page_title: Transylvanian rugs
section_title: Role of Islamic rugs in the Saxon culture
hierarchical_section_title: Transylvanian rugs / Historical and cultural context / Role of Islamic rugs in the Saxon culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Inscription (ink) on a "Transylvanian" rug, at the Monastery Church of Sighișoara, Romania: "TESTAMENTVM..." – "The will..." Deutsch: Inschrift (Tinte) auf einem „Siebenbürger“ Teppich in der Ev.-Luth. Klosterkirche von Schäßburg (Sighișoara), Rumänien: „TESTAMENTVM“.
context_page_description: The name Transylvanian rug is used as a term of convenience to denote a cultural heritage of 15th–17th century Islamic rugs, mainly of Ottoman origin, which have been preserved in Transylvanian Protestant churches. The corpus of Transylvanian rugs constitutes one of the largest collections of Ottoman Anatolian rugs outside the Islamic world.
context_section_description: The role of Anatolian rugs as trade goods of high value and prestigious collectibles is documented in the merchant accreditations, vigesimal accounts, municipal and church annals as well as individual contracts and wills, archived in the Transylvanian towns. The municipalities and other institutions of the Saxon towns, persons of nobility and public influence, as well as citizens were owners of Ottoman rugs. The towns acquired rugs either as customs duty paid in like, or purchased rugs from the trade. Rugs were frequently offered to public persons as a gift of honour. It has been estimated that from 1500 to 1700 over one thousand rugs were used as gifts from the municipality of Brașov alone. cited after Rugs were used to mark the place of individual persons, or members of a guild, in church. There is also evidence of collections owned by private persons. Contracts specify that the rugs were hung on the walls of private homes for decoration. As such, rugs were used to confirm the social status of the owner, but the reports also confirm that the carpets were perceived as objects of beauty and art. The Transylvanian Saxons referred to them as "Kirchenteppiche" ("church rugs").
  The fact that the group of Transylvanian single-niche rugs represent the classic pattern of Islamic prayer rugs has been subject to scientific discussions and speculation. In some of the rugs, Islamic religious inscriptions in Arabic calligraphy are woven into the pile which clearly evokes a religious context. An edict issued by sultan Ahmed I to the town of Kütahya in 1610 demonstrates that the Ottomans were aware of this issue. Referring to a fatwa by the Şeyhülislam, the sultan banned the sale of rugs "with depictions of mihrab, kaaba or hat (calligraphy)" to non-Muslims. In contrast, the term "prayer rug" or any relation to the religious significance of these goods was never found in Transylvanian sources, as yet. Only their material value as a good of luxury, and their purely ornamental, non-figural design seems to have made these rugs appear as appropriate adornments of Protestant churches. A report about the great fire which had destroyed the Black Church of Brașov in 1689 mentions the loss of a large rug which "according to legend was woven by St. Paul the Apostle (who was a rug weaver by profession)" It seems likely that the Christian owners of the rugs did not understand the original Islamic context, but created a new legendary context around these objects.
caption: Inscription (ink) on a "Transylvanian" rug in the Monastery Church of Sighișoara, Romania: "TESTAMENTVM..." – "The will..."
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