Hand on the Hips

Although the basic design is a stylized female, this pattern is known by various names in Anatolia. Some of which are gelin kiz, cocuklu kiz, aman kiz, karadoseme, seleser, kahkullu kiz, cengel, sarmal, cakmakli, eger kasi, turna katari. It is the symbol of motherhood and fertility.


To observe the evolution of the motif we start with a mother goddess statuette of 3000 B.C. found in Ahlatlibel near Ankara. Here are different variations of this form applied on weaving yields.