This definitive work on the rich weaving traditions of the Near East and Central Asia analyzes the output of the six major regional and tribal groupings: Anatolian, Baluchi, Caucasian, Kurdish, Persian, and Turkmen. For the first time, the computer is used to systematize the study of motifs, designs, and patterns through more than 1,600 stunnigly beautiful and functional full-color images, all especially created for this book. Each section of the book contains both ravishing full-page color examples and a host of subdivisions into motif types and attributions, examining the derivations and uses of medallions, field repeats, and borders, and the relationships between them. Pattern recognition has long been used to determine the origin and age of rugs, and this been used to determine the origin and age of rugs, and this analysis of designs and their component elements provides a vital key to accurate attribution. Detailed diagrams illustrate the way in which individual motifs are adapted and reinterpreted over time, their evolution crossing historical, cultural, and geographic boundaries.