History of Pile Carpets

This rug is believed to be the oldest surviving pile carpet. It is dated to the 4th or 5th century BC and was excavated from a Siberian burial ground in 1949 by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko.

The perishable nature of carpets have made their origins difficult to determine. Because ancient carpets have only very rarely lasted into modern times it is difficult for us to track their development. However, it is known that pile carpets are quite old. Impressibility advanced examples have been found buried in the cold Russian tundra and dated to around the fourth or fifth century BC. It is speculated that the art of weaving pile carpets is four or five thousand years old, originating in the second or third millennium BC.

The circumstances in which pile carpets were developed is presently the subject of some debate. One of the main theories argues that carpets were developed within a stationary urban society in the fertile crescent. If this is indeed the case it would suggest that even from these early days, carpets may have been developed in the context of art rather than as purely functional works.