Flying Carpets

I have always had a penchant for Persian rugs. The thought of anything from Persia conjures up associations with Shahrazad, the magical, the mystical, exquisite art works and sensuous exotica, as D.W.Ellwanger writes in The Oriental Rug

The very word Persian is a synonym for opulence, splendour, gorgeousness: and Oriental means beauty and wonder and magic of the Arabian Nights. From the Aladdin’s cave of the mystical East, therefore we may still hope to gather treasures and spoil.



Arabian Nights and Aladdin's Cave hmm… the humble rug suddenly assumes an aura of magic. As a child I marvelled at tales of magic rugs. I relished dreams of flying, especially when this ability snatched me from situations of dire peril. There is nothing like soaring upwards into the ethers making a speedy escape. Magic rugs offered a host of possibilities including similarly quick exits, so you may appreciate my excitement when I recently happened upon an extraordinary document by Azhar Abidi titled The Secret History of the Flying Carpet. In his own words Abidi tells us,

"Long before the broomstick became popular with witches in medieval Europe, the flying carpet was being used by thieves and madmen in the Orient. Factual evidence for what was a long-standing myth has now been found by a French explorer, Henri Baq, in Iran. Baq has discovered scrolls of well-preserved manuscripts in underground cellars of an old Assassin's castle at Alamut, near the Caspian Sea. Written in the early thirteenth century by a Jewish scholar named Isaac Ben Sherira,' these manuscripts shed new light on the real story behind the flying carpet of the Arabian Nights.

The discovery of these artifacts has thrown the scientific world into the most outrageous strife. Following their translation from Persian into English by Professor G.D. Septimus, the renowned linguist, a hastily organized conference of eminent scholars from all over the world was called at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. Baq's discovery came under flak from many historians who insisted that the manuscripts were forgeries.

M. Baq, who could not attend the conference because of the birth of his child, was defended by Professor Septimus, who argued that the new findings should be properly investigated. The manuscripts are now being carbon dated at the Istituto Leonardo da Vinci, Trieste."

What scintillating news! This story is getting long but I have to continue. Adihi explains that Muslim rulers regarded the carpets as contraptions of the devil, denying their existence, suppressing their science and their manufacture. They finally received some acceptance around AD 1213, "... when a Toranian prince demonstrated their use in attacking an enemy castle by positioning a squadron of archers on them, so as to form a kind of airborne cavalry; the art otherwise floundered, and eventually perished in the onslaught of the Mongols."

The earliest reference to flying rugs comes from two ancient texts telling a story not told any where else of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.

"Located at the southern tip of Arabia, the land of Sheba occupied the area of present-day Yemen, although. This country was ruled by a beautiful and powerful queen who is remembered in history as the Sheba of the Bible, the Saba or Makeda of the Ethiopian epic Kebra Negast, and the Bilqis of Islam.

At the inauguration of the queen in 977 BC, her alchemist-royal demonstrated small brown rugs that could hover a few feet above the ground. Many years later she sent a magnificent flying carpet to King Solomon. A token of love, it was of green sendal embroidered with gold and silver and studded with precious stones, and its length and breadth were such that all the king's host could stand upon it.

The king, who was preoccupied with building his temple in Jerusalem, could not receive the gift and gave it to his courtiers. When news of this cool reception reached the queen, she was heartbroken. She dismissed her artisans and never had anything to do with flying carpets again. The king and the queen eventually reconciled, but the wandering artisans found no abode for many years, and eventually had to settle near the town of Baghdad in Mesopotamia in c. 934 BC."

A carpet embroidered with gold and silver, studded with precious stones and able to fly to boot? Wonders never cease! I could never have imagined a jewel incrusted carpet. Who could picture such a thing? I certainly couldn’t until today when yet another article of news regarding carpets came to my attention.

On March 19 in Doha, Sotherby’s will auction The Pearl Carpet of Baroda. An extraordinary piece and supposedly the most expensive carpet in the world, it is embroidered with one and a half million pearls from the Gulf region, embellished with diamonds, sapphires, rubies and pearls. It was commissioned by the Maharaja of Baroda circa 1865.



Sotherby’s says, "Instantly legendary, this work of art is mentioned by foreign travellers as early as 1880. The exquisite execution, the remarkable state of preservation, the unquestionable rarity, and the highly unusual combination of form and material make this piece undeniably one of the most remarkable objects ever created.



The starting price at auction will be US 5 million. Certainly such a creation is evocative of Alladin’s cave, but at that price how disappointing that it doesn’t fly.

More of Abidhi’s Secret History at later.