The patterns of a gabbeh bear similarities with the ceramic paintings and stone carvings of prehistoric Lorestan and the ceramic paintings of ancient Iran. If abstract forms are the essence of objects that are depicted, they converse in an abstract pictographic script. Ancient Iranians have painted them, way back in the deep millennia of history, on rocks, caves and ceramic vessels. Highly diverse examples of abstract forms can be seen in buildings, ceramic-ware, kilim and gabbeh throughout the history of Iranian art. Pseudo-modernist painters have depicted these forms on larger scales, recreating details of Iranian painting in different dimensions.
Tribal patterns are dynamic whereas the urban patterns are static.
In view of the flourishing market of tribal textiles, city-dwellers occasionally emulate the dynamic tribal patterns. This emulation is mere copying, or lifeless and awkward plagiarism. Gabbeh patterns abhor repetition and are spontaneous creations. They are directly inspired by nature, while the patterns of city-dwellers are mannered, conservative, ostentatious and complicated. Gabbeh patterns follow the features that have been determined by tribal migratory life.