Pazyryk Carpet, the Oldest Known Carpet Ever: An Animal Carpet

 This picture is courtesy of Mr. Longsterth

When Russian archeologist Sergi Rudenko discovered the so called "Pazyryk Carpet" in 1949 in the 5th Kurgan in Altai Mountains in south Siberia, he never thought this could change the course and the history of carpet making and its related studies in the world. Although Rudenko thought this carpet was made in Achaemenid Persia due to its design and the resemblance of its horse riders and its other motifs to the bas-reliefs of Persepolis in south west Iran, there has been many debates and controversies about the origin of this carpet.

This rug is measured ca. 189 x 200 cm, 6' 3" x 6' 6". Its foundation and pile is wool. It has symmetrical knot and its knot per square inch is around 245 which is relatively dense and even denser than many good carpets woven today! There are 3-4 shoots of weft between each row of knots. Study of the dye of the Pazyryk carpet done by Dr. Jon Thompson and professor Harold Bohmer concludes that the red dye comes from cochineal. It is fascinating to find out that 2400-2500 years ago man knew that by using cochineal, a beautiful red color can be obtained. The red color of the carpet is a kind of scarlet shade. The Pazyryk carpet is being kept in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in Russia.

This carpet was woven in the Iron Age, about 400-500 years before Jesus Christ was born. Its design is very complicated and could have not been drawn and executed by nomads or tribal weavers. This design could have not been transferred from someone's head and imagination to the loom. There must have been a cartoon (depicted design) or at least a sampler for the weaver to follow. There are few repeated motifs such as fallow deer, horse, four-rayed star, and griffin. This rug is full of mysteries and as I was researching and studying about it, many questions came to my mind. Let me mention and share some of them:

1- Was there one or more weaver involved in making this rug?
2- Was the weaver man or woman?
3- Did they have a depicted design (Cartoon)?
4- What type of loom was used? Wooden, metal, vertical, or horizontal?
5- Was this rug a gift, a trade object made for the market, or a funeral accessory?
6-Was the weaver, the dyer of the wool and the designer?
7- Why is the number of the motifs even numbers, 24 four-rayed stars in the central field, 42 griffins in the first border, 24 deers in the second border, 68 four-rayed stars in the third border, 28 horses and the riders in the fourth border, and 92 griffins in the 5th (last outer) border?
8- Why one man is riding and the one next to him is walking the horse?
9- Why griffins in the first border are woven counter-clock wise, deers on the second border are woven clock wise, horses on the fourth border are woven counter-clock wise, and the griffins on the fifth border are woven clock wise?

I will write more on the Pazyryk carpet in my other posts. Study of this carpet is fascinating. The more you read and study about it, the more un-answered questions you run into!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085