The art of Persian Oriental rug weaving has been around for centuries. Carpet weaving is an essential part of Persian art and culture and dates back to ancient Persia. Over time this art underwent many changes, but the principles and level of quality remained the same.
Wool is the most common material used for carpets, but oftentimes silk would be used to weave these precious oriental rugs. Silk carpets date back to the sixteenth century of oriental carpet weaving. Silk is more expensive, and less durable, but the value does tend to increase with age.
Unfortunately, over the passage of time, materials such as wool, cotton and silk start to decay. This leaves hardly any remnants for archaeologists wanting to research the history of Persian rugs and carpets.
In a very beneficial archeological discovery in 1949, the oldest Persian carpet in the world was found. The carpet was found in the grave of a Scythian prince amongst the ices of the Pazyryk valley in Siberia. It is thought that perhaps the ice from the mountains preserved the carpet, which has been dated through radiocarbon testing as being woven in the 5th Century BC.
The Pazyryk carpet is 283 by 200cm in size and has 36 symmetrical knots per cm squared. This oriental carpet indicates a long history of evolution of this art, because of the advanced weaving technique that can be matched up to the technique of latter centuries. The Pazyryk carpet is considered to be the oldest carpet in the world.
