Culture of Carpeting: Middle Eastern/Mediterranean

Islamic matting fabricated out of hemp (warp), straw (weft); flatwoven

For everyday use in private homes and in public religious places

From early 10th century in Tiberia (present day Israel)

One can see the influence of multiple cultures in this artifact

Remnants of Greco-Roman empire

At the time the Abbasid caliphate of Persia

The Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258)(1258-1519 only in Northern Africa)

Founded by descendants of one of Mohammed's uncles

Realm stretched into Northern Africa and Spain along with the Saudi Peninsula

Period when Islam culture flourished prior to the Christian Crusades

The first universities where founded, literarture was at a high point(One Thousand and One Nights published),art and design,the study of medicine, mathematics(algebra), and astronomy were developing faster then in the Western Medieval World. Scholarship was on an unrivaled scale

The Arabic kufic in the border surrounded by red reads "complete blessing and universal prosperity and continued happiness and joy to its owner"

Interesting how integral religion and auspicious practices permeate through culture even in the everyday items during this period. Script that would normally be reserved for the ornamentation of mosque walls or for the fabric of the clothes of the wealthy now graces the floor

            It reveals the aesthetic considerations taken and wealth of this age and people