North African carpets

Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt represent the manufacturing of North African carpets today.

North African carpets are those that originate from from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

In Tunisia the manufacturing of handmade carpets began in the middle of the 19th century in the city of Kairouan. Two types of carpets occur: the ones made in Turkish style with geometrical patterns and strong colours and the ones made of none-dyed wool in different nuances.

Carpet manufacturing in Morocco is older (about 200-300 years) with influences from many directions. As in Tunisia the newer production consists partly of carpets with borrowed Persian and Turkish patterns in strong colours.

The pyramidsof Gizeh can be seen in the background.
Abu Simbel, a wellknown place to visit in Egypt.
A happy looking 'desert ship', the camel.

The Egyptian carpets are often divide into three categories namely: Mamluk, Cairo and newer produced carpets. The Mamluk carpets are belived to have been made in Cairo during the Mamluk dynasty 1250-1517 and are large, with geometrical patterns in strong red, blue and green colours. The Cairo carpets were manufactured in the 16-18th century and have Persian patterns like palmettes, arabesques and medallions.

Newly produced carpets are of high technical quality. They often come with Persian patterns, but the colours are less bright and the pile is longer and weaker than the Persian original. There are also silk carpets being made.

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