Turkotek Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Jurg Rageth's "Turkmen Carpets, A New Perspective"

January 25th, 2018, 10:05 PM

You can read his "daring theory" that the Salor were either themselves Sogdian or that the Sogdians were "absorbed by" the Salor, thereby merging their weaving traditions on page 436.

In any case, he suggests a direct linear relationship between earlier, commercial Zandaniji fabrics and later tribal Salor main carpets based on a number of, IMO, very weak suppositions. Sorting through designs based only on form without an understanding of historical context will often produce what, in linguistics would be called "false cognates". In this respect, it is important to remember that Central Asians shared what might be called a "language of design", with different groups using different dialects, all of which evolved over time. Does anyone really believe some guys in Zandaniji were the first people in Central Asia to ever make a weaving with roundels arranged symmetrically within a border? And that the Turkmen were so lacking in imagination, they could think of nothing better than to copy it for centuries afterward?

There are an endless number of questionable or incorrect ideas in the book. I am not surprised it was never formally reviewed in Hali. It would have taken forever!

January 25th, 2018, 10:05 PM	#10
Andy Hale Guest Posts: n/a	You can read his "daring theory" that the Salor were either themselves Sogdian or that the Sogdians were "absorbed by" the Salor, thereby merging their weaving traditions on page 436. In any case, he suggests a direct linear relationship between earlier, commercial Zandaniji fabrics and later tribal Salor main carpets based on a number of, IMO, very weak suppositions. Sorting through designs based only on form without an understanding of historical context will often produce what, in linguistics would be called "false cognates". In this respect, it is important to remember that Central Asians shared what might be called a "language of design", with different groups using different dialects, all of which evolved over time. Does anyone really believe some guys in Zandaniji were the first people in Central Asia to ever make a weaving with roundels arranged symmetrically within a border? And that the Turkmen were so lacking in imagination, they could think of nothing better than to copy it for centuries afterward? There are an endless number of questionable or incorrect ideas in the book. I am not surprised it was never formally reviewed in Hali. It would have taken forever!