History of the Amazigh Berber carpet

Historically, the basis of the Amazigh economy is the sheep and wool that women use to weave their carpets, which clearly shows the place of wool in all aspects of Amazigh life. The carpets are made in an artisanal way by hand with sheep wool using simple wooden looms placed on the ground. These have a size limiting the width of the carpet to about two meters. This is the perfect size for a Berber family to sleep on, and rarely will you find an ancient carpet that does not come in a significant length. Traditionally, only women make the rugs for use in their own homes. The use of the rugs is diverse, they can be used to decorate the floors and as seat covers, bed covers, or blankets during cold periods.  In this article, we will try to present you with the history of the Amazigh Berber carpet and its historical aspect. In other terms, at the end of this article, you'll know and understand The history behind berber rugs.

 

These rugs are filled with symbolism, telling the story of the woman who created each piece. The weaving period is a bit long, requiring about 20 to 30 days for a carpet to be hand-woven with a design that is completely original - no two pieces will ever be the same.

The journalist Brooke Bobb from Vogue, during their visit to the Atlas Mountains, got to know the Amazigh women weavers by discovering their thousand-year-old art and weaving knowledge that they inherited from their grandmothers. The description she gave is the following: 

"The woman and her fellow weavers use only a small image of the design as a reference when making the rug. Their understanding of where the lines and shapes begin and end is based solely on instinct, a knowledge passed down from their Berber mothers and grandmothers. One carpet was bright pink and purple, decorated with traditional diamond patterns. Another was a deep blue and gray, done in the style of a Rothko painting. All yarns are hand-dyed and handspun with raw wool. Wright and Lobo-Navia studied the piles of fluffy yarns stacked on the floor of a room. They assessed how weak they were for some colors, and how much they had for others. After examining the yarn, they began measuring the rugs halfway across the looms. Most were accurate; one was off by an inch or two.

The craft occupies a primordial place in the Amazigh communities. 

Amazigh society is divided as follows: the men necessarily work in the mountains or on the farms, the women are all housewives working in the house, taking care of their children while weaving rugs. 

The finished carpets are intended for sale in large cities like Marrakech. The sale takes place in the form of an auction. In the souks, where the sale takes place, one will find several handicrafts such as carpets, ceramics and other pieces. 

It is a process that provides income to Amazigh villages by constituting their main source of income.

We can consider that an Amazigh carpet is like a book full of signs and symbols. It is a universe of thought based on a palette of exuberant colors. Berber women use their textile creations as a free space where they develop a personal creativity and an amazing artistic expression. The carpets have become an essential link between the past and the present, the earth and the sky. This gives these carpets the character of artistic works that can easily find their place in various art museums.

Journalist Brent Crane wrote an article on the Moroccan carpet entitled: " Good Company: Mellah’s Radiant Moroccan Rugs" in Barron's, and in which he expressed that: 

"Moroccan carpets - complex, infinitely varied, rich in symbolism and cultural depth - are a reflection of Morocco itself. This country of 35 million inhabitants occupies a unique geographical space, wedged between three great natural bodies - the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Sahara - and two continents, Europe and Africa. It has many surprises in store".

There are similarities between the motifs of the Amazigh carpet and the signs of the rock arts and artifacts of the primitive cultures of mankind, and also surprising links going back to the period of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe and the Neolithic period in the East and in the Mediterranean basin. This is the reason why historians consider the Amazigh carpet as the last testimony of the archaic world.

The Amazigh carpet is characterized by an abstract and geometric language originating from the body and more precisely from the form and functions of the human sexual organs. The basis of the Amazigh carpet is in the form of duality and the relationship of man and woman, becoming the expression of universal fertility including all nature. 

The Berber carpet is an artistic creation of the Berber woman reflecting most phases of her life, her timeline and her sexual experience (virgin, new bride), through marriage, pregnancy and childbirth. 

In the Middle Ages, Moroccans used the Berber carpet as the main gift of foreign embassies and even in the princely caravan in which beautiful silk fabrics with gold thread and carpets were used on camels. 

Terminologically, the word zarabi has several meanings. The first meaning is the flowerbed. The second meaning is that which is placed on the ground and on which one leans. 

The Amazighs call the carpets " tazerbit" . Another name that is still used is " gtifa "which comes from the same origin. It is the name of the wool carpets woven in the high altitude region.

Leon the African (Hassan al-Wazzan), the famous historian, gave an explanation that the carpet was used as one of the wedding gifts from Fez:

“We always give a woolen carpet of about twenty cubits and three blankets of which one side is a sheet« . 

In Fez, the carpets were sold at auction and even exported, notably to Africa.

The oldest carpet preserved in Morocco dates from 18^th century is that of Chiadma, which is dated exactly 1787.

At 19^th In the 19th century, the Moroccan carpet was among the most exported products to Europe. In universal exhibitions of 1867, 1878 and 1889 in France one could find Berber carpets. At the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century, the weaving of carpets had considered an important part in the daily life of Moroccans in all cities of Morocco.

