Unusual Forms

Prayer kilims The devout Muslim must wash his hands, face and feet, find a ‘pure’ surface and prostrate himself in prayer five times a day. The prayer kilim, with its distinctive mihrab or ‘prayer niche’ composition, is ideal as a small, transportable and clean surface that may be laid on the ground, with the top of the mihrab pointing to Mecca. It must be said that any clean floor mat, kilim or carpet can be used for prayer, but the mihrab design provides a specific focus and a link with Islamic spiritual traditions.But even the mihrab symbol can be variously interpreted. Its origins can be traced to the arch that is found at the centre of the wall that faces Mecca in all mosques, and prayer kilims are therefore sometimes used as mosque door hangings and decorations. Prayer kilims are found throughout Anatolia, Kurdistan, Khorasan and west Afghanistan. They form an important part of the weaver’s dowry and are often woven for the head of a family or as a gift to the local mosque. Single-arch prayer kilims are of a common size, about
5 feet by 3 feet, but the shapes of the mihrab vary enormously. There are, at one extreme, elaborate architectural forms- supported by columns, often with ornate lamp and tree decorations, such as can be seen in central Anatolian examples. These contrast with the simplified and almost unnoticeable mihrabs of the west Afghanistan prayer kilims. Kilims featuring multiple arches, known as ‘saf’, are rare and exclusive to Anatolia. Their large size, about twelve or fourteen feet long with up to seven niches in horizontal or vertical rows, implies a family use or a decorative function.

Soffrai and Rukorsi These are distinctively shaped kilims, largely woven by Kurdish and Balouch tribes. Soffrai, in Persian, means ‘small rug’. They take the form of small runners, above five feet in length and about one-and-a-half feet wide, or squares used as eating cloths. Both types are easily identifiable by their zig-zag motifs, penetrating two sides of a   plain, madder red or camel-hair field. The borders are frequently of soumak or knotted work, and these delicate techniques perfectly complement the plain ground. Soffrai runners are woven by the Balouch as ‘fill-in’ rugs, to lay around the edges of a large room-sized carpet. Rukorsi kilims, about four feet square, are used as covers for charcoal braziers or bread ovens. In the depths of winter, layers of felt topped by a rukorsi kilim make a warm family blanket.

Bags Tapestry-woven bags are made alongside kilims for practical everyday, but very different uses. Nomadic peoples and settled tribes in villages have little use for furniture, except for low chairs and tin or wooden chests, so flatwoven bags are used for storage and transport. Double bags, known as hurgin or khoorjeen in Persian, and heybe in Turkish,
are slung over the shoulder as a small pannier for vegetables and foodstuffs; larger bags, up to three feet square, are set across the backs of camels and donkeys as saddle packs. Bedding and clothing bags include the cradle—like maffrash of Anatolia and the Caucasus, and the pairs of juvals from Khorasan and Afghan Turkestan. Similar to, but smaller than juvals, the Turkoman jaloor bags have long tassels and, like the juvals, are hung on the frame of the yurt for storage. Salt bags, namak donneh, are most distinctive in shape, with a long narrow neck that may be folded over to seal the bag and preserve the valuablecontents from moisture.