This stunningly beautiful rug is attributed to a village south of Shemaka in the Shirvan region of the Caucasus. The central motif is tree of life, an important symbol in the worldview and rituals of the Azerbaijan Turks. In the epics of Turkic people, the tree was the center of life which functioned as an orientation point in time and space. Many ancient folklores revolved around the tree with principal events and decisive encounters of epic heroes taking place there.