|
A close up of the center medallion of the famous Ardebil Persian rug, finished in 1539–40 during the rule of Safavid Shah Tahmasp I (1524–76). The carpet took 26 million knots to make. The carpet has the following inscription (a couplet from a ghazal by poet Hafez), and a signature: "'Other than thy threshold I have not refuge in this world. My head has no resting place other than this doorway.' –Work of a servant of the court, Maqsud of Kashan, [in] the year 946 [1539–40 CE]"
| 
North Africa/Middle East
