Oriental rugs are handcrafted rugs woven in the Middle East and the Orient – mostly regions extending from China in the east, to Turkey in the west and the Caucasus in the north, to India in the south. Authentic oriental rugs are knotted with pile or woven without pile and exclusively handwoven, which makes them unique and more exquisite, precious, and expensive than the other types of rugs. Some of the most popular and best oriental rugs include the Turkish, Caucasian, Turkoman, Afshan, Donkeybags, Prayer Rugs and Kilims rugs.
Short History:
The earliest known oriental pile rugs were those found in a Scythian burial site in Outer Mongolia dating back to the fifth century B.C. The second millennium B.C in Egypt and Central Asia had already seen the evolution of the art of rug weaving so by the fifth century B.C., rug weaving had become a fairly well-developed art. When the Silk Route came into being in the 17th century during the Safavid reign in Central Asia, oriental rugs started gaining immense popularity and Europe began to import them in large quantities. The rug making art and industry in the Orient also became a lucrative, highly skilled occupation....