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Glossary/SoumakTechnique

Soumak

A wrapped flatweave technique that creates a herringbone or chevron surface texture by wrapping weft threads around warp threads rather than simply passing through them.

Definition

Soumak is a flatweave in which the weft thread wraps around a set number of warp threads in one direction, then steps back one or two warps before wrapping again. This creates a slightly raised, ridged surface with a characteristic herringbone or arrow texture visible on the face. The back of a soumak textile shows loose floating weft threads, unlike a kilim, soumak is not fully reversible.

Soumak appears in Moroccan weaving traditions primarily in mixed-technique pieces and in some Saharan and Haouz plain flatweaves. It is more common in Caucasian and Anatolian weaving traditions, where it reaches its highest technical elaboration.

Why it matters for buying
A piece described as having soumak elements has a slightly more textured surface than a plain kilim, softer underfoot, more three-dimensional in how it reads. It also requires more careful cleaning, as the raised texture traps dust more than a flat kilim surface.
Related Terms
FlatweaveAny woven textile without pile. Flat, reversible, lighter than a pile rug of the same size. Made from a single decision repeated thousands of times.KilimA flatweave with no pile. The weft threads carry the pattern and the structure at the same time. What you see is what the weaver decided, row by row.Weft-facedA weave structure where the weft threads completely cover the warp. The surface is entirely the weft. The warp is the skeleton underneath, invisible.Tapestry WeaveA weaving structure in which discontinuous weft threads create the pattern by turning back at colour boundaries rather than passing across the full width of the warp.
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