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Pazyryk rug

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The carpet was uncovered in 1949 by the Soviet archaeologist Sergei Rudenko[1] during excavations at Pazyryk Kurgan 5 in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. The burial chamber had been looted in antiquity, leaving it vulnerable to water entering the grave. In the region's permanently cold conditions, this water froze and created an icy environment that preserved the carpet and other organic materials for roughly two and a half millennia.

The Pazyryk Carpet is also frequently discussed in relation to the early development of Central Asian and Turkic carpet traditions. Its discovery in the Altai region, together with the broader material culture of the Pazyryk burial complexes and the long-established importance of textile and carpet production among the peoples of Central Asia, provides an important context for interpreting the carpet. However, while similarities have been noted between elements of its design and later Central Asian and Turkic artistic traditions, the exact place of manufacture and ethnic identity of its makers cannot be established with certainty from the available evidence. [2]

In conclusion, the definitive statement that the carpet belongs to Armenian-Iranian culture is incorrect and far from objective (moreover, even the Encyclopaedia Iranica,[3] when describing the history of Central Asian carpets, considers the Pazyryk finds among the oldest preserved examples of Central Asian carpet weaving). Both its location, the patterns used, and the strong weaving culture possessed by the Central Asian Turks of that period strengthen the argument that this carpet is a Turkic carpet.

The Pazyryk rug
Another Pazyryk rug. Circa 400 BC. Hermitage Museum
Depiction of a Scythian from Pazyryk, approx. 300 BC

The Pazyryk rug is one of the oldest carpets in the world. It was made around the 4th–3rd centuries BC. It is now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Pazyryk rug was found in 1949 in the grave of a Scythian nobleman in the Bolshoy Ulagan dry valley of the Altai Mountains in Kazakhstan. The Pazyryk rug had been frozen in the ice and it was very well preserved. The rug has a ribbon pattern in the middle, and a border which has deer, and warriors riding on horses.[4] All parts of the rug are made of wool, including the pile and the base.[5]

It was made either in saka,[6][7] or Central Asia.[8] It has 3600 symmetrical double knots per dm² (232 per inch²). These knots are called Ghiordes knot.[8][9][10][11] The design and the systematic motifs of the Pazyryk rug are very similar to the Persian Nisean horse, with similar designs found in Turkmen carpets of the early Seljuq period,[12][13][14][15] although they have been copied from a Persian original.[8]

Origins

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Although various theories exist regarding the origin of the rug, The rug may have originated between the Iranian-Altaian corridor through ancient contacts.[8] Later it was found by an American research center (Bard Graduate Center, 1991) that the bluish-red color used for the rug and other felts was most likely made from Polish cochineal (Porphyrophora polonica), a scale insect native to Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Western Siberia, or from one of the Porphyrophora species recently discovered in Kazakhstan: P. Altaiensis, P. Turaigiriensis (Jashenko, 1988), P. Akirtobiensis (Jashenko, 1988), P. eremospartonae (Jashenko, 1989), and P. matesovae (Jashenko, 1989).[16] Armenian authors, however, maintain the Soviet-based perception of 1987.[17]

Persian-Achaemenid Origins:

Scholars considered the origin of the carpet in Persia due to multiple motifs. It's design is in same style as sculptures of Persepolis, The outer of the two principal border bands is decorated with a line of horsemen: seven on each side, 28 in number - a figure which corresponds to the number of males who carried the throne of Xerxes to Perspolis. Some are mounted, while others walk beside their horses. In the inner principal band there is a line of six elks on each side.[18]

The Inner-Symbols represent a cross with the Derafsh Kaviani lotus symbols being emphasized. The Derafsh Kaviani symbol represents the Iranian Legend Kaveh - a symbol of resistance against tyranny, and is found in multiple references to Persian culture and heritage - especially prevelant during the Achaemenid empire.[19]

The carpet was most likely a tribute based on Achmenid empire and alliance with the Scythians, an Indo-Iranian speaking nomadic group - as well as Scythians trading and wealth prowess.

