In the Ottoman Empire, an Armenian family might raise its own silkworms and work the silk into a carpet or garment whose deep reds and golds marked it as Armenian. Textiles like these carried heritage and identity from one generation to the next. The Armenian Genocide put that tradition at risk of disappearing.
Dispatches
A Single Thread, Part One: Textiles in the Near East
Although silk was initially imported from China for clothing, Armenians began to raise their own silkworms through sericulture and produced their own silk for rugs and clothing. Traditional Armenian clothing, with its deep reds and golds, reflected the skill and craftsmanship of the people who wore it. It was typically adorned with embroidery in a style and detail similar to the patterns woven into the rugs and other textiles of the time.
An Armenian woman who fled Turkey poses full-length in traditional coin-trimmed costume, Lebanon, c. 1921–1923.
Muslim, Kurdish, and Armenian youth wearing traditional clothing, c. 1873
Traditional clothing was worn less in daily life by the 20th century, but it remained common in ceremonial settings. From weddings and christenings to holidays and religious ceremonies, Armenians in the Ottoman Empire expressed their culture through their clothing.
While it is impossible to know how many irreplaceable garments were lost during the Armenian Genocide, those who escaped carried with them traditions and artistry that spanned centuries. Traditional clothing has remained an indelible part of Armenian identity, still shared from one generation to the next today.
An Armenian bride, center, wearing traditional wedding clothing Constantinople, c. 1873
Centuries of Tradition
With access to rare materials, the people of the Near East developed a carpet industry unlike any other in the world. For many ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, the booming industry, fueled by trade with Europe and Asia, was a major part of their economy and a steady source of income. Although carpet weaving is commonly grouped today under the single name “Turkish carpets,” Armenian carpets still bear distinct characteristics that reflect centuries of religious and cultural tradition.
The Pazyryk carpet, the oldest known pile carpet in the world, c. 4th century BCE. State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
Rugs began as a practical necessity, a way to keep the home warm through the harsh winter. Because textiles break down over time, little physical evidence of early Armenian fabrics and rugs survives. Archaeologists have, however, unearthed several partial rugs that could be Armenian in origin, based on their bright colors and distinctive weaving patterns. The Pazyryk rug, dating from roughly the 5th to 4th century BCE and currently the oldest known rug in the world, is thought to be of Armenian origin, although that claim is highly contested.
After Armenia adopted Christianity as its majority religion in 301 CE, the iconography of Armenian rugs became distinctly religious. Textiles from this era developed alongside architecture and manuscript art, and they became part of a larger body of work that was distinctly Armenian. The cross, which was incorporated during the Middle Ages, would become the dominant carpet motif. Other biblical and Christian motifs, such as the Garden of Eden, were interwoven with classic imagery like flowers, geometric shapes, and detailed decorative elements to give Armenian carpets a distinctive and memorable look.
The Devastation of World War I
The wreckage caused by the Armenian Genocide and World War I did not spare the textile industry. Armenians, who at the time made up a sizable proportion of skilled laborers, including weavers, were hard hit by the shift to a wartime economy that could not sustain itself. Before World War I, the Ottoman Empire had relied heavily on its textile industry for income. The war and the resulting refugee crisis, which reached Armenians, Anatolian Greeks, Assyrians, and Turks alike, left the Ottoman Empire without a major source of income for its continuing war effort.
As nationalism grew and the tide of the war turned, non-Turkish ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire were increasingly targeted. Because the textile industry depended so heavily on skilled Armenian weavers, the systematic deportations and later mass executions of men, women, and children caused it to suffer greatly. Armenian workers faced the threat of losing their lives at the hands of their persecutors, along with the loss of their homes and livelihoods.
As the dust settled from World War I and the most violent stages of the Armenian Genocide, thousands of Armenians were left homeless, jobless, and, for the most unfortunate, parentless. Those who had made their living as weavers and textile workers now had to find work in a hostile country that was still reeling from the economic toll of a war that had ended the Ottoman Empire.
The textile traditions passed down from generation to generation were in danger of being lost if nothing was done to prevent a catastrophic loss of Armenian culture, heritage, and art.
This is the first part of a series on Armenian textiles. The next installment continues the story.