A thousand-year-old tomb believed to belong to a legendary Sultan who defeated the Crusaders three times during the First Crusade in 1101 as they fought to free the Holy Land from Islamic rule has been found in Turkey.
The suspected graves of Kilij Arslan I, the Sultan of Rum who ruled the Sultanate from 1092 to 1107 and a second grave said to contain his daughter Saide Hatun were found in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, on 12th January.
Kilij Arslan I was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum ruling.
He became ruler when he was barely 13-year-old and remained in power until his death when he was 27 or 28-years-old.
Despite his young age to the throne the sultan defeated the Crusaders in three historical battles during the Crusade of 1101 and conquered eastern Anatolia from the Danishmends, a Turkish rival dinasty who had previously claimed the land.
Dicle University established a commission to find the sultan’s grave, with the excavation team headed by the vice-rector of the university, Professor Ahmet Tanyildiz.
Associate professor Aytac Coskun stated that “the excavation area was the tomb of a significantly important historical figure. For this reason, we carried out our work day and night with great care. I would like to thank the institutions and excavation team that supported us in the preparation and execution of these studies”.
Coskun stated that the excavation team dug 2 meters deep (6.6 feet) across a 35-square-meter (42-square-yard) area and found the tomb’s foundation.
The archaeologists focused their work on two gravesites in Orta Cesme Park in line with the data obtained from their research. The team uncovered Kilij Arslan’s final resting place after nine days of work.
Department of History Associate Dr Oktay Bozan remarks that: “The grave will bring a different perspective in Diyarbakir’s history.”
Remains from the graves of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum Kilij Arslan I and his daughter Saide Hatun unearthed 
Remains from the graves of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum Kilij Arslan I and his daughter Saide Hatun unearthed
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Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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