It is widely believed that the tomb of Joshua, which was reportedly discovered by Beşiktaşlı Yahya Efendi (d. 978/1570) in the 256th century, is located in the place known today as Joshua Hill in Beykoz, Istanbul, and this place is still an important place of pilgrimage today. However, it is not possible for the tomb here to belong to Joshua mentioned in the Torah. Because, according to the Old Testament, Joshua died in Palestine and was buried in Timnathserah. In fact, it is claimed that Joshua's tombs are located in various places from Istanbul to North Africa, five of which are in Palestine (Hasluck, I, 18). There is a mosque and tomb named after him in Maarretünnu'mân in Syria. The belief that the name Joshua was given to the hill in Beykoz because of the tomb of the prophet Joshua does not reflect the truth either. The connection between Joshua mentioned in the Old Testament and Beykoz may have stemmed from the belief that Moses and Khidr met in Istanbul, which is also incorrect. The Quran states that Moses and Khidr met at the meeting point of two seas (mecmau'l-bahreyn) and commentators associate this place with various geographical regions such as the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean meet, the place where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean, the Strait of Aden where the Red Sea opens into the Indian Ocean, the place where the Jordan River empties into Lake Tiberias, the place where two branches of the Nile meet, and the Bosphorus. Geographically, the place where Moses and Khidr met must be the lower tip of the Sinai Peninsula where the Gulfs of Aqaba and Suez meet. Hz. After Moses received the divine revelation on Mount Sinai near the lower tip of the Sinai peninsula, the meeting with Khidr described in the Surah Al-Kahf (60/82-XNUMX) took place.

The Joshua Hill, which is 195 meters high and overlooks the Bosphorus, has been considered sacred in various beliefs since ancient times and temples have been built here. It is known that there was a temple of Zeus on the hill in ancient times. This temple was converted into a church in the name of Hagios Michael by Justinian in the XNUMXth century. The belief in the sacredness of Joshua Hill continued with the construction of a tomb and a lodge in the Islamic period. The large tomb, which is visited today as the tomb of the prophet Joshua, was known as the tomb or bed of Herakles in ancient times. The first person to mention the tomb on Joshua Hill was Evliya Çelebi. Evliya Çelebi, TravelogueHe mentions that he visited Joshua Hill and the Prophet Joshua in his travel memoirs in 1673 and writes that Joshua's grave, a lodge and his "poor" are located on this hill. Antoine Galland narrates in his travel memoirs that he went up Joshua Hill in Istanbul and that a Turk he met there told him that he was in charge of protecting the place which was considered a lodge or monastery belonging to the Prophet Joshua. Ayvansarâyî notes that although it is widely believed that the grave on Joshua Hill belongs to Joshua, Joshua, who was the assistant of Hz. Moses, did not come to Beykoz, that his real grave is near Nablus or Aleppo, and that the grave on Joshua Hill may belong to one of the saints or apostles. Hammer also writes that European travelers called this mountain Dev Dağı and the Turks Yoris or Yoros Dağı, that the grave here was once called the Bed of Hercules, and that the grave was five feet wide and twenty feet long. The tomb attributed to the prophet Joshua must be nothing more than a kind of tomb created by combining the belief in very old beliefs that giants live on top of mountains with a new belief.

On the other hand, it is definitely not known where the name Yuşa, given by the Turks to this hill, comes from. According to one interpretation, the name Yuşa is not a personal name. The word comes from the ochre dye "yuğşa" used to color the brand given to sheep in the old herbalist's shop. Since the soil from which the dye was obtained was abundant in this region of the Bosphorus and the sheep were "yuğşa" here, the place in question was called Yuğşa Hill, and this name changed to Yuşa in time. The mosque and lodge on Yuşa Hill were built by Yirmisekizçelebizâde Grand Vizier Mehmed Said Paşa in 1169 (1755-56), a masonry wall was built around the grave, a tomb keeper and a servant who lit the lamps were assigned here, rooms were built around the lodge and a postnişin was appointed. The mosque and lodge, which were later burned, were renovated in accordance with the original in 1863-1864 during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz, and this complex has recently undergone an important renovation.[1]

 

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1 Ö. Faruk Harman, Hz. Joshua, TDV Islamic Encyclopedia

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