Knotted-pile carpet

(Subeshi culture) were dated to 700 BCE, and are now the oldest known knotted carpet in the world, before the 4th century BCE Pazyryk carpets. Turpan Museum. . 4th century BCE. The Ghiordes knot, symmetrical knot or Turkish knot is one of the two most-used knots employed in knotted-pile carpets. In the Ghiordes knot, the colored weft yarn passes over the two warp yarns, and is pulled through between them and then cut to form the pile. The Ghiordes knot has a symmetrical structure. The Ghiordes knot is the knot used in the oldest surviving pile carpets, the fragments found in Pazyryk kurgan burial mounds, in the Altai of Central Asia. The Ghiordes knot is also used in Turkeywork textiles of the Early Modern period. To tie a Ghiordes knot, the yarn is passed between two adjacent warps, brought back under one, wrapped around both forming a collar, then pulled through the center so that both ends emerge between the warps. The Ghiordes knot uses two warps. ==Senneh==

Persian carpets are mainly woven with two different knots: the symmetrical Turkish or "Ghiordes" knot, also used in Turkey, the Caucasus, East Turkmenistan, and some Turkish and Kurdish areas of Iran; and the asymmetrical Persian, or Senneh knot, also used in India, Turkey, Pakistan, China, and Egypt. The term "Senneh knot" is somewhat misleading, as rugs are woven with symmetric knots in the town of Senneh. The asymmetric knot is tied by wrapping the yarn around only one warp, then the thread is passed behind the adjacent warp so that it divides the two ends of the yarn. The Persian knot may open on the left or the right. The Persian knot may be considered as using two warps, or only warp. The asymmetric knot allows the artist to produce more fluent, often curvilinear designs, while more bold, rectilinear designs may use the symmetric knot. As exemplified by Senneh rugs with their elaborate designs woven with asymmetric knots, the quality of the design depends more on the weaver's skills, than on the type of knot which is used. ==Jufti==

Another knot frequently used in Persian carpets is the Jufti knot, which is tied around four warps instead of two. A serviceable carpet can be made with jufti knots, and jufti knots are sometimes used in large single-colour areas of a rug, for example in the field, to save on material. However, as carpets woven wholly or partly with the jufti knot need only half the amount of pile yarn compared to traditionally woven carpets, their pile is less resistant to wear, and these rugs do not last as long. ==Other knots==

Another variant of knot is known from early Spanish rugs. The Spanish knot or single-warp knot, is tied around one single warp. Some of the rug fragments excavated by A. Stein in Turfan seem to be woven with a single knot. Single knot weavings are also known from Egyptian Coptic pile rugs. ==Knot gallery==

File:Knopen 001.jpg|Turkish (symmetric) knot File:Knopen 002.jpg|Persian (asymmetric) knot, open to the right File:Knopen 005.jpg|Variants of the "Jufti" knot woven around four warps File:Spanish knot.svg|Spanish knot or single-warp knot File:Knopen 006.jpg|Diagonal, or offset, knotting File:Knopen 004.jpg|Weaving with one warp depressed File:Knopen amt.gif|Knitting an asymmetric knot, open to the right, with a knitting hook similar to the Tabriz type ==See also==