Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage, and the remembrance of God. Devout Muslims pray five times a day and may do so communally in a mosque or privately just about anywhere. Prayer rugs facilitate the practice, which involves prostration, and typically feature an architectonic motif that represents the mihrab, the niche in a mosque located at the center of the wall that faces toward Mecca.

The knotted-pile weavings of the Turkmen people are considered one of the great textile traditions of Central Asia. The term Turkmen encompasses numerous nomadic and seminomadic tribal groups, each with its own distinctive identity, whose homelands encompass modern Turkmenistan, as well as parts of Iran and Afghanistan. Beshir rugs were made in towns for use by settled communities, and thus are outside the tribal Turkmen tradition. This is a classic example of a Beshir prayer rug, featuring pomegranates within the archlike design.