The Scarlet Letter: Cases of Tarring Doors in the Ottoman Konya in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Abstract

Although tar smearing was a means of revealing acts of adultery and prostitution to the Ottoman society and officials, the opinion of neighborhood residents also gained importance in determining the legitimacy of these allegations. However, beyond its use as a tool of declaring acts of adultery, this was gradually exploited by malicious neighbors to slander each other. Through an exhaustive analysis of Konya court records between 1645 and 1750, this study attempts to examine the extent to which people used tar smearing as a duty under ‘social responsibility’ to stop social evils like adultery, and to what extent was it exploited as a means of a slanderous tool.