One of the important characteristics of maps in the accurate and understandable reflection of the relief which expresses the outlook of the terresterial features on a vertical plane. With this purpose certain production and drawing technigues such as contour lines, hachures, colour layers, shading and hatching are used seperately or a few together. Relief maps are specially produced  with  various methods refeecting the structure of the terrain in three dimensions as it is in nature, using materials based on cardboard, wax, mixture of resin and wax, gypsum or plastic. In these maps the earth is seen in three dimensins as if looking down from a certain height.

The relief map production technigue is initially used in late ninteenth century. The relief map previously produced manually with hand tools are now being mass produced with use with computers generally using plastic materials.

Our historical relief maps explained in this research with samples are among the first originals of their kind in the world as mentioned in the preface, each being as beautiful as a painting, with the writings, frames and the ornaments on the frames they present charming samples of calligraphy and the art of decoration. Some of tham include oil paintings of the important historical and religious places existing in them plus expressive descriptions of historical affairs. These paintings and writtings reflecting also the excelling patriotism and emotion of their pro- ducers are ornamented with attention of a goldsmith.

From this standpoint the Relief Map of Çanakkale Strait (Archive Nr. 6904) existing at the Military Museum and Culture Site (MMCS) in addition to its perfection and beauty as a map the writting on it summarizes the epic battles of Çanakkale and has the characteristic of a very valuable historical document as it reflects the statistics of the casualties suffered by the allied naval force and indicates the battle lines of the allies and the enemy and includes paintings of the important fortifications and locations. (The work reflects also the vast cartographic knowledge and great, skill of its producer, retired Brigadier General Halil Ibrahim)

Other than the Relief Map of Çanakkale, the relief map of "Crete and Rhode Islands" at the Ceneral Command of Mapping (GCM), the relief map of “Anadolu” at the Army War School considered to be produced in memory of a visit paid to Palestine by tle German Emperor Wilhelm II, and the relief map of Jerussalem and Palastine take place among the original relief map samples.

The researches carried out have revealed that relief maps produced with educational and tactical purposes are in much more quantites than the ones mentioned in this research. Some of the products such as the relief maps of Çanakkale Strait, Caucasus, Edirne, Crete and Rhode Islands, are individual maps pertaining to a definite area. Another some are in a group of same scale maps covering larger areas, in other words a group of sheets covering a certain area produced in map series. These map series consisting of 42 relief sheets cover Rumeli, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania and partly Austria Unfortunately out of the 42 sheets at present only 13 sheets are available.

Individually produced and now available 23 relief sheets can easily be said to form one part of the pcoduced relief maps. In summary now in total we hold 36 relief maps. Twenty three of these are individual and the remaining 93 are produced in series.

The available maps excluding a few are in good condition. The products existing at the GCM were repaired with the great skill of' the Army Captain Nusret Gülün (now retired colonel) in 1966 when brought to Ankara from the MMCS. As maintained later they are all in good condition except a newly found sheet this year. (Map of Edirne)

In my reviews I have noticed that relief map production developed in early 1880's is greatly favoured in the begining but later on the importance attached to these products is decreased by time. Its reason can be explained as follows considering the flow of relief map production within the historical development of Turkish modern mapping.

After the Ottoman - Russian Battle in 1877, the Chief of General Staff is reorganized in 1880 and the "Fifth Section" included in it is assigned with mapping and scientific activities. Together with this new importance attached to mapping the target has been to train technical personnel capable of new technology and provide new instruments and materials as well as iııcrease the production level to meet the reguirements of the country. Meanwhile, with the purpose of meeting the urgent regurement for education and tactica maps and mainly to be helpful for the mapping education at the Army War School, relief maps of certain important areas are started to be produced as educational or wall maps under the, leadership of the young instructors of topograhy, and surveying at this school. In the later days of 1884 the tactical reguirement for this production has been more important. In the begining First Lieutenant Hasan Rıza, First Lieutenant Ali Haydar (both are masters of calligraphy at the same time), First lieutenant Hasaıı Behçet and Army Captain Halil Ibrahim are names Laken place in almost every relief map produced until 1895's. In later products some new names are seen as Dağıstanla Zekeriya Hulki. It is certain that Dağıstanlı Hulki who has started producingreliefmaps duringhis cadet years at the Army War School and his comrades are stu- dents of the above mentioned  leading officers in relief map production.

The latest of our historical relief maps is the one produced again by Brigadier General Halil Ibrahim in 9999 upon a private reguest in memory of Lhe Battles of Çanakkale at the scale of 1/25.000 cover- ing the Strait of Çanakkale and the Battles that took place there.

During the republican period. linear maps being considered as the base in the development and the defence of the country are produced at various scales and completed with priority and no relief maps of importance are produced other than a few private product until the establishment of a relief map section at GCM in 1966. Today at this section, the regured various scale relief map are produced with utmost care and accuracy by very well trained military and civiliaıı personnel using plastic materi- al and sophisticated instruments and devices most of which are equipped with computers.

