This striking textile once protected the key elements to a Turkmen (Yomud) tent during the tribe’s migrations. Members of the extensive Yomud tribe roamed the territories to the east of the Caspian Sea, or what is today Turkmenistan, northeastern Iran, and Afghanistan. Befitting their semi-nomadic lifestyle, the Yomuds lived in yurts or trellis tents supported by curved wooden struts. Whenever the tribes undertook their seasonal travels, they would take special care to wrap these pole struts in an ok bash (lit. pole/arrow head), or covering for the journey. Such covers, generally made in pairs as part of a bridal dowery, were woven as one piece then sewn into shape. When wrapped, the portion with triangular designs would join to form a pointed head. This ok bash lays unseamed and spread to show its full design as it came off the loom. Tassels may have once embellished its ends.

Transporting a yurt was no small task in the early nineteenth century. The process required coordinated efforts to ensure all of its structural elements and furnishings remained securely strapped to animals to weather the harsh terrains a tribe might encounter. A standard Turkmen household required two camels to carry a tent with each camel’s load weighing around an impressive 530 pounds. The first camel bore the folded trellis sections, which curved neatly to fit its flanks, the roof struts, and the roof wheel, positioned firmly in a horizontal position on top. The struts were divided into two equal bundles with their tips encased in strut pouches (ok bash), like the one here, at each end. These textiles of flat weave or knotted pile would cushion the slender timbers, and also protect the animals’ eyes if they blundered about when strung in a line. The second camel would carry the rolled cane screens, the wooden door, and the full set of coverings. Other animals would convey any other packed furniture. For a rich household, the full load may have required up to eight camels to readily transport.

Pairs of ok bash often entered a household as part of a woman’s wedding dowry. A young woman would weave many works in anticipation of her wedding, such as asmalyks (hangings for camels and walls), kaplyks (tent entrance decorations), diah dizlyks (camel knee covers), and ok bash, among other furnishings. The bride’s family would initially display these goods in the wedding procession when the woman made her way on camelback to her new home. As the newlywed pair took over a new yurt, these elements became part of their household decoration. Oftentimes, young women would weave dowry goods on a white ground, found on the pointed head pieces of this ok bash. The exact significance of the color white is debated, though some scholars have argued that it carried amuletic properties, while others have suggested that white constituted the color of weddings in tribal ceremonies.