Egypt Rugs
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The Origins of the Area Rug
The oldest rug in existence was unearthed in Siberia in 1949 by a Russian archeologist. Referred to as the Pazyryk rug, this pile knotted carpet was discovered in a burial mound preserved in ice. Radiocarbon testing dates the rug around 5th century BC and it shares some similarities with later oriental rugs. These traits include a central field with rows of squares with a floral pattern in each. These squares are contained within a border of octagons resembling later Turkoman weavings. It is believed this rug is not likely a nomadic product, but rather the product of an Achaemenid carpet production center. Also, the advanced weaving technique used in the Pazyryk rug indicates a long history of evolution and expertise in the art of carpet making.
Skip ahead a few hundred years and we see the art of pile rug weaving appearing in Europe some time after 1000 AD, most likely in Spain at first, due to its proximity to Egypt, Mesopotamia and Iran. Though rug weaving spread gradually through all of Europe, the level of importance and cultural significance never reached the level it had and still has today in Asian countries.
Prior to the discovery of the Pazyryk rug, the oldest fragments were discovered in the Tarim Basin of Eastern Turkmenistan, west of China and Mongolia. While many rug experts and historians believe pile rug weaving originated in Mongolia and spread westward to Persia and Anatolia, others believe the Persians were well versed in the art long before the Mongolians. Since rugs are perishable, and could not last for thousands of years unless preserved in ice like the Pazyryk carpet, we may never know where pile rug weaving started. What’s not debatable, however, is that wherever rug weaving started, it was the Persians that made an art form out of it.
While mechanized rug manufacturing has become the norm in most industrialized nations, hand-woven rugs and carpets are still produced with painstaking care in the countries where rug weaving originated and was perfected. While usually more costly, these area rugs from artisans in Iran and China, and everywhere in between, are made to last for generations and if cared for properly, can even appreciate in value over time.
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