Wonderful antique or semi-antique tribal carpets from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan can be found at sporadic intervals during the year in Saudi Arabia. However, when the Haj approaches, some visiting pilgrims to the Kingdom and Jeddah in particular bring with them woven treasures to sell and help finance their once in a lifetime trip. Many of these antique and semi-antique rugs that the pilgrims bring with them may have been with their families for many years and were either folded up and stored for safekeeping or hung on their walls.
The majority of antique and semi-antique tribal rugs that are brought into the Kingdom during the Haj are the type that were produced on small horizontal looms and are easily folded and placed into a suitcase or hand luggage. Carpet dealers approach the Haj pilgrims on arrival at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah en route to Makkah. Some pilgrims sell on the spot while others choose to wait and take their woven treasures to Jeddah’s carpet souks or they attempt to sell them directly to the public in commercial areas, such as in downtown Jeddah (Al-Balad) near the camel building adjacent to the gold souk or at the Petromin souk.
The conditions of these rugs vary but usually due to their ages being 80 years and over, they invariably show signs of wear and after close inspection holes can be found. The most vulnerable parts of the rug are the warps (fringe ends of the rug) that may be damaged in the process of unraveling. If damaged warps are not repaired, the wefts and knots will simply unstitch and the rug will fall apart. However, do not be alarmed as this sort of damage is acceptable as far as antique and semi-antique rugs are concerned and they can be easily repaired. The warps, any holes and areas of wear are worthy of mending, thus, restoring the rug somewhere near its former glory to take pride of place in your carpet/rug collection.
Figure No. 1 is a fine example of an antique (over 100 years old) Afghan Baluch prayer rug that was brought over to Jeddah from Afghanistan for the 2002 Haj pilgrimage. The prayer rug measures 1.5mx0.85m and displays the classic Afghan/Iranian Baluch tree of life design. The knot density is approximately 105 Persian knots per square inch. The whole rug is wool, except the sand-colored camel hair main field which displays abstract trees that project branches sprouting a total of 40 Baluch serrated willow leaves. Each leaf is woven with alternating colored quarters of indigo blue, madder red, aubergine and natural dark brown wool.
The weaver has included two, very obvious, deliberate mistakes. Both the bottom right and left tree trunks have been misaligned with the base of the trees. A deliberate mistake woven into tribal rugs is either not always there, or is difficult to spot. When the deliberate mistake is there, it helps to bestow upon the rug a degree of charm, individuality, flair and tribal tradition that is never seen in flawless city carpets.
The weaver has included small delicate stars in madder red that are placed randomly around the trees and willow leaves. This beautiful detail gives the impression of stars in the sky. Interestingly, the weaver did not opt for the classic prayer rug design where the main border of the rug is woven into a head and shoulder formation, thus forming the mihrab at the top end of the rug. It is the mihrab (prayer arch) that is pointed toward Makkah. This design is instantly recognizable and identifiable with both Afghan and Iranian Baluch weavers. However, the weaver of this particular rug decided to deviate from custom and placed eight madder red chevrons or arrow tips at the top of the rug. The idea was that the chevrons be used as the mihrab to point the prayer rug to Makkah. The rug also had one guard stripe with a Turkoman bride’s fingernail design. Each fingernail alternated in color from madder red to natural brown wool. The fingernails were outlined and highlighted with ivory wool. The main border displayed hooked diamonds that were outlined with an aged mellow madder red and indigo blue. The diamonds were highlighted with great subtlety by having centered dots of ivory wool. The use of natural ivory wool for highlighting small areas of rug/carpet design details is a classic feature of the Baluch tribes from Afghanistan and Iran.
The prayer rug had many holes and areas of wear where the wool pile was worn down to the base of the knot. The warps, which were a mixture of wool and dark brown goat hair, were beginning to unravel too. Thankfully, there is a master carpet restorer in Jeddah who is from Afghanistan. Mohammed’s weaving expertise ensured that the holes and areas of wear were beautifully restored by using old, naturally dyed hand-spun wool. The repaired areas were in close color contrast with the remainder of the rug. The warps had been re-knotted into position by tightly looping them with continuous rows of fine woolen thread. This method is referred to as "zanjerak" which is a Persian description for a small chain stitch. The prayer rug has been completely restored and is now a beautiful reminder of the charm and simple geometric elegance of Afghan Baluch tribal weaving from the 19th century that is no longer seen in Afghan contemporary weavings. Thanks to the skillful repair work, the rug will now be enjoyed and appreciated for many years to come.
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