Transtextuality is a theory of literary criticism that has gained a prominent place in the world of art and works of national and traditional art. this theory is divided into five sub-categories, of which transtextuality or borrowing is one of its types, which actually examines the relationship between two texts, one of which is borrowed from the other. this article attempts to analyze and examine the verbal and visual system in pictorial rugs featuring the theme of Prophet Joseph. on this basis, first, existing verbal and especially visual pre-texts were examined, and then three rugs were found as hypertexts for the aforementioned topic, which served as the basis for study and analysis. in this regard, the main question is what are the visual, structural, and content characteristics of the studied hypertexts and to what extent have they been derived from visual pretexts (motifs)? this research is of a qualitative and fundamental type and the research method is descriptive-analytical. The main findings of the research include the following:
in the category of abstraction or hypertextuality, the carpet designer, using theological pre-texts including religious sources and Quranic stories, has merely referred to and utilized the depiction of scenes, albeit limited, from the life story of Prophet Joseph, based on her imagination and creativity. and he did not pay attention to the visual pretexts, and in one case he depicted a scene from the story of the Prophet Moses (seeing the daughters of Shu'ayb at the well of water). these scenes include the pulling of Joseph from the well by the caravans, Joseph meeting with his brothers in his palace and eating with them, Jacob's advice to his sons before taking Joseph to the desert, the entry of Joseph's brothers' caravan into Egypt, the scene of the brothers being interrogated by their father, the depiction of Jacob's sons, and various literary and verbal systems, including various verses and stanzas.