Baharestan Carpet

The Baharestan Carpet, or Bahār-e Kasrā (Persian: بهار کسری‎‎, from Middle Persian Vahār-i Khosrow; meaning "The spring of Khosrow"), also known as Farš-e zamestānī ("Winter carpet"), and Bahārestān ("Spring garden"), was a large, late Sasanian royal carpet, that is now lost, but known from historical accounts. It most likely covered the floor of the great audience hall of Taq Kasra, a iwan in the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon.

The carpet was 450 feet (140 m) long and 90 feet (27 m) wide. With woven of silk, gold, silver, and rare stones, the carpet depicted a splendid garden akin to paradise.^[1]

When Ctesiphon fell to the Arabs in 637, the carpet was too heavy for the Iranians to carry away, and which resulted in the carpet being seized by the Arabs. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, who led the Arab troops during the capture of Ctesiphon, sent the carpet to the Rashidun caliph Umar, who was in Medina. There the carpet was cut into small fragments and divided among the Arabs. One of the Arabs who received a piece of the carpet was Ali who, although he did not receive the best piece, managed to sell it for 20,000 dirhams.^[2][3]

See also

• Persian carpet

References

1. Musical Observations, Inc. "CP2 102 Morton Feldman & Artur Schnabel". Musicalobservations.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
2. Morony 1988, p. 479.
3. Al-Tabari 1985–2007, v. 12: pp. 29-36.

Sources

• Al-Tabari, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir (1985–2007). Ehsan Yar-Shater, ed. The History of Al-Ṭabarī. 40 vols. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
• Morony, M. G. (1988). "BAHĀR-E KESRĀ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 5. p. 479.