Kilim (Gelim) vs Zilu (Meybod)

گلیم · زیلو

Kilim (Gelim): A flat, pileless woven textile made across Iran by interlocking or slit-weaving coloured weft threads over a warp, used as floor covering, storage bag, saddle cover and tent divider depending on region. Zilu (Meybod): A dense, pileless cotton floor covering woven on a horizontal loom, historically centred on the town of Meybod near Yazd, known for its plain-weave structure and geometric pattern created through warp and weft colour arrangement.

Side by side

	Kilim (Gelim)	Zilu (Meybod)
Persian name	گلیم	زیلو
Category	Textiles · Flatweave	Textiles · Flatweave
Materials	wool, cotton	cotton
Techniques	flatweave-weaving	flatweave-weaving
Regions	shiraz, kerman, sistan-baluchestan, yazd	yazd
Periods	qajar, pahlavi, contemporary	safavid, qajar, pahlavi, contemporary
Motifs	gereh-geometric	gereh-geometric
Current vitality	Living tradition	Endangered

What they share

Materials: cotton
Techniques: flatweave-weaving
Regions: yazd
Motifs: gereh-geometric
Periods: qajar, pahlavi, contemporary

How to tell them apart

Materials such as wool point towards Kilim (Gelim).
The stated place of making is a useful clue, but never proof on its own.

Disclaimer

This comparison is educational and built from entries still under review. It cannot confirm what a particular object is.

Side by side

What they share

How to tell them apart

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Disclaimer