Middle Eastern Textiles

 Even before Islam, the Middle East was a hub of Eurasian textile production and trade. The Silk Road, a network of trade routes, reached its western end at the ports of the eastern Mediterranean. Inevitably, these markets were also textile production centers. In the seventh and eighth centuries, the spread of Islamic rule encompassed and incorporated the previous textile industries of the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires. Textile design in the early Islamic period was derived from that of their predecessors, but Islamic cultures quickly evolved their own forms of expression. During the Middle Ages, Middle Eastern textiles were highly valued commodities, which aided the development of indigenous European production. The extensive textile terminology derived from Persian, Arabic, or Turkish, including terms like damask, taffeta, cotton, muslin, seersucker, and mohair, demonstrates the connection between Islamic and European cloth.

Textiles were highly valued commodities in the Islamic world, and were sometimes accepted as tribute in lieu of taxes. Textile and garment gifts were given to honor officials and visiting ambassadors. Interiors were primarily furnished with textiles, which were used to cover floors, walls, cushions, and to create beds and storage of all kinds in a part of the world where much of the population could claim nomadic ancestors. Gifts were presented in a textile wrapper, with the more elaborate the workmanship, the greater the honor intended. Inscriptions and symbols were frequently incorporated into textiles because they were thought to have the power to protect or harm. Representation of living creatures was prohibited in the century following Muhammad's death, particularly in the Sunn tradition. Islamic design evolved its own metaphorical language through the use of geometry, calligraphy, vegetal, and architectural forms. It should be noted, however, that human and animal figures do appear in some Islamic textiles, particularly in Persian and Central Asian silks and carpets.

Silk

Throughout the Islamic world, elaborately patterned silk textiles were produced in a variety of complex weaves, including compound twills, lampas, and brocades, as well as double and triple cloth. Motifs were stylized and varied greatly by period and region. Simpler textiles, such as tafta and satin weaves, were also popular, as were a variety of very lightweight silks. There were also textiles with a silk warp and a cotton weft that were frequently striped. The silk warp (yarns stretched on the loom) covered the cotton weft (yarns interlaced with the warp) in the rep weave known as alaca to produce an economical silk textile. The silk warp is visible on the face of the kutnu satin weave, but the cotton weft is visible on the back. This fabric was popular because, according to Islamic tradition, men were not permitted to wear silk against their skin. Another important category of silk weaving was tapestry.

Tiraz, which was especially popular from the tenth to fourteenth centuries, was one of the most distinctive early Islamic silk textiles. It was created in royal workshops. Tiraz textiles were adorned with inscription-filled borders, which were usually embroidered or woven in gold thread. The best-known source of tiraz was Baghdad, but it was made in workshops sponsored by many rulers from Egypt and Yemen to Syria and Moorish Spain. These borders are most commonly seen as bands on the upper sleeve, but they were also used on the edges and throughout the garment. They have also been discovered on burial shrouds and ceremonial textiles. Inscriptions typically included the current ruler's name as well as religious quotations. Tiraz-adorned robes were worn by high-court officials and presented as honorific robes. Tiraz bands can also be found on linen or cotton textiles.

Beginning in the eighth century, the Moorish conquest of Spain resulted in the introduction of tiraz workshops, as well as workshops for the production of compound-weave silk textiles. These silks may have resembled textiles from late Byzantine or Sassanian workshops, but Spanish workshops soon began producing distinctly Islamic motifs, such as elaborate geometric designs and stylized floral designs. Spanish textiles were diverse, but contrasting colors and geometric motifs were prevalent.

From the fifteenth century on, Bursa was the most important center for silk production in the Ottoman Empire, though it was not the only producer of high-quality silk textiles. Ottoman silks were vibrantly colored and featured large-scale patterns. Although Ottoman textiles influenced Italian silk design in the fifteenth century, Italian design later influenced some Ottoman silks. Many designs, however, were distinctively Turkish, with an affinity for Ottoman miniature painting and tile design. These were decorated with stylized flowers, foliage, and vines. A cluster of three circles combined with wavy lines was a common motif. Voided velvet and other compound weaves were part of the Ottoman repertoire. Another important category of Ottoman textile work was fine silk embroidery done on silk, velvet, linen, or cotton.

