Nomadic people of Turkic origin came to Anatolia, or modern-day Türkiye, many centuries ago. Eventually many settled in villages for the winter. Come spring, they packed their belongings and traveled to summer pastures with their flocks of sheep, where they lived in simple, one-room tents.
On the journey, they used long kilims, like this one, as covers stretched over the loads carried by their camels. These textiles featured bold graphics and characteristic designs to indicate the travelers’ tribal identity. Inside the tent or house, kilims were used to decorate walls and, during the day, to cover bags of bedding. Although kilims are woven with the warp in the long direction (as shown here), they were usually displayed horizontally.
This 14-foot wool kilim from the late 19th century, or possibly earlier, was woven in the slit-tapestry technique by a woman from the Aydınlı tribe. Because the kilim was woven in a single piece, she would have needed a wide loom — probably set up vertically in her winter home. The pattern of colorful medallions and ram’s horn motifs is strikingly symmetrical, but the weaver also introduced subtle asymmetries to enliven the design. Slit tapestry favors geometric shapes and diagonals, which conserve the strength of the finished textile.
Kilims were presented at weddings as dowry pieces for the new family, and could be donated to mosques on the occasion of births or to honor the dead. Family weavings were subjected to heavy use, but kilims woven as votive offerings often survived in mosques.