The Scythian DNA was a cline of Eastern Steppe (40%-70%) + Caucasion/Iran HG + Anatolian DNA. The western Scythians had more Anatolian DNA, the southern Scythians has more Caucasion/Iran HG DNA - but the core DNA of Scythians was Yamnaya-based of EHG based on the latest genetic Scythian studies. [20]

Based on the newest Scythian DNA - there is zero evidence of any Turkic DNA evident in Scythian DNA or culture. There is a later Iron-Age non-Scythian group based in East Asia with around 20% - 30% Mongolian + Han Chinese DNA admixture - showing Scythians did move east and absorb East Asian populations too - once again, showing no signs of Turkic DNA or cultural admixture within Scythians. [21]

References

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  1. ↑ Nandris, John; Rudenko, Sergei I. (March 1971). "Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen". Man. 6 (1): 126. doi:10.2307/2798447. ISSN 0025-1496. JSTOR 2798447.
  2. ↑ Diyarbekirli, Nejat (1984). "The Origin of The Tradition or Carpet Weaging Among Turkic Peoples and The Problem or The Origin of The Carpet Found in Pazyryk in the Altai Region". Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları (32): 9–43.
  3. ↑ "CARPETS xvi. Central Asian Carpets". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  4. ↑ Carpet Encyclopedia: History of handknotted carpets - Carpet Encyclopedia, accessdate: December 24, 2015
  5. ↑ С. И. Руденко «Древнейшие в мире художественные ковры и ткани из оледенелых курганов Горного Алтая.»// М.: Искусство. 1968. 136 с.
  6. ↑ "History of handknotted carpets - Carpet Encyclopedia | Carpet Encyclopedia". www.carpetencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  7. ↑ Dixon, Glenn. "The Age-Old Tradition of Armenian Carpet Making Refuses to Be Swept Under the Rug". 06 July 2018. smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Pile Carpet - Hermitage Museum "The Pazyryk carpet was woven in the technique of the symmetrical double knot, the so-called Turkish knot (3600 knots per 1 dm2, more than 1,250,000 knots in the whole carpet), and therefore its pile is rather dense. The exact origin of this unique carpet is unknown. There is a version of its Iranian provenance. But perhaps it was produced in Central Asia through which the contacts of ancient Altaians with Iran and the Near East took place. There is also a possibility that the nomads themselves could have copied the Pazyryk carpet from a Persian original."
  9. ↑ "Ghiordes knot" - Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed: July 20, 2020. "Ghiordes knot - Alternative Titles: Turkish knot, symmetrical knot"
  10. ↑ Wilfried Menghin, Im Zeichen des goldenen Greifen: Königsgräber der Skythen, Prestel, 2007, p.126: "Er wurde mit symmetrischen Doppelknoten (sogenannten türkischen Knoten) geknüpft. [...] Der Teppich hat eine sehr dichte Textur und ist ein seltenes Exemplar der vorder- und mittelasiatischen Knüpfkunst jener Zeit."
  11. ↑ D. T. Potts, A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, John Wiley & Sons, 2012, p.439: "Further afield, we have also learned much from important find from Siberia, most notably the famous 4th century BC pile carpet from Pazyryk (Rudenko 1970). This carpet is made up of ghiördes (symmetrical, or Turkish) knots with a count of 3,600 per square decimeter or about 6 knots per linear centimeter (15 knots per linear inch)."
  12. ↑ Peter Bausback, Antike Orientteppiche. 1978. p.429: "Die Muster des frühen Knüpfteppichs aus Pazyryk entsprechen in der Systematik den turkmenischen Erzeugnissen. Durch die Völkerverschiebungen in den verschiedenen Jahrhunderten waren die Turkmenensteppen die Durchgangsgebiete für die Wanderungen nach Westen. Hierdurch erklärt sich auch, daß frühe seldschukische Teppiche der Türkei mit dem Stil der Turkmenensteppe vieles gemeinsam haben."
