Have you noticed that Eastern fairy tales are inextricably linked to carpets? And this is not surprising, because they hide a mysterious and even somewhat mystical history of the people, their culture, life, experiences and joys.

(The very first fairy-tale paining by V. M. Vasnetsov "Magic Carpet")

In general, I'm not a particular fan of carpets, especially in the house. It seems to me that this is something of the past that has outlived its own. But the art of creating them has always amazed, surprised and delighted me! The legendary Azerbaijani carpets in the Baku Museum confirm this:

For the Azerbaijani people, their craftsmen, carpets have been not just a decoration of the house for centuries, but also a way of self-expression.

Even the Museum building itself looks like a masterpiece of carpet technology!

This Museum is the first in the world where the work on preservation, collection and study of carpets is purposefully carried out. It was founded in 1967 and was then located on the territory of the ancient fortress city of Icheri-Sheher in Baku. The building itself is very unusual. Inside, you feel as if you are inside a pipe or carpet. The building has three floors in total.

Very often animals were depicted on ancient carpets. Ornaments have been formed since ancient times. They included various semantic and coded symbols.

At first it seems that all carpets are the same but this is not the case. Look closely, every one has their own ornaments and colors. The patterns hide the whole history and skill of needlewomen. Here they tried to portray their impressions and attitude to the world around them.

There is a Turkic epic that tells how one day, walking through the Bazaar, the Sultan stumbles upon a shop where carpets are sold. His eyes rest on one carpet. He is interested in who wove it and the location of this artisan. The seller replies that it was woven by a young girl, to whose house he can escort the Sultan. When they come to this house, the Sultan asks the parents of the girl who was weaving the carpet: "Why did you separate your daughter from her beloved?" The parents asked the Sultan in surprise: "It was a family secret, who told you about it? After all, no one knew about it except us and our daughter." Then the Sultan replied: "I learned this from the carpet woven by your daughter. Every knot, every pattern of it speaks eloquently about the anguish of separated hearts, calling for help…"

The Museum also has a reconstruction of the house, where you can look like a cave. On the left there is a small window "shebeke":

How do you like that? Would you like to live here? ;)

And now we have reached the legendary carpet that was considered by the Azerbaijani people to bring happiness and abundance to the house — this is the ajala carpet or in another way the Dragon carpet. This name was given to it because of the mythological drawing of a dragon on the carpet. Inspiration for such carpets was drawn, oddly enough, from the motifs of Chinese porcelain!

This carpet dates back to the 17th century.

Honestly, I don't see any dragons on this carpet, do you? While the Beijing (China) carpets clearly depicted them (this is for example, in this Museum, of course, there is no such carpet):

Although the photo below (Azerbaijani carpet) shows a pattern that also has nothing in common with a dragon, but it also refers to dragon carpets:

The thing is that the distinctive feature of the Azerbaijani image of the dragon here is replaced by the motif of the "tree of life".

Carpets (without lint) were also thrown on horses:

Now the carpet creativity of this people has already moved into a more modern direction. Contemporary authors are inspired by current events and even politics:

If you ever visit the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku, you should definitely visit this museum! If only because here you will not only experience the mysterious world of carpets, but also be able to try your hand at the loom or just see how the artisans do it:

And that's all for now...

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