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Soumak (also spelledsoumakh,sumak,sumac, orsoumac) is atapestry technique of weaving sturdy, decorative fabrics used for carpets,rugs, domestic bags and bedding, with soumak fabrics used for bedding known assoumak mafrash.
Soumak is a type of flat weave, somewhat resemblingkilim, but with a stronger and thicker weave, a smooth front face and a ragged back, where kilim is smooth on both sides. Soumak lacks the slits characteristic of kilim, as it is usually woven with supplementaryweft threads as continuous supports.
The technique involves wrapping coloured weft threads over and under the warp threads, adding strength andembroidery-like pattern.
The name 'soumak' may plausibly derive from the old town ofShemakja inAzerbaijan, once a major trading centre in the Eastern Caucasus.[1] Other theories include an etymology from Turkish'sekmek', 'to skip up and down', meaning the process of weaving; or from any of about 35 species of flowering plant in theAnacardiaceae orsumac family, such asdyer's sumach (Cotinus coggygria), used to make dyestuffs.[2] If this last is the source of the name, then it is derived from the Arabic andSyriac word'summāq', meaning 'red'.[3]
The technique of making a soumak involves wrappingwefts over a certain number ofwarps (usually 4) before drawing them back under the last two warps. The process is repeated fromselvedge to selvedge. The wefts are discontinuous; the weaver selects coloured threads in turn, and wraps each within the area which is to have that particular colour. Unlike kilim, the back is left ragged, with all the loose ends of the differently-coloured weft threads visible, sometimes several inches long, providing extra thickness and warmth. Also unlike kilim, there are no slits where colours meet, as there is a supplementary or structural weft which supports the coloured pattern weft. Some late Soumaks made by the Kurds are however "weftless", lacking the structural weft support, and the stitches naturally overlap.[2][4][5][6][7]
Soumaks tend to be finely woven, and although not as durable aspiled carpets, they are stronger thankilims. The soumak wrapping often covers the whole surface of a bag or rug, but it can equally be applied in decorative strips, contrasting with the plainer and thinner flatweave areas.[4][8] For example, camel bags fromMalatya in Eastern Turkey could be woven in simple flatweave stripes of red and blue, with broad strips of soumak weft-wrapping withmotifs for fertility and protection.[9]
Bags were sometimes woven with a face of soumak, with atapestry-woven kilim-like top creating slits between blocks of colour: a rope was threaded in and out of the series of slits to fasten and close the bag.[10] Sizes vary, from carpet format through bags for bedding or for use onpack animals, to tiny tribal domestic bags.[4][8] The following images show the appearance and construction of just such a soumaksaddle bag, woven inLuristan at the end of the 20th century. The Lurs sometimes, as here, combine soumak and knotted carpet piling to adorn a single piece.[11] To form the motifs, the weaver may push the weft threads about to form curves or slanting shapes as desired.[4]
![Detail of weft wrapping: "weft yarns .. can be pushed about as the weaver wishes"[4]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLuristan_Soumak_detail_of_weft_wrapping.JPG)
Soumak products are made in theCaucasus (especially theShirvan region), Southern and WesternPersia includingLuristan, TurkishAnatolia, by theShahsavan tribe and theKurds in north-western Persia, and by theBaloch people on thePersia–Afghanistan border.[4][8][2][6][12][13]
Kurds also continued to create weavings using simple and ancient techniques such as weft wrapping without intervening ground wefts (weftless soumak), paired warp tapestry, and other techniques long abandoned by other weavers.
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