As it has been shown in the book «Turkmenistan — the Heart of the Great Silk Road» (Ashgabat, 2017) by our Hero Arkadag, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov the roots of the Turkmen culture go back to the ancient times. The book gives the historical materials and books written about the art and cultural traditions of the Turkmen people. Among them «The Book» of Marco Polo (1254-1324) tells about the ornaments designed by the Turkmen women, their decorations, famous Turkmen carpets, their designs which are striking evidence of the existence of the Turkmen art of painting since the ancient times. The pictures of animals, birds, plants depicted on the Turkmen carpets, charms and decorations show aspirations of their creators, quest for perfection since the ancient times.
The Islamic religion founded by Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century militated against the pre-Islamic tradition of making figures and depicting the living beings. Once I asked my grandfather the reason for this, he said: «There is a popular belief that if you draw a picture, then those beings depicted in the picture will ask you on doomsday, in that eternal world, to make them alive and give them souls, but you cannot make them alive, because everything is in the hands of the Almighty Allah». It is evident that such beliefs are closely connected with Muslim traditions.
