SPRING OF KHOSROW CARPET

also called Winter of Khosrow Carpet ancient Persian carpet, possibly the most costly and magnificent of all time, made for the Ctesiphon palace of the Sasanian king Khosrow I (reigned AD 531579). Described in the historical annals of the Muslim scholar at-Tabari, it became the model for subsequent Garden carpets. The carpet was called the Spring of Khosrow because it represented, in silk, gold, silver, and jewels, the splendour of flowering spring. It was also called the Winter carpet because it was used in bad weather, when real gardens were unavailable. As such, it symbolized the king's power to command the return of the seasons. Its design was a formalized paradise with streams, paths, rectangular plots of flowers, and flowering trees. Water was represented by crystals, soil by gold, and fruits and flowers by precious stones. When the Arabs captured Ctesiphon (AD 637), the carpet, which measured about 84 square feet (7.8 square m), was cut into fragments and distributed to the troops as booty.