The precious Azerbaijani carpets bridging faith, art and culture

Scenes from the stories of Islam, Judaism and Christianity are woven into colourful carpets on display at the Vatican.

One carpet shows Jesus surrounded by his disciples recounting the final days of his life as told by Christian scholars.

Another depicts Muslim pilgrims as they conclude the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia by circling around the holy site of the black cube-shaped Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

The Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able.

The carpets each measure six square metres. The women who worked on them wove silk, cotton and wool using 650 colours and tying 1.5 million knots.

Amina Melikova, the director of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, says the artworks have been a team effort.

"28 women for 8 years were weaving these three carpets, so this is absolutely a new era of carpet weaving in Azerbaijan because the first time we present on traditional art, we have only three Abrahamic religions which is Judaism, Christianity and Islam."