Data for: 3277171

This core research paper analyses 260 orientations of datable mosques from the Turkish period (Seljuk to Ottoman). In a neutral research environment, it validates space archaeology for the application in mosque analysis of early Islam. It aims at identifying the thought process of determining qibla orientations by Turks. The collateral findings are significant: it turns out that the majority of Turkish mosques appear to constitute Monuments of Jihad. They are oriented toward battlefields. Mosque orientations open up an entirely new paradigm for scientifically reproducible core research in Islamic architecture.