Armenian women in a carpet workshop, Edessa (Urfa)

The photograph shows Armenian women working in a carpet workshop in Edessa (Urfa), Western Armenia, around 1907. It captures a moment of traditional Armenian carpet-making, with the women working together on a large carpet.

Armenian carpet-making has a long history: the word “gorg” (carpet) is first mentioned in written sources in the 13th century. The word “kapert” comes from the Armenian root “kap”, meaning “knot”. According to the source, the oldest surviving Armenian carpet dates from the 5th–3rd centuries BC and is displayed in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.

In the photograph a group of women in a courtyard among stone buildings hold a large carpet, while carpets hang on a wall on the right.