  13. ↑ Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, Jahrbuch, vol. 39, 1992, p.40-42: "Vergleicht man aber die Nomaden- und Bauernteppiche Vorder- und Mittelasiens untereinander und sucht nach Parallelen zum Pazyryk-Teppich, so ergibt sich, daß turkmenische Bodenteppiche dem von Pazyryk am nächsten stehen, und zwar durch Merkmale, die sie bezeichnenderweise von kaukasischen, persischen und türkischen unterscheiden. ... Sowohl auf dem Teppich von Pazyryk als auch bei turkmenischen Erzeugnissen dominiert die rote Farbe. Bei den Turkmenen wird der monochrome Eindruck noch dadurch verstärkt, dass das Rot nicht nur die Grundfarbe des Innenfeldes und meist auch der Bordüre, sondern auch die dominierende Farbe des Musters ist. ... Die Zahlenwerte des Pazyryk-Teppichs erscheinen aber erstaunlicherweise in der Oghuz-Legende wieder. Nach dem persischen Historiker Raschid ad-Din hatte der Stammvater der Oghuzen sechs Söhne, die ihrerseits wiederum je vier männliche Nachkommen hervorbrachten. Um Zwistigkeiten zu vermeiden, soll ein Ratgeber empfohlen haben, jedem der 24 Geschlechter ein eigenes Brandzeichen bzw. Siegel zu geben. Außerdem bekamen je vier gemeinsam einen Jagdvogel als „Totem". In ethnischer Hinsicht betrachtet Tolstow die Oghuzen als Hephtaliten, die sich mit türkischen Elementen, welche im 6.-8. Jh. aus dem Siebenstromland in das Gebiet östlich des Aral-Sees vorgedrungen waren, vermischt und neu formiert hatten. So versteht er die oghuzische Kultur des 10. Jh. „als gradlinige Weiterentwicklung der hephtalitischen des 5. und 6. Jh. Man kann davon ausgehen, daß auch die Oghuz-Legende auf einem älteren skythisch- massagetischen Motiv aufbaut, das bereits auf dem Pazyryk-Teppich seinen Niederschlag fand."
  14. ↑ W. T. Ziemba, Abdulkadir Akatay, Sandra L. Schwartz, Turkish flat weaves: an introduction to the weaving and culture of Anatolia, Scorpion Publications, 1979, p.44: "The following article discusses various theories concerning the age and provenance of the Pazyryk carpet and provide insights into designs and weaving of Turkish carpets and kilims woven much later. See also Rudenko (1970)."
  15. ↑ Virginia Dulany Hyman, William Chao-chung Hu, Carpets of China and its border regions, Ars Ceramica, 1982, p.10: "The Pazyryk carpet contains motifs which could be found in many variations throughout their historical development within Turkish and Hun art and they all bear a strong resemblance to their proto-types. Many of the elements found on the Pazyryk carpet can be traced through later Turkish rugs ."
  16. ↑ Harald Böhmer and Jon Thompson Archived 2020-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, "THE PAZYRYK CARPET: A TECHNICAL DISCUSSION", Notes in the History of Art, Vol. 10, No. 4, THE DATING OF PAZYRYK (Summer 1991), The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Bard Graduate Center, pp. 30-36: "It is the most northerly species, Porphyrophora polonica, that appears to have been used to dye the felt. [...] The red pile of the carpet was found to contain the same insect dye components as the felts. The ratio of carminic to karmesic acid was 8:1. [...] However, the presence in the carpet of a red dye derived from an insect found in the steppe region, as opposed to one availabe on or near the Iranian plateau (Ararat Kermes) that has been known and used since antiquity, is strong evidence that the Pazyryk carpet did not come from the Iranian plateau, but farther to the north. This finding supports the view that the steppe-related elements in its essentially Achaemenid* design indicate a Central Asian provenance." (* as described at page 30, the "Achaemenid design" refers only to the most northerly Central Asian part of the Achaemenid territory)
  17. ↑ Ashkhunj Poghosyan, On origin of Pazyryk rug, Yerevan, 2013 (PDF) pp. 1-21 (in Armenian), pp. 22-37 (in English)
  18. ↑ Bachrach, Bernard (1971-01-01). "Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen". The American Historical Review. doi:10.2307/1851646. JSTOR 1851646.
  19. ↑ Farrokh, Kaveh (April 10, 2011). "the-drafsh-kaviani-emblem-and-its-connections-to-the-european-gothic-cross/". https://www.kavehfarrokh.com/. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  20. ↑ Andreeva, Tatiana V.; Soshkina, Anna D.; Gusev, Fedor E.; Malyarchuk, Alexandra B.; Dotsenko, Gleb S.; Dudko, Natalia A.; Plotnikova, Maria Yu.; Kunizheva, Svetlana S.; Manakhov, Andrey D.; Ustkachkintseva, Tatiana V.; Protasova, Maria S. (2025-07-23). "Genetic history of Scythia". Science Advances. 11 (30) eads8179. Bibcode:2025SciA...11S8179A. doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads8179. PMC 12285711. PMID 40700493.
  21. ↑ Andreeva, Tatiana V.; Soshkina, Anna D.; Gusev, Fedor E.; Malyarchuk, Alexandra B.; Dotsenko, Gleb S.; Dudko, Natalia A.; Plotnikova, Maria Yu.; Kunizheva, Svetlana S.; Manakhov, Andrey D.; Ustkachkintseva, Tatiana V.; Protasova, Maria S. (2025-07-23). "Genetic history of Scythia". Science Advances. 11 (30) eads8179. Bibcode:2025SciA...11S8179A. doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads8179. PMC 12285711. PMID 40700493.

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