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Textile floor-coverings, hand or machine made, patterned or plain, covering a partial floor area or custom installed wall-to-wall. The term carpeting is sometimes reserved for wall-to-wall installations but the terms rug and carpet are essentially interchangeable. The handmade carpets from the carpet belts of Europe and Asian have a history of several thousand year and it plaited rush floor coverings are counted that history is at least seven thousand years old. The great examples of carpet art however are descended from the knotted carpets of about the 5th century BC, although elaborately decorated plaited or felt mats predate these by several centuries. The evolution of knotting and felting techniques, dyeing, and designing progressed steadely. At the time of Christ costly ornate hangings and floor-covernings were common in the centres of wealth and power throughout the East. The later art of the carpet has conacts with mosaic flooring and, in Persia, with book illumination. In Europe the Flemish painters included detailed renderings of oriental carpets in their interior scenes. Traditional oriental carpets have been extensively studied by modern European for their design principals, which include, in some types, a canon of proportions; for their symbolism; for their associated lore; and for their special usages in prayer and magic.
