30 May Azerbaijani Carpets

Need some trivia to impress your friends? Well look no further because this week’s post is about Azerbaijani carpets.

Let’s start with the basics. Azerbaijan is a country in the Caucus region of Eurasia. It shares a border with Georgia and Armenia to its west and bumps up against the Caspian Sea to its east. Its northern border is shared with Russia and to the south it runs against the northern tip of Iran.

In 2010, the art of carpet weaving in Azerbaijan was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Carpet weaving has been a tradition in Azerbaijan since the 2^nd millennium BC, over 4,000 years ago. The oldest carpet yet discovered dates from the 6^th-5^th century BC and was found during excavations in the Altai Mountains in Central Asia.

The first Azerbaijani carpets were simple, made without any patterns. Today, however, the carpets are full of complex designs and intricate colors. The tradition of carpet weaving was and still is passed down through families and communities by teaching and practice. Men shear the sheep used for carpets in the spring, summer or autumn. The actual weaving is undertaken by female members of the household during the winter.

The carpets are made on vertical or horizontal looms using colored yarn. The dye for the yarn is still formulated, as it always has been, from plants found in the region.

For many Azerbaijanis, the carpets provide a connection to the past. They are a tradition passed down from the most distant ancestors. They are, like all works of art, a way of communicating an idea through time to a generation far in the future. Imbedded in the weavings are the concerns, imaginations and values of people long passed away.

Even today, Azerbaijani carpets are still widely used in everyday life. They act as furniture decorations and are used for wedding ceremonies, childbirth, mourning rituals and prayer. Examples of Azerbaijani carpets can be found in museums around the world including the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Louvre in Paris.

In truth, we lied when we said at the beginning of this post that the Azerbaijani carpets were “trivia.” There’s nothing “trivial” about them. They are masterworks of human craft and some of the best records of human history.

Still, if you need to impress your friends, a little knowledge about Azerbaijani carpets couldn’t hurt.