Silk
Silk which was
produced only by Chines was introduced to Byzantine Empire in the 6t century.
Two monks from Byzantine land went to Chine and managed to smuggle the secret
of the silk. Starting from those years, the silk started to be produced in
Byzantine Empire and became inevitable material for the royalty.
Silk was produced
by the larva of silkworm. It has been cultivated successfully in number of
countries including Iran, Turkey, India and Soviet Union.
Finest silk for
rug making comes from the Caspian Sea area.
In carpet weaving,
silk is mainly used alone. In some rare case, it is used with wool. Silk is
also used as foundation material.
As a material,
silk has some limitations. First of all, the silk is reasonably hard wearing.
It retain the creases or scuffing and far greater care is needed to protect
them from the damages. But physical beauty of the silk is unsurpassed and silk
rugs are used as decorative pieces rather them functional pieces.
