History and process of carpet weaving of Iran

The art of carpet weaving existed in Persia (or Iran) in ancient times, according to evidence such as the 2500-year-old Pazyryk carpet, dating back to 500 B.C., during the Achaemenid period. The first documented evidence on the existence of Persian carpets comes from Chinese texts dating back to the Sassanid period (224–641 AD). This art underwent many changes in various eras of the Persian history to an extent that it passed an upward trend before the Islamic era until the Mongol invasion of Persia. After the invasion, the art began to grow again during the Timurid and Ilkhanid dynasties.
The oldest Iranian hand-woven carpet was discovered in 1949 in the second stage of an archaeological excavation of the Russian archaeologist, Rudenko in the Pazyryk Valley in the Altai Mountains in Siberia and it was called Pazyryk carpet.
In a book published on the occasion of this discovery in Russia in 1953, Rudenko wrote detailed explanations on the discovered carpet and clearly considered it from Iran and the oldest carpet in the world. The carpet was found in the grave of a Scythian prince. Radiocarbon testing indicated that the Pazyryk carpet was woven in the 5th century BC. The advanced technique used in the Pazyryk carpet indicates a long history of evolution and experience in weaving. It is considered the oldest known carpet in the world. Its central field is a deep red color and it has two wide borders, one depicting deer and the other horsemen. The Pazyryk carpet was thought, by its discoverer Sergei Rudenko, to be a product of the Achaemenids.
At the time of Mongol domination (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries AD) carpet weaving had a brilliant period. During the reigns of the Seljuq and Ilkhanate dynasties, carpet weaving was still a booming business, and a mosque built by Ghazan Khan in Tabriz, in northwestern Persia, was covered with superb Persian carpets. Sheep were specially bred to produce fine wool for weaving carpets. Carpet designs depicted by miniature paintings belonging to the Timurid era lend proof to the development of this industry at that time. There is also another miniature painting of that time available which depicts the process of carpet weaving. Perhaps the burgeoning industry with the Ghazan Khan (1295-1307 AD) coincided.
But the climax of the Classical Persian carpet which is known as the Renaissance of the Persian carpet was at the era of the Safavid monarchs (1499-1722 AD), especially during the rule of Shah Tahmasp I (1524-1587 AD) and Shah Abbas the Great (1587-1629 AD). From this period 3000 carpets have remained which they are kept in world's great museums as well as in private collections. In this era, carpet weaving workshops were built beside the palaces. The most famous Persian carpet from this period is a large Safavid (1501–1736) example known as the Ardabil Carpet, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which in fact is now a combination of two original carpets, with another piece from the second in Los Angeles. The foundation is of silk and the pile of wool. There is much variety among classical Persian carpets of the 16th and 17th century. There are numerous sub-regions that contribute distinctive designs to Persian carpets of this period such as Tabriz and Lavar Kerman. Common motifs include scrolling vine networks, arabesques, palmettes, cloud bands, medallions, and overlapping geometric compartments rather than animals and humans. Figural designs are particularly popular in the Iranian market and are not nearly as common in carpets exported to the west.
When Iran was occupationed by Afghans (1721-1722 AD), art and industry of carpet weaving fell into decline. In the nineteenth century, Persian carpets, especially exquisite carpets of Tabriz reached Europe. European countries sent representatives to all Eastern countries and all antique and old carpets were collected and sent to Constantinople which was the most prominent market for Eastern carpets.
Due to the decline of the sources of the old carpets, British companies (Ziegler, 1883) as wall as American and German companiies established indefinite workshops in Tabriz, Sultanabad (Arak), and Kerman. This procedure continued until the First World War, which the production of carpets significantly increased.

Weaving process

The weaving of pile rugs is a difficult and tedious process which, depending on the quality and size of the rug, may take anywhere from a few months to several years to complete.
The steps that must be met to start weaving a carpet include:

1. Preparing raw materials, including warp, wool yarn (Khame), weft yarn.
2. Preparing loom and tools.
3. Preparing desired designs and patterns.
4. Warp plumbing (installation of warp on the carpet loom).
5. Weaving Gelim (Kilim), beginning of the carpet.
6. simple- weaving of the beginning of the carpet, the act of knotting on the warp with Khame.
7. Map reading, doing the act of knotting based on the colored houses on the map.
8. Act of weft dragging (thick weft and thin weft) and the act of pounding the wefts.
9. The act of binding the sides of the carpet.
10. The act of pounding the lines and scissoring the extra piles.
11. Observaing to prevent the possible defects while weaving.
12. Finishing the carpet weaving.

Note that in a carpet the density of nodes and their subtlety represent the quality of the carpet. This means that the more number of nodes indicate the higher quality of the carpet.

Knotts

In general, two types of knotts are common in Persian carpets.

1. Symmetrical Turkish or Ghiordes knot (used in carpets of Tabriz, Hamedan, Fars and …)
2. Asymmetrical Persian or Senneh knot (used in the carpets of Persians speakers, Arak, Isfahan, Mashhad, Birjand, Kerman, Naein, Kashan, Qom and …).

Line Counting

Common lines counting in Persian carpets are from 20 to 90 lines.
Nomadic carpets have usually about 30 lines.
Average carpets have 40, 45 and 50 lines. Fine carpets have 50 to 90 lines.