The motifs on kilims woven in this way are constrained to be somewhat angular and geometric. These are prized by collectors for the crispness of their decoration. To create a sharp pattern, weavers usually end each pattern element at a particular thread, winding the coloured weft threads back around the same warps, leaving a narrow gap or slit. Kilim are therefore called flatweave or flatware rugs. Kilim patterns are created by winding the weft threads, which are coloured, backwards and forwards around pairs of warp threads, leaving the resulting weave completely flat. Kilim in contrast are woven flat, using only warp and weft threads. The wrapping threads give these rugs additional thickness and strength. Cicim, palaz, soumak and zili are made using three groups of threads, namely longitudinal warps, crossing wefts, and wrapping coloured threads. Although the name kilim is sometimes used loosely in the West to include all type of rug such as cicim, palaz, soumak and zili, in fact any type other than pile carpets, the name kilim properly denotes a specific weaving technique. Some of the motifs used are widespread across Anatolia and sometimes across other regions of West Asia, but patterns vary between tribes and villages, and rugs often expressed personal and social meaning.Ī Turkish kilim is a flat-woven rug from Anatolia. In these tribal societies, women wove kilims at different stages of their lives, choosing themes appropriate to their own circumstances. With the fading of tribal and village cultures in the 20th century, the meanings of kilim patterns have also faded.

These motifs were often combined when woven into patterns on kilims. Some motifs represent desires, such as for happiness and children others, for protection against threats such as wolves ( to the flocks) and scorpions, or against the evil eye. In Turkish Anatolia in particular, village women wove themes significant for their lives into their rugs, whether before marriage or during married life. Many motifs are used in traditional kilims, handmade flat-woven rugs, each with many variations. Detail of an antique vegetable-dyed Konya Kilim, numbered to identify motifs ( Turkish names in parentheses):Ħ) Star ( Yıldız), containing Love and Unison ( Aşk ve Birleşim)

Arabic calligrapher scorpion