Safavid Iran made exquisite silks that were regarded as among the best in the Islamic world. Its most important production centers were Yazd in the fifteenth century and Isfahan and Kashan in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Persian silks were distinguished by elaborate voided velvets, a wide range of intricate compound weaves, and fine embroidery. Persian designs were intricately detailed with intricate coloring. Human and animal figures in miniature painting style were used in a distinctive group of Persian textiles. The most intricate woven textiles featured scenes from Persian literature. Silk embroidery was another popular type of Persian textile. Persian silk fibers of fine quality contributed to the high quality, making Persian raw silk highly sought after by foreign merchants. Moghul India was also influenced by Persian textiles.

Cotton and Linen

In the Islamic world, various types of flax were grown, as well as other types of bast fibers such as hemp. Cotton and linen textiles were popular throughout the region. These textiles ranged from heavy cotton canvas used on sailing ships to ultrafine muslins and gauzes. Although India is best known for its fine cottons, the Levantine countries all developed their own fine cotton weaving industries. However, textile trade with India was critical for the entire Muslim world.

Printing on textiles was known in pre-Islamic Egypt, but the dating and provenance of early Islamic printed textiles is generally unknown. Printing blocks from the Fatimid period have been identified, and a number of examples discovered in Mamluk Egypt are thought to have been produced there. By the sixteenth century, Syria had a printing industry, and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this industry expanded into Anatolia, fueled by growing European demand for Indian printed textiles transported through Eastern Mediterranean ports.

Mohair, Wool and Other Animal Fibers

Mohair and camel hair, as well as goat hair known as cashmere or pashmina, were used to weave soft and beautifully patterned shawls in many parts of the Islamic world. In the nineteenth century, these shawls became very popular in the West, but they had long been a feature of dress in Muslim northern India, Persia, and Ottoman Turkey. The patterns were woven in twill tapestry or a variety of compound weaves, with elaborately patterned and colored designs in both cases. Some of these had patterned stripes on them. The boteh is the most well-known example of a complex vegetal design. Depending on the weaver's language, the boteh is also known by other names. This design became known as the paisley motif in the west, after Paisley, Scotland, where textile mills produced copies of Indian shawls in the late nineteenth century.

Although wool was widely used to make a variety of apparel textiles, the pile and flat woven textiles used to make rugs, bags, bands, wall coverings, cushions, and other household equipment are the most well-known Islamic wool textiles. Knotted pile weaving appears to have originated in Central Asia much earlier than the 2,500-year-old oldest known example. The oldest surviving examples of Islamic carpet weaving are a ninth-century "Fostat" carpet fragment discovered in Cairo and a group of thirteenth-century Seljuk Turkish fragments discovered in Konya, Central Anatolia. Examples from Mamluk Egypt and Safavid Persia from the sixteenth century attest to a sophisticated and long-established tradition. Carpet design is classified into three types based on their visual style, origins, and level of technical excellence. Nomadic or village households made tribal carpets primarily for their own use. The designs are geometric in nature and reflect tribal and regional affiliations. Although some are quite finely woven, the majority are quite coarse. Court carpets were commissioned in court ateliers based on designs created by the best artists of the time. These designs, which are frequently reminiscent of tile work, manuscript illumination, and silk textiles, are the most finely knotted and visually complex. The third type of carpet is manufactured in cities. These carpets, made under the supervision of merchant entrepreneurs, are technically very fine, but they have more repetitive and less intricate designs than court carpets.

Flat weaves encompass a wide range of techniques, the most well-known of which are kilim (slit tapestry), jajim (compound discontinuous brocade), and soumak (warp wrapping). Card-weaving is a common method of making bands that appears to have a long history of use in the Islamic world. These and other techniques are used to make floor and wall coverings, storage bags, tent bands, door panels, and animal trappings. Flat woven wool textiles were generally produced primarily for local use and are distinguished by distinct tribal or regional designs and color palettes. Modern production, on the other hand, is increasingly tailored to western markets' color and design preferences.