The
earliest known rug was discovered by Russians in 1949 during excavations
of a burial mound associated with Scythic group in Siberia. The contents
of the mound, including the Pazyryk rug, are dating to the fourth or fifth
century B.C. During the short period that this rug has been known, it has
become the subject of many debates as to its origin. Most theories believe
that, despite its discovery in Russia, the Pazyryk rug was woven by Persians
of the time occupying the Achaemenid outpost near Pazyryk. At the time the
Persian empire stretched from Indus River in India to the east and to the
Aegean see to the west; it included today’s Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Iran, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel,
Lebanon, Northern parts of Egypt and Libya, and parts of Bulgaria and Romania.
The Pazyryk rug is finely woven rug with approximately 300 knots per square
inch and has a sophisticated design very close to the contemporary border
and field designs.
Subsequent excavations more than 100 miles west of Pazyryk uncovered other
burial mounds predating Pazyryk by one to two centuries. Here was found
a pile carpet fragment, with a fine weave of over 300 asymmetrical knots
per square inch.”1 “The pieces are so well woven that one may
confidently assume tey are the product of a long tradition, perhaps one
going back into second or third millennium B.C. or even further.”1
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Sources:
- Eiland,
M. L., and Eiland, M. (1998), Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide; Bulfinch
Press, Boston
- Izmidlian,
G, (1977); Oriental Rugs and Carpets Today: How to choose and enjoy
them; David & Charles, Newton, Canada.
- http://tehran.stanford.edu/Iran_Lib/Images/Persian_Carpet/carpet_history.html
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