The people's woven history

 For thousands of years, Azeris have literally been born on, lived, and died on their carpets. The intricate and unique patterns of these carpets tell the story not only of the masterful skills of the people but also of weaving history itself as well as  progress in literature, art and architecture of Azerbaijan.

Now Azerbaijan's rich legacy of carpet making is being preserved with the help of a new book as beautiful and detailed as this ancient art form of self-expression.

"Azerbaijan Carpet", a 262-page glossy volume with hundreds of color photographs, shows the development of Azeri carpets through the ages and explains how their intricate details chronicle  life of the people living in this ancient land.

Carpets were involved in all aspects of Azeri life. As gifts for respected guests, dowries for young brides, saddlebags for nomadic shepherds and warming covers for simple shelters, carpets always played an essential role in Azerbaijan.

Spread from the villages of the Caucasus mountains to the nomads of the desert and to the bazaars on the Caspian Sea, these carpets reflect a deep-rooted history of  the patient people; From the Roman empire. The carpets wrapped up the merchaints and their caravans along the Silk Road. They tapped into enormous oil wealth in the beginning of this century and are now seeing the industry reborn.

Without dubt, Azeris have made ones of the world's finest carpets, with their own stories woven into the fibers. Their perseverance was as strong as the double knots that allowed their carpets to be passed down not just through the generations, but through the centuries.

The publication of this richly textured book comes after literally years of painstaking research by an Azeri scholar Roya Tagiyeva, director of the Azerbaijan State Museum of Carpets and Handicrafts in Baku, which houses the world's largest collection of Azeri carpets. Proceeds from this book will help Azerbaijan preserve its carpet-making history and will finance the establishment of a fund to support projects such as the upgrading of Museum facilities and services.