momo 14

Zemmour Kilim - Middle Atlas (c. 1940 – 1970)

Dimensions: 6’6” x 9’6” (198 x 289 cms)

This flatwoven kilim was created by Amazigh (Berber) women of the Zemmour tribe in Morocco’s Middle Atlas region. Zemmour weavers are celebrated for their technical precision and harmonious use of color, creating geometric compositions that carry deep cultural symbolism - protection, fertility, and lineage. The textile features finely balanced diamond lozenges symbolizing protection and fertility, lattice borders in red, ochre, and ivory - a hallmark of Zemmour aesthetics, and striped Akhnif panels, woven with hand-spun wool and dyed using natural pigments from madder root, indigo, saffron, and pomegranate rind.

Traditionally, such pieces were woven by women for dowries and domestic use, often serving as bedding, prayer carpets, or wall hangings. The symbolic motifs transmit tribal lineage and women’s creative identity within Amazigh culture.