Tunisians revive heritage in weaving of carpets

The city of Kairouan is known as the fourth of the three cities, as the fourth holy city of Muslims after Mecca, Madinah and Al-Quds Al-Sharif. The reason for its sanctification is due to its strategic role in the Islamic conquest. Kairouan is a witness to the glories of Arab civilization. Kairouan is considered a witness to the glories of Arab civilization. This beautiful city is known for its original carpet industry.

The women of Kairouan have mastered the weaving of carpets with love and mastery, and have been able to combine the beautiful taste with the bright colors and the original and historical weaving.
 
The Tunisian carpet is one of the finest carpets in the world, where it enjoys great popularity in the internal and external markets, whether it is produced by women in their homes or produced by the factories, all production subject to technical specifications and craftsmanship. Each carpet bears the quality mark granted by competent authorities to ensure the quality of the product. The stamped mark is affixed to the carpet and carries data on the quality, accuracy, sizes, model and date of manufacture.

Tunisia is the most prominent Arab carpet producer. The carpet industry has witnessed an important development in Tunisia, where the textile methods have been updated and the quality of the wool has been improved and modernized and technical standards have been developed with the training of the craftsmanship of coloring, trimming and knitting.

Al-Kamelah Al-Shawash is the first woman to have woven a carpet, in 1830, to the shrine of Abu Zam'a al-Balawi, a mosque that includes the tomb of the companion Abu Zam'a 'Ubayd ibn Arqam al-Balawi in the city of Kairouan in central Tunisia. The craft has been distributed throughout the ages and spread within the rural areas of Kairouan, with different designs.

Carpets is important in the Tunisian house in general and in Kairouani in particular, and it is one of the most important components of the bride's apparatus, whatever the material condition of her family.  The bright natural colors are the most important characteristic of Kairouan's carpets.
 
The accounts of the main source of the carpets, whether they were Persian or Turkish, differed, but the heritage was considered barbaric (before the Islamic conquest and later dissolved into Islamic culture) and left its mark on the designs and inscriptions. Kairouan has a total of 28,000 traditional craftsmen, making it one of the leading artisanal regions.