The first carpet

Writings on clay tablets from Assyrian retailers from the 19th century BC document the usage of knotted rugs and textile floor covers. The Babylonian word kasiru describes the carpet weaver within the first half of the second millennium.

The oldest rug found is merely from the 5th century BC.

This rug is called Pazyryk, as it is found there during excavations in the Altai mountains. Chain, weft and knotting of the rug are made from wool. It was knotted by symmetrical knottings and it is about 1,98 x 1,83 cm.

You can have a look at it in the Eremitrage-national museum in St. Petersburg.

This carpet was recovered in 1949 by a Sowjet group in the central Altai mountains and it is the oldest, almost completely well preserved, carpet. Its technique, the subtle work and the intricate imagery of the ornament decoration turn it into a already high developed creation.


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