Margoum rugs were traditionally used as flooring in Berber mountain homes and as decorative pieces for walls and room corners. The lozenge (regma) motif, in its various sizes — small, medium, and a large central diamond — is associated with fertility…
The name "Margoum" derives from the Arabic word "regma," meaning "diamond" or "lozenge" — the rug's central geometric motif. The craft belongs to Berber (Amazigh) tribes of southern Tunisia, in the Tataouine, Medenine, Gabès, and Gafsa regions, with the town of Oudref considered the traditional centre of production. Weaving and tapestry from the wider Carthage region were already praised by Greek poets as early as the 5th century BCE, though the margoum's own emergence as a distinct named tradition is not precisely documented.
Margoum rugs were traditionally used as flooring in Berber mountain homes and as decorative pieces for walls and room corners. The lozenge (regma) motif, in its various sizes — small, medium, and a large central diamond — is associated with fertility. The craft is passed down from mother to daughter, with women learning the technique from a young age, and remains popular with both Tunisians and visitors today, though the sector saw pricing and economic pressures in the late 1980s.
Raw wool is washed and softened, then hand-spun into thread. The rug is woven on a traditional loom using a hybrid technique: the ground is flat-woven like a kilim, while the motifs are knotted "in reverse," as on a classic pile rug, producing a smooth surface with raised pattern areas rather than an all-over pile. A medium-sized piece takes roughly two to three months to complete, depending on daily working hours.
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