Religion
In reply to the discussion: Religious Symbolism in the Islamic Prayer Rug [View all]Nitram
(22,794 posts)unfinished while putting off suitors until her husband Odysseus could make it back home from his odyssey. The difference being that Penelope almost finished the rug each day and then took it apart again that night.
I grew up with antique rugs in the house, and they have always had a special place in my heart. When my wife and I traveled in Egypt 20 years ago, we visited the weaving town of Saqqara. While young girls did the finest detail, the old man who had taught all the weavers and managed the studio sat down at a loom and demonstrated his technique for us. We ended up buying a large silk rug that hangs on our wall to this day. On the other end of the weaving spectrum, I watched blanket weavers at looms only about six inches wide in villages in the Sahara desert in Mali. The warp was perhaps 30 feet long, and was tied to a large stone. As they wove the stone was pulled closer and closer through the sand. They would weave lengths of about six feet, leave about 6 inches without weft, and then start on another section. Eight to ten of these would be sewn together to make one blanket. I am always drawn to watch weavers at work wherever I happen to be in the world.