Oriental Carpets
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Oriental Carpets
There are many reasons for the wonderful art of carpet-making in the Islamic world. In first place is the special attention given to the horizontality of the floor itself, because everything in life happens on the ground, alike in nomadic tents and a Caliph's palace. The carpets that cover the floors of mosques that were also the centres of political and social life, not only provide comfort and protection in both religious and secular life but are also a kind of horizontal screen. They are usually placed one beside the other, sometimes one over another.
Thus the carpet does not only present a single pattern, but often one pattern is complemented by others, enlarging in scale the whole of the design. This is one reason for the abstract stylization of the designs the aim of which is not always to mark the boundaries of any particular scene.