Pazyryk Carpet, dating to 5th Century BC, is oldest known surviving hand-knotted pile carpet in the world, making it an artifact of immense global importance. Its extraordinary preservation is a result of its discovery in a Scythian burial mound (kurgan) in Pazyryk Valley of the remote Altai Mountains in Siberia. Soon after the tomb was sealed, water penetrated the chamber, and the fierce climate caused the contents—including the fragile wool carpet—to freeze solid in a protective block of permafrost. This natural deep-freeze saved the carpet, along with its vibrant colors and intricate fiber structure, from the decay that consumes almost all organic materials over two millennia. The carpet was found in the tomb of a high-status Scythian nobleman. Scythians were powerful nomadic horsemen who dominated the Eurasian steppes during the Iron Age, known for their elaborate gold work and distinctive animal-style art. Despite being discovered in a Scythian context, the carpet's sophisticated technical quality—featuring over 1.25 million knots—and its iconography strongly suggest it was imported from a settled civilization with advanced weaving traditions, most likely Achaemenid Persia. This demonstrates the vast trade networks and considerable wealth of the Scythian elite, who acquired the highest quality luxury goods from major cultural centers far to the south. The carpet's detailed and complex design makes it a historical document. Its elaborate borders depict a double register: one features a stately procession of 28 horsemen, reflecting the grand processional imagery found in Persian royal art, and the other shows a continuous row of elk or stags, animals sacred to Scythian hunting culture. This blend of imported Persian motifs with native nomadic symbols provides profound insight into the cultural exchange occurring along the trade routes of ancient Central Asia. Today, this unparalleled piece of textile history is housed in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, serving as the definitive benchmark for the study of early carpet weaving. #archaeohistories