ANTIQUE CARPETS
The Origins of Carpet Weaving in the Ornamentation of Kazakh Carpet
Aigul Omarova ,
Historian , Researcher of the Karaganda Regional Museum of Fine Arts
The ancient Turks on the territory of Kazakhstan had the title kul-bilge , which meant wise and experienced . In the Kazakh language , kul ( kөl ) means lake , bilge ( bilgir ) means experienced . That means the wisdom of the ruler is as deep as waters of a lake . The essence of this comparison lies in the ancient understanding of nature and the inseparable man ’ s fusion with it .
There are thousands of lakes on the territory of Central Asia , which indicates the geographical priority and primacy of the carpet ’ s emergence and its types on the territory of Kazakhstan among the nomadic tribes . The surface of the reservoirs reflects the sky and the earth in an alternating rhythm of waves . They , like patterns on a woven carpet , create the image of an ornament . It is not a coincidence that closed middle space of the carpet is called kul ( köl ), a lake , in Turkish gol ( göl ). There is no more precise definition for the plane of a carpet than a lake , and not a field , as we describe the surface of carpets .
Lake is opposed to the sky and they inosculate in a single unit . Such dichotomous opposites ( skywater , earth-water , day-night , man-woman and etc .) form the basis of the universe in the worldview of Kazakh nomads . Luminous stars are also reflected in the lake . On a pile carpet , they are represented by patterns in the form of geometric ornaments so-called stars ( juldız ). In the middle of the carpet , medallions with a variety of patterns can be located , reflecting the surrounding world . Medallions are also called kul . In their centres the ornament could be different . It could be a totem or tamga , a sign of a clan , mythical creatures and circle and spiral shapes of water ripples , as well as the sun , which gives and takes life . Thus , for a nomad , a pile carpet is a model of the world , repeating the structure of
@ danaerik _ qazaqcarpets nature . This philosophical and outlook model also indicates the emergence of carpet weaving precisely among the nomadic tribes . It appeared as a form of domestic craft and only then was developed among sedentary peoples and became an element of economic development . Among the nomads , carpet was preserved in its autochthonousness of domestic nomadic production and as an element of ethnocultural value with many functions .
Carpet weaving spread across the Eurasian continent along the migration routes of Turkic nomads , which is confirmed by toponymy . For example , they are the Kazakh or Borchali regions in the Caucasus . Carpet centres arose at the places of Turks residence , settling and assimilation with local population . Carpets called Kazakh carpets were woven and are woven in them , and they are identical in knot of weaving and ornamentation to carpets of Kazakhstan .
In many countries there are Kazakh groups of carpets . They have lost their original meaning and etymology , which determined carpet existence among the Turkic tribal associations , called “ Kazakh ” from the X century . Now carpets of Kazakh groups represent only a style of carpet weaving with a certain ornamentation and technique . They have lost their ethnic connection with roots . But the Kazakhs and other Turkic peoples have a unity of carpet weaving due to a single historical past .
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