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Symbols · 42 motifs

Symbols

From the evil-eye motif in kilims to the stepped cross of the Andes: motifs woven, dyed and drawn across generations. We have redrawn each by hand and explain its meaning with sources and the plants it is linked to.

Göz (eye)AnatoliaPıtrak (cocklebur)AnatoliaMuska (amulet)AnatoliaÇengel (hook)AnatoliaAkrep (scorpion)AnatoliaKurtağzı (wolf’s mouth)AnatoliaElibelinde (hands on hips)AnatoliaKoçboynuzu (ram’s horn)AnatoliaBereket (abundance)AnatoliaKüpe (earring)AnatoliaYıldız (star)AnatoliaSu yolu (water path)AnatoliaÇarkıfelek (wheel of fate)AnatoliaHayat ağacı (tree of life)Central Asia and AnatoliaChakana (Andean cross)AndesKenéAmazonTanrı’nın gözü (eye of God)North America (Mexico)Lale (tulip)Anatolia (Ottoman)Karanfil (carnation)Anatolia (Ottoman)Nar (pomegranate)Anatolia (Ottoman)Servi (cypress)Anatolia (Ottoman)Hatayi (stylised flower)From Central Asia to Anatolia (Seljuk, Ottoman)Penç (rosette)Anatolia (Seljuk, Ottoman)Goncagül (rosebud)Anatolia (Ottoman)El, Fatma Ana eli (hand, hand of Fatima)Anatolia, North Africa, Middle EastÇift dalagan (double nettle)Denizli (needle lace)Başak (wheat ear)AnatoliaAsma ve üzüm (vine leaf and grape cluster)Anatolia (Late Hittite to Ottoman)Salkım söğüt (weeping willow)Anatolia and the WestLotus (nilüfer)Egypt, India, Central Asia and AnatoliaÇintemaniCentral Asia to the OttomansBukağı (hobble)Anatolian kilimsSümbül (hyacinth)Anatolia (Ottoman)Haşhaş tepelik (poppy finial)Anatolia (Ottoman gravestones)RuyiChinaBodhi leafIndia (Buddhist art)Laurel wreath and olive branchAncient Greece and RomeBoteh (paisley)Iran, India and Anatolian carpetsAssyrian sacred treeMesopotamia (Neo-Assyrian)YggdrasilNorse mythologyMistletoe and the druidsCeltic EuropeKam drum (tüngür)Altai, Sayan and Siberia