RELIEF MAP OF THE STRAIT OF ÇANAKKALE AND ITS BATTLES

Intormation : This map covers the Strait of Çanakkale and mainly the Gelibolu Peninsula. It is produced by retired Brigadier General Cerrahpaşalı Halil Bey (Halil İbrahim). On cloth coated wooden surface, seas and lakes are painted in blue colour. The terrain is indicated by means of cardboards cut in layers accordiong to the contour lines and sticked one on top of the other and then filling the formed layer gaps with a mixture of resin and wax it is retouched. The top of the model is oil painted in the colours of the features indicated. The lettering by hand is made directly on the terrain and the seas. The additional information requiring explaination is written on seperate pieces of paper and then sticked to the map where they belong. The map is in a plain wooden frame of 4.5 cm. width.

The additional information and the illustrations existing on the map are:

1- Sultan Mehmet Reşad's monogram and a poem is written by him on the occasion of heroic defence of Çanakkale.

2- Sufficent information relevant to the war ships of Britain and France lost during their attack to the Çanakkale Strait on 18 March 1995 and subsequent days.

3- A small scale map of Marmara Sea

4- The explanation not on the victory of 18 March 1915 Çanakkale war.

THE RELIEF MAP OF THE STRAIT OF ISTANBUL

Information : This map covers the Strait Istanbul and its both sides.

The model is made of wax on a cardboard  base  and soil painted. Seas are indicated by mean painting in blue colour the cloth sticked on cardboard. All of the lettering (important , geographic spesifications and population place) is in hand writting.

No information has been available concerninğ the producers and its date. The frame is not original and a simple one of 5.5 cm. width, supposed to be made later on.

General Command of Mapping Cartography Museum. Ankara. Scale 1/37.500, 74x106.5 Dimensions.

RELIEF MAP OF PLEVEN AND ITS FORTRESS

İnformation: This first produced map which is plain and in size much smaller than the others, coveıs the city Pleven and the Ottoman fortification in the gloirous defense of  Pleven in 1877 and the Russian fortification opposite it. It is reproduced from the same mould in gypsum.

As it is reproduced from the same model, possibly other copies of it may be found in future. As the writtings on the map are depressed, it proves that a positive mould is skillfuly produced. As the conventional sings indicating the fortification are on the other hand negatively prepared on the main positive mould, they are in relief. There are two same relief maps.

A part of 10 x 97 cm. of the first map in the north – west  corner, is broken. This piece is missing and the map has no frame. Some parts of the secont map, are also broken bit these pieces are a vailable. This map has a thinly gypsum coated wooden frame of 3 cm. width.

At the intersection point of two lines drawn vertically 15.5 cm. from the north - west, corner of the map and the other 11.5 cm. horizentally south from the same corner, the Pleven City takes place. The Ottoman units and fortification are around Pleven and they are encircled by the Russian ones. In some places below the Russian fortification, it is written "Russian Army ".

At the north - west corners of the maps, within a crescent, it is written "Pleven arıd its fortification, 1294 (1878)"; and at the north- east corners.

Rhodes Island

Rhodes Island is on 36° north lattitude and in between 6 -26° east longtitude and has a surface of 1100 km² Its existing population is aroun 4000, half of which is estimated to be moslam and the remaining from varioas nations. Its soil is fertile and productive. The center of its andministration is the Rhodes city. 

In the south-west of the map there is a nice smal relief model of the Hanya Castle and in the south- east the same of the Castle of Rhodes in this island. In the center of south edge of the map there is an Ottoman coat of arms, and the writting within it reads: "It is printed at the Army War School and then converted to a relief map covering the famous Crete and Rhodes Islands, by lieutenant Hali1 (Halil Ibrahim Bey), Assistan instructor of Restricted Terrain Gesson. In 1301 (1885) ". Under this coat of arms the names of the important places in the map are listed according the given numbers.

Its inner frame of 6 cm. width is ornamented and has an outer frame of 12 cm. width, of which the corners are carved gypsum on wooden base in gold gilt and original. It has a glass protecting cover. At the four corners of the inner frame there are crescent shapes of carved wood. A frame with similar crescent shapes is used also for the map of "Theselia Region " existing at the Army War School.

General Command of Mapping Cartography Museum. Ankara Year 1883, Scale 1/250.000. 78.5x119.5 Dimensions.

Within a frame in the south-east corner of the map there is a linear scale ( 50  75  100 kilometer scale) and under it the writting "Ottoman Europe ". At the bottom of this writting there are the names of its makers in the below arrangement:

Meliha Firdevs   Student  Mürşide Mihriban  Naime  Nuriye    Culture   Hatice   Hüveyla Your Odalisgues  House 1399 Your Odalisgues

(1903)

The needlework map is placed on silk velvet in brown colour overlaying 10 cm. at the upper and lower edges end 8 cm. at the right and left edges, seeming also as if a frame. The size of the silk velvet is 85 x 121 centimeters. On the upper edge of the velvet a wooden piece gilded hanger is placed and there is also a cylindrical bass weight hanger an its lower edge. In the center of the uppper hanger there is a metal crescent shaped Iike oak branches in which an Ottoman coat of arms is placed with on top a monogram of Sultan Abdülhamid. Besides its beauty and originalty it is thought to be also a historical document from which lesson must be taken as it shows the territories lost in twenty years between 1903 - 1923.

Command of Military Museum and Culture Site. Istanbul Archive Nr. 807, Year 1903, 65x104 Dimensions.