic meanings suggest that both towers were not built for improving the fortifications but rather designed as a monument of victory transforming Malik Shah’s conquest of Diyarbakır to a visual feast.