Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Turkmenistan is one of the countries where carpet art started, and the
only country with a carpet symbol on its flag. In the Syberia collection of
the Saint Petersburg Hermitage State Museum, in the section where the
oldest carpet, coming out of the Pazırık Kurgan and woven with Turk-
ish knots in the 4th-5th centuries B.C. is displayed, bronze carpet knife
blades, which have been recovered in the excavations in Turkmenistan
Sumbar Kurgan and dated to the 14th century B.C., are exhibited. The
experts claim that motives similar to Turkmen carpet design exist on the
Pazırık carpet and ceramic pottery recovered in Turkmenistan excavations.
Turkmen carpets and rugs exhibit different motives and interpretations
depending on the tribes who had woven them (Fig. 22). These character-
istic motives show themselves in all kinds of fabric. The main Turkmen
weaving products are comprised of rugs, sacks, saddle bags, bags, clothes
put on the chests of camels during marriage ceremonies, tent bands, tent
door bands, and prayer rugs (Eiland and Eiland, 2008). In the Turkmen
weaving, where different shades of red are widely used, the most common
motif is the
lake
. This motif, usually woven in as an octagon, takes differ-
ent shapes depending on the tribe. Starting with Teke, the main Turkmen
tribes around Merv, who had a reputation for carpet weaving, are Yomut,
Salur and Sarik. Unfortunately, carpet weaving has lost its former impor-
tance in the industrialization of Merv and has reached today with only
small-scale productions.
FIGURE 22
Turcoman Yomud Rug (Turcoman Rugs, 1966).
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