Стр. 47 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

47
Oghuz can be seen in Gangali Mountain in Tokhluja
village, Gara Guzeyadli Mountain at the pasture in
Goyerchin village, and the cold spring in Zod Bay.
The roots of the beliefs concerning mythological crea-
tures in the folklore of Goyche are supported by the
shamanism of ancient times.
The Aye belief was consid-
ered a holy guardian bring-
ing health, happiness and
abundance to the people.
“Garachukha” was the god
of fortune and fate. The sym-
bols of these gods were transferred to carpet art and
reflected in their patterns and compositions.
The artistic traditions of these carpets were embod-
ied in centuries-old forms. Sometimes related colors
were collected in cheerful harmony on one carpet, cre-
ating a dazzling palette. The richness of small or large
elements and medallions decorated with broken and
sometimes curved lines made these carpet products
more appealing for daily life. Tradi-
tional abstract geometric symbols are
characteristic for most carpet weav-
ing schools of Azerbaijan, including
Goyche carpets. Goyche’s jejims, ladis, zilis, heybes, yeherustus (saddle covers),
lemiga bags, and kharals (large sacks) became very famous and found their place
in many world collections. The Goyche province covered the districts of Ba-
sarkechar, Chambarak, Ashagigaranlig, and Kavar. The carpet weaving art de-
veloped a great deal in the Chambarak district,
especially in the villages of Agbulag, Ardan-
ish, Garagaya, Yanigpeye, Golkend, Tokhluja,
Chaykend, Jiyil, and Shorja. Carpets and car-
pet products were widely used in people’s
daily lives and were woven in the Basarkechar
region’s villages of Ag Kilse, Kerkibash, Pam-
bak, and Chakhirli as well.
One of the most beautiful corners of Iravan was the Ashagi Garanlig district.
The colorful flowers of this mountainous region looked like a khali woven
by nature itself. Azerbaijani Turks living in the villages of Yanikh, Eyrije, and
Khartlig wove beautiful carpets, with samples surviving to this day.
Although some Karabakh elements are visible in the carpets woven in Goy-
che’s Kavar area, Gazakh elements are more prevalent. The “Goycheli” carpet
from the Gazakh School was woven in this village. Later, part of this village’s
population was moved to the Agstafa region where they named their new set-
tlement “Kavar.” Different elegant carpets, kilims, palazs, chuls, mefreshs, khur-
juns and heybes were woven in Kavar’s Aggala, Agzibir, Eyriveng, Efendi, and
Mugan villages.
As on most carpets, priority was given to
large medallions as the major elements of the
khalis woven in Goyche province. Stylized
camels and images of other animals and birds
could be seen on these carpets. Carpet weavers
of Goyche province used hooked cross motifs
both as major and filler elements. They em-
ployed rhombus, buta (almond-shaped), star,
hook, x- and z-shapes, leaves, flowers and small tree images as filler elements.
Zulfelem motifs specific to the main border of the carpets in this region were
applied to the carpets in other provinces also.