English: View of the Ottoman Cemetary in Rhodes. In the foreground is a traditional Muslim tombstone with a stylized turban and an inscription in the Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language (لسان عثمانى‎ Lisân-ı Osmânî). the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire.

"In a Turkish cemetery each grave is usually marked by two tall, marble tombstones, one at the head, the-other at the foot. On these, two angels (so the Moslem thinks) will seat themselves at the last day to judge the soul of the deceased. A tombstone which denotes the grave of a man is always crowned either with a turban or a fez, carved from the marble of the Marmora. The monuments of women are ornamented with flowers, chiseled in the pure white stone. On all of them are epitaphs, inscribed in letters which are frequently raised and gilded. The tombstones which are surmounted with turbans have the disadvantage of presenting, when seen in a dim light, a grotesque resemblance to intoxicated human beings. When left uncared for for many years, they topple about, and incline to every possible angle, or else fall prone upon the ground, as if fatigued by their long struggle with gravitation. In fact, where some of the turbans, or fezzes, have been broken off, they look like decapitated bodies, - presenting a shocking, yet laughable, appearance of neglect. The Turks, by the way, are always buried in great haste; for they believe that the dead actually suffer until their bodies are committed to the tomb. Strange, is it not? Deliberate and slow in life, the only hurry in which the Turk is ever seen is when he is going to his grave!"

Constantinople John L. Stoddard's Lectures Norwood Press 1901