During the era of the French Protectorate, the French authorities tried to preserve and encourage the art of carpet in Morocco by creating a artisanal label and commercialaccording to  Prosper Ricard:

"For the maintenance of such original and asserted traditions, from the triple point of view of technique, decoration or color, as well as for the happy blossoming of tendencies which in all times and in all places must be respected, the government of the Protectorate took from the beginning the measures of protection, encouragement and propaganda which were necessary. In this respect, a special organization, the Service des Arts Indigènes, which later became the Service des Métiers et Arts Marocains, has exercised and continues to exercise the greatest influence. 

and by giving this traditional art form a official mark of authenticity :

"Also, to confer to this manufacture an official mark of authenticity and to safeguard the reputation of the Moroccan industry, the government of the Protectorate instituted a stamp of State delivered under certain well determined conditions. » 

A history of textiles

According to historians, textile production is considered the most important artistic tradition of Morocco. A large number of Moroccans are involved in textiles using a wide range of materials. 

The history of textile production dates back to 1500 BC. This is when the Amazighs of North Africa began to use weaving techniques for practical, magical and religious purposes.

Amazigh women weave textiles for use as shawls, blankets, rugs, tents, bags, pillows and cushions. With time and practice, they were able to learn more professional weaving and dyeing techniques, adding a wide range of symbols, designs and artistic motifs. By the 7th century, textile production had become an important part of the Moroccan economy, and it continues to this day.

The Amazigh textile tradition has been preserved over time. This preservation is due to the importance that weaving and embroidery occupied in the daily life of the people, but also to the considerations of weaving among the Amazighs considering it as a source of magic, protection, survival and power.

Berber tribal textiles are the most stunning and impressive in Africa. This is due to the variations in patterns, bright colors and variety of textures that distinguish them from other types of Islamic and African textiles.

The traditional weavings of Morocco are dedicated to a practical use by using them to furnish the house or the tent, as personal clothing. Another social use can be distinguished as an indicator of the wealth, social status and religious background of the weaver and also the daily life of her tribe. 

In the twelfth century, a small town in the Middle Atlas became a center of trade and a meeting place for producers from the northern regions of Morocco and those from Tafilalet to exchange crops, crafts and hides. This city is the city of Sefrou. It is also a starting point for sub-Saharan caravans through which Morocco exchanged salt and hides for gold from the mines of Black Africa. What is called nowadays the name of " unfair trade (unfair trade)« .

The financing of this trade was done by Jews who owned small "bank stores" in the medina of Sefrou, also called "Haouanet tale," and caravans to Timbuktu during the 44-day journey. The sponsors in Mali today are led by Jewish guides who are respected for their leadership, fairness, patience, courage and initiative. They are called azettat (because they show the azetta with long sticks, the fabric of the carpet has a unique pattern of the peaceful journey of each Amazigh tribe), which in earthy language means the passage of peace. The colors of the carpets, the azetta, and its different patterns are synonymous with peace and harmony of the Amazigh people of old.

Non-nomadic Moroccan people use textiles as furniture or interior decoration such as a bed, chair, coat, blanket, trunk, pillow or saddle. In contrast, nomads use the carpet as a roof, doors, walls or partitions of a house. The Moroccan table, whether in a nomadic or non-nomadic family, takes the form of a large rectangular rug. 

The history of Moroccan Amazigh carpet weaving

The Amazigh people have a long and illustrious tradition of making hand-knitted rugs and carpets.  Morocco is currently one of the most prolific producers of carpets. But the Moroccan Amazigh carpets are characterized by a plurality of weaving and embroidery styles. This plurality is due to the plurality of Amazigh tribes that can be counted more than forty-five tribes Amazighs scattered in Morocco, each of which has its own distinctive design. 

But we cannot confirm that there is not a total difference. The carpets of the different tribes share two main characteristics: firstly the simplicity of the drawing and secondly the richness of the colors (red and saffron).

Traditionally, carpet weaving is done for both utilitarian and decorative purposes. 

It is also distinguished that the carpets made by the tribes of the Atlas Mountains regions are with a heavy pile. On the other hand, the carpets made by the tribes living in the desert, the Sahara, are light and woven flat, which implies that the nature of the climate has an effect on theazetta, weaving in the region..

Historically, Moroccan Amazigh carpets date back to the Paleolithic periosteum, which is characterized by the development of the first human tools. Amazigh traces and tribal symbolism have been found in rock art and painting dating back thousands of years. In the absence of a written language, the ancient weavers were able to record and trace their myths and legends using glyphs and marks embedded in their carpets.

For centuries, the The Amazigh territory has been invaded and colonized by a series of empires, namely: the Romans, the Ottomans, the Arabs, the Spanish, the Portuguese and the French. But, it should be mentioned that none of these empires left a more lasting impact than the Arabs by Islamizing the whole region and giving an Arab identity to the Amazighs. However, they tenaciously held on to their unique millennial culture, due to their isolation for thousands of years before the arrival of the invaders.

The Amazigh carpets of the 20^th century have the same transfer of glyphs and marks as the carpets of distant centuries. Moroccan tribal carpets, neither possessing nor seeking the acquisition of formal artistic training, tell the same stories of the past, transmitted generationally. 

However, having an Amazigh rug also gives you the impression of owning a century-old rug that was preserved in a time capsule or an art and history book. This is their main attraction for Western buyers and collectors of rare pieces.

So, in this article we have tried to give you a small presentation of the history of the Amazigh Berber carpet. For more information, do not hesitate to consult our blog.