f compact loops of worsted (Plate I. figs, 1 and 2). These are
the earliest extant specimens of textiles presenting a tufted or piled
surface very kindred to that of woven pile carpets of much later date.
But the _modus operandi_ in producing the earlier only remotely
corresponds with that of the later--though making a surface of loops by
means of needlework as in the Coptic or Egypto-Roman specimens of Plate
I. figs, 1 and 2 seems to be a step in a progress towards the
introduction at an apparently later date of tufts into loom weavings
such as we find in 16th-century tufted or piled carpets.

Method of making piled carpets.

The simple traditional Oriental method of making these latter is briefly
as follows:--The foundation is a warp of strong cotton or hempen or
woollen or silk threads, the number of which is regulated by the breadth
of the carpet and the fineness or coarseness to be given to its pile.
Short lengths of coloured wool or goats' or camels' hair or silk are
knotted on to each of the warp threads so that the two ends of each
twist or tuft of coloured yarn, of whatever material it is, project in
front. Across the width of the warp and above the range of tufts a weft
thread is run in; another line or row of tufts is then knotted, and
above this another weft thread is run in across the warps, and so on.
These rows of tufts and weft as made are compressed together by means of
a blunt fork or rude comb-like instrument, and thus a compact textile
with a pile or tufted surface is produced; the projecting tufts are then
carefully clipped to an even surface. In the East the rude wooden frames
in which the warp-threads are stretched either stand upright upon, or
are level with, the ground. They are easily transported and put
together, and the weaving in them is done chiefly by wandering groups of
weavers. The local surroundings, often those of rocky arid districts, in
which Kurdish and other families weave carpets are well illustrated in
_Oriental Rugs_ by J.H. Mumford. For making pile carpets and rugs two
traditional knots are in use; the first is termed the Turkish or
Ghiordes knot, from Ghiordes, an old city not far from Brusa. It is in
vogue principally throughout Asia Minor, as far east as Kurdistan and
the Caucasus, but it is also used farther south-east in parts of Persia
and India. The yard of the pile is knotted in short lengths upon the
warp-threads so that the two outstanding ends of each knot altern