Tekirdağ tombstone inscriptions reveal lost poets

As part of the National Inventory Project of Turkish-Islamic Period Tombstone Inscriptions, researchers in Tekirdağ are uncovering the city's literary and cultural history through the study of poetic inscriptions. The project, which began in August, is a collaborative effort involving the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, academics from Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University (NKÜ), and members of the International Association for Social Research Science.

Prof. Dr. Hasan Kaya, Head of the Turkish Language and Literature Department at NKÜ, stated that these inscriptions provide vital data regarding the city's 'verse history.' The inscriptions, which make up approximately 20 percent of the identified graves, consist of rhymed and metered verses written in the aruz meter. These texts have allowed researchers to identify at least five poets whose names were previously unrecorded in historical sources, effectively bringing 'lost poets' of Tekirdağ to light.