1078 textiles and needlework: Asia and the Pacific Groups developed their own unique embroidery patterns, many of which had ritual significance such as warding off evil or bringing good luck to a bride Carpet weaving is believed to have originated as early as 7000 b.c.e in central Asia, where nomads wove carpets to create warm, soft, easily portable floors for their tents Carpet making spread from central Asia into Anatolia and Persia Anatolians were among the first Near Eastern people to weave carpets They invented a double-knotted style of carpet weaving between the fourth and first centuries b.c.e Village women carded and dyed their own wool and invented patterns that told stories as well as being decorative Each group had distinctive designs Mothers taught daughters how to weave carpets so that the young women could include them in their dowries and then produce more as married women Carpet weaving was also important in Persia People living on the Iranian plateau were knotting wool carpets by 500 b.c.e., though the art may have begun much earlier Persian carpets depicted mythical events, objects from nature, or geometric patterns Wool textile fragment from Persepolis, Persia (modern-day Iran) (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) murex shell, found off the coasts of Lebanon and Syria This region became known as Phoenicia, or “purple land,” and its towns grew rich selling murex dye to Greeks, Romans, and other wealthy individuals; the town of Tyre was especially known for this color, which was often called Tyrian purple To create the dye, fishermen collected thousands of the snails, cracked their shells, and dug out the veins that contained a purple mucus It took nearly 9,000 snails to create one ounce of Tyrian purple dye, which cost more than its weight in gold After dyeing, the next step was to weave the thread into cloth on a loom Early Middle Eastern looms were vertical frames on which weavers would stretch parallel threads to form the warp of the cloth The weavers would then weave other threads through the warp, creating the horizontal fibers called the weft The first looms had no mechanism for separating individual warp threads to create a space for the weaver to place the weft, but very quickly people discovered that it was easier to weave cloth if they used a rod to lift half the fibers at a time Weavers wrapped the weft threads around a wooden block called the shuttle, which they could pass from hand to hand through the warp, and they used another rod to push the weft firmly together after each pass By varying thread colors, weavers could create elaborate patterns in their cloth Ancient people throughout the Middle East decorated their cloth with embroidery Persia, Babylonia, Phoenicia, Syria, and Israel were especially known for their embroidery Embroiderers adorned cloth with traditional motifs; Persian decorations were known for being particularly ornate ASIA AND THE PACIFIC BY J USTIN CORFIELD AND MICHAEL J O’NEAL A wide range of textiles was used throughout ancient Asia and the Pacific, from elaborate silk and brocade (fabric with raised patterns) to coarse hemp Very little material from this period survives, but much of it that does survive is silk and other more expensive cloths found in tombs dating from the Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) and also outside China However, much can be surmised from drawings, carvings, and statues of the period as well as from the small fragments of other materials that have been found by archaeologists The material used in China and nearby places for clothes was associated with three traditional styles of dress: the pienfu, the ch’ang-p’ao, and the shen-i The pien-fu was a two-piece ceremonial costume with a tunic, and underneath a skirt or trousers The ch’ang-p’ao was a garment made up from one piece that covered the body from head to toe, and the shen-i essentially was a blend of the other two styles, usually with a pien-fu sewed together In China the most prized material was silk, which seems to have been used from about 3000 b.c.e It was produced not only for use within China but also for export to other places, giving rise to the “Silk Road,” as the major land trade route from China to Europe became known in ancient times Silk served as a medium of exchange for the Chinese, and it appears that a large silk industry emerged in Persia and Syria, where dyeing and weaving took place Some silk fabrics from the Han Dynasty have been found in tombs in Palmyra, Syria, dating from 83 to 273 c.e., where they were known as “damasks in Han weave.” Similar material has been found in parts of central Asia, the Crimea, and other places along the Silk Road, indicating a flourishing trade Besides being traded, silk was also given as presents to tribal chiefs loyal to China