Ancient Persian birth rug with fertility/birth symbol

Part II Section 5 of Comprehensive Midwifery: The Role of the Midwife in Health Care Practice, Education, and Research, an excellent book on midwifery edited by Eileen K. Hutton, Beth Murray-Davis, Karyn Kaufman, Elaine Carty, and Michelle Butler, is devoted to Representations of Birth Throughout History. The section appears to have been written by Elaine Carty, MSN, CNM, DSc (hc), CM. One of the representations Carty describes is that of the Persian birth rug, the image of which is shown above. Carty’s full description of this type of rug is as follows:

Another form of artistic representations of fertility and birth is found in early rugs from Turkey, Kurdish rugs, Qashqai, Lori, and Shah Savan rugs of Iran and the Balusch and Turkoman rugs of Central Asia. All have a motif that has been described as a fertility/birth symbol, a simplified graphic design of a pregnant female, symbolizing a veneration of birth and generation of life. (7) There are many symbols from many traditions that symbolize fertility and childbirth in rugs and textiles, and just as many textile specialists who say it is difficult to interpret the meaning of symbols developed thousands of years ago. Nonetheless the fertility/birth symbol in textiles has some common characteristics that have been described: a central diamond, sitting on point, with pairs of curved or hooked lines projecting from the top and bottom points (Figure 1-2). The diamond represents the body of the pregnant woman and the lines her arms and legs. In some versions, a small diamond sits inside the larger one or the motif is expanded with more hooked or curved lines.

The warm red tones and ancient birth symbols on this rug are may be helpful to contemporary pregnant women as they prepare for labor and birth. The image is comforting to look at but it also connects viewers to a lineage of birth over time, reminding pregnant women that they are not alone as they approach birth. Many women before them have experienced birth, and this knowledge of the past is calming and reminds the pregnant woman that she is not alone.

For other Visualizing Birth posts related to the theme of how knowledge of birth as a long lineage of birthing women across time may help contemporary pregnant women as they approach birth as a rite of passage, see: Ivory birth relief from Pompeii, Ancient Egyptian image: visualizing a kneeling position during birth, Visualizing Birth through an Italian Prayer to Pachamama, Pre-Columbian Huaco Image of Crowning, Visualizing Pregnancy in Obed Muringani’s “Women Hunters”, Visualizing Birth through Pam England’s “Fait Based Birth”, Ancient Roman relief carving of birth, Ancient Etruscan Image of Birth, Temple Image of Birth from Ancient Egypt, Timna Valley’s Ancient Rock Carving of Woman Giving Birth, and The Woman of Willendorf: Connecting to a Lineage of Birthing Bodies