Hasan Özcan is one of Mardin's most prominent coppersmiths. But what makes him unique is the copper engraving he does of Şahmeran. Özcan has spent the past 40 years engraving this half-snake, half-woman symbol of fertility onto copper. His great interest in Şahmeran -- whose image women from Mardin spend years embroidering onto canvas for their dowries -- is one that began in his childhood. He was only 12 when he first picked up a hammer and chisel. But he had started dreaming of this when he was only 7 years old and had to wait five years before he could realize his dream. The images of Şahmeran painted onto glass by two artists who lived in Mardin a hundred years ago left their impressions on Özcan: "Their work was done using dyes from the earth. But I wanted to engrave my images onto copper to make them more permanent."Özcan, who grew up surrounded by the copper trays, pots, kettles and bowls of his father's shop, has taught his own two sons about the art of engraving Şahmeran onto copper. Özcan's shop in Mardin, named after Şahmeran, does not just sell copper engravings of this mythical creature. Özcan also offers glass paintings, the same art form he had been inspired by 40 years ago when he was just a child. This shop, which is among the most popular in Mardin, is where Özcan serves customers himself. The place is never empty, though; so much so that we had quite a difficult time finding a moment to interview him and take photographs. At his other shop, his two sons are in charge. In the evenings, they come to help their father in his shop. One customer who comes in has a special request. "Please, I would love a Şahmeran that you have made yourself," asks the customer.
Having spent so many years depicting the image of Şahmeran on copper and glass, Özcan says he's memorized every aspect of the figure. He says that even making the tiniest mistake during engraving a figure means that the whole piece of copper can simply be forgotten. But this rarely happens, as even he admits. "It is not often that our copper goes to the metal collectors who roam the streets," he says. As for the images of Şahmeran that depicted on glass, these are colored with special glass paints. In fact, Özcan himself has even created Şahmeran prints.
Özcan can engrave any kind of image imaginable onto copper. He even represented Mardin at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at the Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival in Los Angeles in April. At the festival, Özcan had the opportunity to present the assistant of famous actor and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with a copper engraving of Schwarzenegger that he had made. Schwarzenegger's assistant was very touched by this gesture, but Özcan notes that he also took the opportunity to tell the assistant, "Our governor is superior to your governor!" When asked why, Özcan replied, "Because our governor is the governor of one of the oldest cities in the world."
Özcan's fame has definitely spread beyond the borders of Mardin, which is apparent in the fact that tourists who visit this city always make a point of stopping by his shop and watching him work.
A love story: Şahmeran
As mentioned above, the legend of Şahmeran is one that comes from the land of Mesopotamia. It has been told and retold in Turkish cities such as Adana, Hatay and Mardin for hundreds and hundreds of years. The name "Şahmeran" actually comes from the Persian name "Şah-ı Meran," which means "the shah of the snakes." Şahmeran is a snake from the waist down, but from the waist upwards, a beautiful woman. She meets a young man named Tahmasp in a cave where thousands of other snakes are sleeping. Tahmasp cannot hide the fact that he is attracted to her, although he does not see that she is a snake from the waist down. Tahmasp remains in the cave for days on end, listening to Şahmeran tell incredible stories about the world and humanity. He is rapt, but when Şahmeran has told him everything and there is nothing left to tell, Tahmasp decides that he misses the outside world and leaves. Even though Şahmeran doesn't like this idea, in the end, she accepts it.
So Tahmasp returns to the land where he lives. But one day, the king of that land becomes very ill. One of the king's assistants who is quite evil tells the king that the only treatment that will help him is to eat a piece of meat from the body of Şahmeran. The search begins for anyone in the land who might know Şahmeran. Tahmasp, who is at a hamam, is identified by soldiers who spot snake scales dotting his body, so the soldiers bring him to the king's evil assistant. As it turns out -- not surprisingly -- the wicked royal aide's real aim is not to make the king better, but to hear the secrets of the world straight from the mouth of Şahmeran. He orders that Tahmasp be tortured until he reveals the location of Şahmeran's cave, and this is exactly what happens. So the assistant and the soldiers go to the cave, where they find Şahmeran, who reveals her great secret, saying: "Whoever tears off a bit of flesh from my tail and eats it will find himself endowed with all the secrets of the world. But whoever takes a bit of flesh from my head and eats it will die at that moment." With these words barely out of Şahmeran's mouth, the villainous assistant cuts the half-snake, half-woman into two pieces, and rips a bit of flesh from her tail. Tahmasp, out of horror at what has happened, bites into a piece of flesh from Şahmeran's head so that he will die immediately. But what happens instead is that the king's evil aide dies on the spot while Tahmasp appears completely unaffected. Thus it turns out that what Şahmeran had told the king's assistant was a special plan to see that her lover, Tahmasp, inherited all her knowledge, while her enemy went to his death. However, in the wake of Şahmeran's death, Tahmasp is so bereaved that he isolates himself away from the rest of humanity.
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