From a limited corpus to literary representation: toward a thematic classification of seal text formulae for improving the legibility of Ottoman seals [Sınırlı bir külliyattan edebî bir temsile: Osmanlı mühürlerinin okunabilirliği için mühür metinlerinin kalıplarına dair tematik bir tasnif teklifi]

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.26650/IUITD.2026.1848084

This article examines the seal inscriptions found in Ottoman manuscripts as a literary genre and analyzes the ways in which these short texts are structured, formulated, and personalized. It argues that most seal inscriptions consist of rhymed prose or verse expressions and are derived from a limited textual corpus. The main claim of the article is that these texts were shaped through a selection of al-asmā’ al-husnā (beautiful names of God) in harmony with the seal owner’s name. This public text likely creates an individual representation through a displayed literary talent. Within this framework, the study aims to reveal the structure of this corpus of seal inscriptions and compile the main motifs and formulaic expressions that can facilitate their reading, thereby offering a new methodological contribution to seal studies. The sources of the study include the Seal Database of the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye, various seal compilations in libraries, as well as examples found independently in manuscripts.