Rug Kilim Massoud 70x180 cm

Blue

Blue is the colour of wisdom and the path of dreams in the Berber tradition. It is also the colour of water, the universal source of life.

The rhombus

The diamond is the Berber carpet pattern par excellence. It appears on almost all Berber carpets in the Maghreb, whether in Tunisia, Algeria or Morocco.

Meaning 1: The diamond is an ancient Berber feminine symbol that represents woman and her beauty. It represents the womb of life, the uterus or the woman's body as a whole.

Meaning 2: The eye or the mirror: what reflects or allows one to see.The representation of the eye is in the Berber culture a way of countering the evil eye. In the same way, the mirror reflects the evil eye against itself.

The zigzag

The zigzag is one of the most present Berber signs on Tunisian and Moroccan carpets.

Meaning 1: Male symbol of fertility and fecundity.

Meaning 2: Image of water, symbol of life and matrix of existence. Image of the waves of the generating sea or of the lightning bringing rain.

Meaning 3: Image of the serpent that represents the lunar seasons and represents by its moult the renewal of life and the resurrection of nature, the cycle of seasons full of promise. The snake also represents the union of the opposites male and female, sky and earth, night and day...

The fish

In Tunisia, the fish is an ancestral symbol that dates back to the Phoenician period of Carthage. It is represented on many objects of Tunisian craftsmanship, particularly on kilim carpets.

The fish is considered in Tunisia as a lucky charm bringing luck and abundance. It is also a protective sign against the evil eye. The Tunisian expression "the fish on you" (hoot aalik) is used in the sense of "knocking on wood".