aka KURDISTAN | UNKNOWN IMAGE ARCHIVE

I came across this photograph on my first trip to Yerevan while conducting research for the book KURDISTAN: In the Shadow of History. I found it in one of the many historical collections that I visited there. Unfortunately, there was no information identifying exactly which region the rug was from. I also do not know who took the photograph or when. Perhaps someone visiting the site could add to what little we know about the image.

Susan Meiselas, March 1999
author of KURDISTAN: In the Shadow of History

Translation from back of photograph:
The handwritten text is mixed Russian and Armenian: "Amani. Yerevan Region (Guberniya). See: Carpet Production by Kurds, page 130, printed in Tiflis, 1903."

Text in Armenian (printed) says: "Kurdish 'Amani', sewed by Kurd women, in Yerevan Region, in 1903."
—Translation by Ruben

Who is in the photo: singers

arman, iran, ak86_2006@yahoo.com, April 24, 2006

Who took the photo: Probably a Russian
Who is in the photo: Kurdish men (probably Yezidi Kurds)
Where it was taken: Erivan / Yerevan
When it was taken: 1903

The last sentence is in Kurmanci Kurdish, in latin script: Erévane sala 1903 de, ya ?? bi desté kulfeté kurda hatiye cekiriné. Translated into it means: Erevan / Yerevan 1903, this rug was made by (a) kurdish woman. My mother also made carpets withe her mother when she was a young girl. We are from Serhed / Serhedan region, Kurds from Erevan / Yerevan are also from Serhed / Serhedan. We do use same motifs in rugs and carpet. I am sure that the carpet comes from Serhedan Kurdistan

Vartoyan, Europe, September 26, 2004

When it was taken: 1903

This is probably something you know already, but the date given by the printed Armenian text concerning the rug is 1903, and it coincides with the year given in the Russian/Armenian handwriting in blue ink on the reverse of the postcard/photo.

Also, doesn't the caption beneath the photograph, read "Yamani"? and not "Amani". Or is the Cyrillic (backwards R) used in Armenian for the sound "A" rather than "YA". Maybe these are men from Yemen who have acquired a rug woven by Kurdish women?

Well, I hope I'm not wasting your time.
-S.

J. Sebastian Pagani, Student
Canada (right now), sebastian.pagani@utoronto.ca, April 17, 2003

Who is in the photo: kurds
Where it was taken: yereven(armenia)
When it was taken: 1903

showing kurds who have done the rug

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