Pazyryk rug

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.^[1] All parts of the rug are made of wool, including the pile and the base.^[2]

The Pazyryk rug

Another Pazyryk rug. Circa 400 BC. Hermitage Museum

Depiction of a Scythian from Pazyryk, approx. 300 BC

It was made either in Ancient Armenia, Persia,^[3][4] or Central Asia.^[5] It has 3600 symmetrical double knots per dm² (232 per inch²). These knots are called "Ghiordes knot (or "Turkish knot").^[5][6][7][8] 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,^[9][10] and subsequently modern Turkish carpets and kilims,^[11][12] although they may have copied from a Persian original.^[5]

Origins

The origin of the rug is unknown.^[5] There are different theories regarding the origin of the carpet. While a number of scholars presume a Oghuz-Turkic origin, it is worth noting that the Oguz Turks Khanate didn't surface in the region until more than 1300 years later. Volkmar Gantzhorn and Ulrich Schurmann assumes a Urartian and Armenian origin of the rug.^[13][14] A Persian theory also exists related to the striking Persian symbolism of the rug. The rug may have originated between the Iranian-Altaian corridor through ancient contacts.^[5] Some authors assume that the wool, the artistic conception, as well as the workmanship, have been provided by Armenians of the Near East; the rug itself is considered as a Sakic funeral accessory.^[15] Although a previous study in 1983/1985 did not support an involvement of Armenian cochineal,^[16] a Soviet-based conference held in Riga (1987) maintained that the red threads of the rug resemble those of the Armenian cochineal type.^[17] 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).^[18] Armenian authors, however, maintain the Soviet-based perception of 1987.^[19]

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.^[20]

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.^[21]

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. ^[22]

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. ^[23]

Turkic interpretation

The numerical values of the carpet show genealogical parallels to the Oghuz-Turkic legend, perhaps based on an older version of the Massageteans.^[10] However, it is of note that the Oguz Turk Khanate didn't surface in the region until more than 1300 years later. This genealogy is shown in the way the pattern is divided into 24 tribes. On the left and right their are groups of 12 tribes in each. According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, the founder of the Oghuz tribes had six sons, with each having four sons.^[10] As mentioned in the “Shiji” (“Historical Records”) of Sima Qian this scheme was a result of the military administrative reform of the Xiongnu leader Modu Chanyu in 209/206-174 BC which in turn originated from the Turkic primordial ancestor Oghuz Khagan. Many Turkic cultures today use his legend to describe their ethnic origins. Historian Sergei Tolstov writes that this scheme “...was preserved by the Aral foreland Huns, the Kidarites-Hephthalites, and was inherited by their descendants, the tribes of the Oghuz alliance in the 10th – 11th centuries AD and, finally, by the Turkmens of the 19th century AD – beginning of the 20th century AD.”^[24]

Armenian interpretation

Gantzhorn supports the view that the Pazyryk rug is of Armenian origin. He put forward the hypothesis that the rug is actually not depicting Scythians, but Armenians. He found similarities at the ruins of Persepolis in Iran where various nations are depicted as bearing tribute, the horse design from the Pazyryk carpet is the same as the relief depicting part of the Armenian delegation.^[13] Gantzhorn and Schurmann further stated, that the rug is weaved with the armenian double knot technique, and the red filaments color was made from Armenian cochineal.^[14][25]