The History Of Carpet

By Suzanne Herrman


Carpeting has been around for thousands of years, and the word carpet is a derivation of the Italian verb carpire, which means to pluck. It might just seem like a covering for flooring, but carpets and rugs also are considered great works of art requiring the skills of great artisans. Here are a few fun facts about the history of carpet.

Many nations have a rich history of weaving carpets, and archaeologists believe that carpeting probably has been being created since the 7th millennium BC. Among the nations that are known for their carpet weaving are Armenia, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, France, Pakistan, Indian, Iran, Turkey, China and areas within Scandinavia.

Although the evidence certainly suggests that carpet has been around much longer, the oldest know piece of carpet is the Pazyryk carpet, which was discovered in 1949 by a Russian anthropologist. This carpet is probably about 2,600 years old and was found in a Scythian tomb in Siberia. The carpet highlights the history of the Scythians, who lived in Siberia and other areas of Eurasia as far back as the 7th century BC. This carpet has been placed on display at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

As the oldest discovered carpet, this Pazyryk carpet is quite important, but there are other carpets and carpet traditions that also are well known. For instance, the art of crafting Azerbaijani rugs has been listed as a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO. In addition, UNESCO also named the Persian tradition of Shiraz carpet making as a masterpiece as well.

Of course, the history of the United States and carpet is less extensive, but our first carpet mill was built and opened in the 1790s in Pennsylvania. After that, many more carpet mills sprang up during the 19th century. Manually operated types of vacuum cleaners were produced beginning around the turn of the 20th century and during the mid-century; many strides were made in the creation of cleaning chemicals and professional grade cleaning equipment.

Today, carpet cleaning is an important industry as most American homes have carpeting and rugs. The EPA recommends that anyone with carpet have this flooring professionally cleaned every six months to remove the dust and toxins that build up over time. If it's been a while since your last professional carpet cleaning service, contact your Baton Rouge carpet cleaners or perhaps a Denham Springs carpet cleaning service or Prairieville carpet cleaning service.




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