Hamadan

Hamadan is a city situated in the western part of Iran, 300 kilometres west of Teheran. It is one of the worlds oldest cities and is mentioned under the name of Ekbatana in the Bible, see the book of Esther. The city is a centre for trading with carpets that are manufactured in the hundreds from nearby villages and cities. The best of these carpets are sold under their own names such as Nahavand, Tuiserkan, Malayer or Hosseinabad. More simple carpets from the area are sold under the generic term Hamadan.

They are easily recognized with their typical patterns and sizes. The patterns are very varying and the medallion as well as carpets with repeated patterns occur. Among individual pattens the Herati is the most common pattern.

The colours are dominated by different nuances of indigo blue and madder red. Older Hamadan carpets can be very attractive products. In the city itself, Hamadan, carpets were manufactured with a considerably higher quality.The carpets were called Shahr-baff (Shahr=city, baff=knot) and are similiar in structure to the Bidjar carpets, but they are rare on the market today.

The carpets are manufactured with a roppy, shiny and often natural dyed handspun yarn, that provides a very durable surface and beautiful colour scale. Common for all these carpets is that they are nowadays made on a cotton warp with one weft. The patterns are mostly geometrical, but floral motifs also occur. Materials and design can be of very varying quality.

Older carpets (before 1920) are often tied on wool warp, different from todays cotton warp. The younger carpets (after 1960) often have synthetic colorus and less fine wool than older carpets. The most common sizes are dozar and zaronim (approximately 200x120 cm and 150x100 cm).

In general Hamadan can be said to be good utility carpets. Examples of Hamadan carpets are Burchalow, Enjilas, Hosseinabad, Lilihan, Khamse, Zanjan and Malayer carpets. The carpets are also sold under the name of Hamedan.

Some examples of Hamadan carpets:

Technical specifications:
Pile: strong wool yarn of varying quality
Weft: cotton, one weft between the rows of knots
Warp: cotton yarn
Knot: symmetrical
Knot density: 90 000 - 300 000 knots per square metre