Tu B’Shevat, Azerbaijan

$11,200.00

Tu B’Shevat of the Mountain Jews: by Albert Raviev

Handmade holiday rug of the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan

Size: 1.6m x 1.2m | Material: Silk and wool, natural dyes | Detail: 50,000 knots per 10 cm2

This handwoven rug celebrates Tu B’Shvat—the Jewish New Year of the Trees—through the lens of the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan. Designed and produced by artist and scholar Albert Raviev, a member of the Mountain Jewish community of Quba, Azerbaijan, the piece draws deeply from the heritage of Qırmızı Qəsəbə, the historic Jewish settlement nestled in the Caucasus, where Persian, Jewish, and local traditions converge.

Woven from silk and wool and dyed with natural pigments, the rug is rich in botanical symbolism: grapes, pomegranates, olives, figs, pears, plums, and persimmons—all fruits named in Jewish texts or cultivated in the region—unfold across the composition in rhythmic, celebratory patterns. A menorah and Star of David are subtly interwoven into the design, grounding the seasonal imagery in sacred Jewish iconography.

Tu B’Shvat’s themes of renewal and rootedness resonate with Noruz, the Persian New Year, which is also widely celebrated in the Caucasus. This overlap of calendars and cultures finds expression in the rug’s harmonious blend of Jewish and regional motifs.

Part of Raviev’s series on the Jewish holidays of the Caucasus, this textile serves as both a visual celebration of spring and a testament to the enduring vitality of Jewish life in this ancient mountain community.