All you need to know about Middle Eastern carpets!

The Middle East region is located in western Asia, which is considered by many to be a region extending across continents. This region includes: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran, Turkey.

Arabs are considered one of the largest ethnic groups that live in the Middle East, in addition to Azeris, Kurds, Turks, and Persians, and among the minorities that live in this region also are the Samaritans, Assyrians, Arameans, Lurs, and others... There are Roman societies in the Middle East alongside European ethnic groups It constitutes a diaspora including Greeks, Crimean Tatars, Albanians, and Bosniaks.

There are other immigrant groups in the Middle East: Africans from sub-Saharan Africa, Afghans, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Filipinos, Chinese, Bengalis, and other people of Indian descent... The history of the Middle East goes back to ancient times, and the geopolitical importance of the region emerged thousands of years ago. years with a few major religions originating in the Middle East such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Middle Eastern rugs

Origin of the term "Middle East"

The term "Middle East" appeared for the first time in the 1850s, and became fashionable when it was used by the American naval strategist and historian "Alfred Thayer Mahan" to describe the region between India and Arabia, where the Russian and British empires competed for influence over Central Asia in what was known as the "Middle East". The big game."

Historian Mahan discovered the strategic importance of the Middle East region, in addition to the importance of the Arabian Gulf, which is located in the center, so the region surrounding the Persian Gulf became known as the Middle East, and Mahan believed that the Middle East was a key corridor that could be controlled by Britain because it would stop the Russians from advancing towards India controlled by Britain.

In September 1902, the term Middle East was used for the first time in an article Mahan published in a British magazine titled "The National Review" and reprinted months later in Time magazine.

Middle Eastern rugs

In October of the same year, the British journalist, historian and diplomat Sir Ignatius Valentine Cherol wrote a series of 20 articles, in which he elaborated on the definition of the Middle East to include the regions of Asia that extended towards the borders of India.

The areas centered around the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and Turkey were known as the “Near East” and that was before World War II, while the term “Far East” refers to the general region of China and neighboring countries, while the “Middle East” included the region from Burma to the countries of Mesopotamia is the region between the Far East and the Near East.

With the end of the thirties, the British established the Middle East Command in Cairo for their army, and the United States of America and Europe began to use this term, and then the Middle East Institute was also established in 1946 in Washington, DC.

Antique Turkish Middle Eastern rugs - Smyrna Oushak

Before World War I, there was confusion in describing the “middle” due to changing definitions, and the term “Near East” was used in the English language to refer to the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans, and the term “Middle East” at that time still referred to Turkestan, Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, and Iran, While the term "Far East" refers to East Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and China.

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the definition of the "Near East" changed so much that the term was no longer used in everyday English, but remained in academic disciplines such as ancient history and archaeology, to describe a region similar to the term "Middle East" used today. So the term "Middle East" was used to refer to the emerging Islamic countries.

In 1957, the US government began to use the term "Middle East" officially for the first time in the Eisenhower Doctrine speech (a special message to Congress on the situation in the Middle East), in reference to the Suez Canal crisis, and then Secretary of State John Foster Dulles identified the Middle East as The region that lies between Pakistan on the eastern side, Libya on the western side, Iraq and Syria on the northern side, Arabia on the southern side, and Ethiopia and Sudan.

In 1958, the US State Department declared that the terms “Middle East” and “Near East” are interchangeable, and the region was redefined again to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.

In addition, the Associated Press writers stated that the term "Near East" once referred to countries that were "further" from the West (i.e., from Europe), while the Middle East referred to countries of the East, and today the two terms have become synonymous.

The definition of the term "Middle East" has changed radically over the years, but today the Middle East means that region that includes: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Palestine, Iran, Turkey.

Middle Eastern rugs

After we clarified what is meant by the term "Middle East", it became clear that all the carpets that were woven in this region are oriental carpets, and although these unique antique carpets that were actually produced in this region, it does not mean that all of those Countries necessarily have produced carpets.

Middle Eastern Persian rug from the 17th century

The most common types of Middle Eastern carpets are:

• Persian carpets
• Turkish carpets
• Egyptian carpets
• Palestinian carpets

Not all countries of the Middle East had prominent carpet-weaving industries but some, such as Syria, were recognized for their exquisite textiles.

Although oriental rugs have been produced in a smaller number of countries in the region, the Middle East is considered one of the largest markets for high-quality rugs in the world. The tendency of people in this region to woven arts helps them to acquire the best types of rugs.

Middle Eastern Egyptian rugs from the 16th century

The Middle East has the most fine silky carpets, and some of the finest woolen carpets found anywhere in the world, and this is because people in this region demand the finest carpet weaving, and they are willing to pay the price these carpets are worth.

Have you ever used Middle Eastern carpets in your home interior decoration? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Translated by: nazmiyalantiquerugs.com