www.turkmenistanembassy.org When one first thinks of Turkmenistan, it is the arid land and oil and gas wells that first come to mind. However, when it comes to art and culture, carpet making is by far the most predominant image. For a Turkmen, carpet making has the same importance as the pyramids do for Egypt. It is one of the oldest arts in Turkmenistan and the region.

Archeological data places carpet making on the territory of Turkmenistan as early as the 6th century B.C. The remains of a carpet which archeologists found in the 1940's at Altai is two-thousand five hundred years old. Research shows that the design is very similar to the carpets of today.

It took centuries for these designs to develop, and the decoration of the carpets is extremely original, reflecting stylized articles of the real world surrounding nomadic livestock-breeders. Ornaments are geometric, and love of deep, rich red is an artistic tradition of the carpets.

The art of carpet weaving was passed from generation to generation and today one can single out several types of Turkmen carpets, each having individual ornamentation. The five traditional designs form part of the country's state emblem and flag. For Turkmen nomads, the carpets were extremely important, covering wagon floors and forming collapsible walls, protecting them from the cold.

While carpet making is an ancient tradition, it was little known outside Central Asia for hundreds of years, only being recognized in the last one hundred years. Now, Turkmen rugs are known the world over.

Today, carpet making has become a professional art. Like the Turkmen ancestors, natural dyes and Sargin sheep wool (the smoothest to the touch) are still used. The 15 carpet-making factories employ about 10,000 people and put out 41,000 square meters of carpets a year.