The History of Turkmen felt carpets

This history of felt was written by my Turkmen friend Leyla Khaidova who lives in Ashgabat. It contains many poetic descriptions and folk beliefs as well as some rare esoteric interpretations of the felt motifs.  Come and see the Turkmen carpets that I have for sale at:  http://feltnomadic.com/store/?kitty=8

The History of Felt Rugs.

If we try to explain the real work of Turkmen women who make felt rugs, we can say following things:

Several Turkmen women gather together, roll up their sleeves, and kneeling down to a mass of motley wool roll it to and fro.  From time to time, they pour boiling water on the roll of wool to link the steamy layers of fiber more tightly together.  After that, they continue to beat and knead the wool with the back of their hands and elbows.  Though the work is very difficult, Turkmen women work with pleasure. The sweat, like tiny beads, falls down from their dark-complexioned foreheads.  But Turkmen women are unlikely to feel tired because they know a large felt rug is being created – an endeavor containing centuries-old knowledge, ancient traditions, masterful skill and artistic imagination.  The work of “folk art” is being created.

Felt rugs call carpets sister.  Because both carpets and felt rugs are made of same material, sheep’s wool, there is a great si milarity in their ancient designs.  Often, they are created by the very same masters.  There is a felt carpet now preserved in the Hermitage museum (in St. Petersburg, Russia), which is among four of the most ancient carpets in the world, that was found by archeologists in the Pazyryk Barrows (grave mounds) of the Altai Mountains, which dates from the middle of the 1st millennium BC.

Felt rugs used to be a ubiquitous aspect of common people’s family life.  Felt rugs covered up the nomadic dwelling, called a kibitka (Yurt), from top to bottom.  In the case of bad weather, a special felt rug called “serpik”, covered even the flue.  It was normal to spread out a felt rug and take a rest in the shadow of a tree, or dwelling to avoid the summer heat.  Felt rugs serve as a horse-cloth for the horses which were particularly dear to every Turkmen’s heart.

Many things are made of the same sort of felt rug:  the shepherd’s cloak, small aspects of family life and the large triangular amulets called “doga” which usually hang over the kibitka entryway.

Babies would come into this world on felt rugs, and grey bearded old men would abandon it forever on them.  It should be mentioned that felt rugs possess not only insulative value, thanks to its wiry hair, but they also serve as a successful barrier against the penetration of dangerous local insects- i.e. scorpions!  Some people are of the opinion that felt rugs made of lamb’s wool are really wholesome for human’s health,  and that whomever sits on such a felt rug never feels any pain. Moreover this kind of felt rug absorbs all superfluous bodily liquids.

Turkmen felt rugs are large works, different in color, ornament, and sometimes of differing types as well.  The large one color felt rugs were made to cover the nomadic kibitka (yurt).  For newly-weds they usually constructed a new, separate kibitka covered with white felt rugs. Because of the color, they called it “white kibitka”.  But gradually rains and winds, dust and hearth turn these previously white felt rugs into grey and eventually black. That is why the kibitka received the general Turkmen term “black kibitka”.  For the most part, felt rugs were one-sided, that is, they only had designs on one side and a solid color on the back.  However, the western Turkmen’s rugs, called “Yomuds”, had both sides of the rugs ornamented with patterns.

Various Turkmen Felt Carpet Motifs

In many cases, Turkmen felt rugs preserved antique ornamentation much more than carpets. These symbols, with the help of specialists (ethnographers, archeologists, and art critics), help us to learn more about our distant ancestors’ lives.  Let’s take a look at each of these recurring ornaments separately.

“Sary ichan” (yellow scorpion) is one of the most brilliant and wide-spread ornaments of Turkmen felt rugs. It is found frequently reproduced in the Turkmen painters and designers’ work.  This name, “sary ichan”, was later given to it by felt rug makers because of the visual association with a scorpion’s dangerous sting.  It is easy to get an idea of the pattern.  It is an example of what has come to be called the “solar style”. Found in many different regions of the world, this pattern depicts an antique symbol of sun disk’s rays. There is much reason to believe that the ancient Turkmen worshipped the sun.  As long ago as the 5th century BC, Gerodot, and other ancient authors such as Strabo (Greek geographer and traveler in the 1st century BC), wrote about a cult of the sun located in the territory of modern Turkmenistan among the local Dacho-Massaget tribes.  According to them, offerings of beautiful long-necked horses were made to the sun.  Modern researchers consider these horses to be ancestors of the famous Turkmen horses, the Akhalteke.

No culture disappears without a trace.  In the western and northwestern regions of Turkmenistan, the ancient sun symbolism has survived into the modern era, and is still found in the felt rugs’ colorful ornamentation. In the 20th century, the scorpion and similar patterns spread all over Turkmenistan.  You can also find this symbol in the breast brooch, which is a characteristic detail of a Turkmen woman’s national costume.

Very popular in felt rug making, “Daragt” (tree) is another ancient pattern. With symmetrical branches it intersects the central part of the felt rug along its axis.  This is not a simple tree, but a symbol of the other world’s mythical tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This tree was known in Central Asia as “derechte-heyat”.  You can trace a connection to this term in the archaic name of the tree “daragt” and in the modern and more common Turkmen term “agach”.  Grounded in the remote antiquity of Zoroastrianism (Mazdeism), is the idea that every person’s name is held on a leaf of this tree.

The next widespread symbol is “gochak” (diminutive of ”gochu-shahy”) which means ram’s horns. It should be mentioned that you can easily find this ornament not only on felt rugs but also on carpets, pottery, outdoor ovens (tamdyr) and on the walls of buildings.  Everywhere the people made use of both the symbol and the actual horns of rams with a magic intent to protect themselves from the evil eye. This fact reflects ancient notions of a mountain ram (arhar) as a totem-protector.  This is why the ram’s horns symbol is often found “guarding the tree”, crowning the top or situated along its sides.

On some other felt rugs we see the striking depiction of two or more snakes twisting in the center of the felt rugs ornament.

The truth is that these patterns are not widespread and probably of a local character and origin.

Nowadays, in spite of the energetic modernization of family life, the Turkmen felt rug, which was borne out of ancient nomadic conditions, continues to be one of the most important attributes of the Turkmen home.

By Leyla Khaidova