Egyptian Carpets and Kilims: Hand-Knotted Rugs, Tapestries and How to Buy Well

What kinds of rugs are made in Egypt?

Egypt produces four main kinds: hand-knotted pile carpets, flat-woven kilims, rough Bedouin rugs and pictorial tapestries. They differ in technique, look and price, so it helps to know which you are looking at.

The prices are indicative only, at the time of writing, and depend heavily on size, knot density, fibre and where you buy.

What is the history of weaving in Egypt?

Egypt has one of the longest weaving traditions in the world, from the fine linen of the pharaohs to Coptic tapestries and the celebrated carpets of Mamluk Cairo. In late Roman and early Christian times, Egyptian weavers made tunics and hangings with tapestry-woven panels of wool on linen, showing dancers, saints, animals and vines; thousands survived in dry burials, and the Coptic Museum has a fine collection.

In the 15th and early 16th centuries, Cairo workshops produced the so-called Mamluk carpets: wool rugs dominated by red, green and blue, built from intricate geometric medallions, which are now prized by major museums around the world. After the Ottoman conquest in 1517, Cairo weavers adopted Ottoman floral designs as well.

The best-known modern chapter began in the early 1950s, when the architect Ramses Wissa Wassef set up a weaving school at Harraniya, near the Saqqara road outside Giza. He taught village children to weave straight onto the loom without drawings or cartoons, using wool dyed with plants grown on site, and their pictorial tapestries of fields, birds and village life became internationally exhibited. The centre is still run by his family and weavers, some of them the original children's own families, and sells their work at fixed prices.

How is a hand-knotted carpet made?

A weaver ties a short length of yarn around a pair of vertical warp threads for every single point of the pattern, then beats each row down and trims the pile. The warps are strung on an upright loom, the weaver follows a squared pattern chart, and after each row of knots one or more weft threads are passed across and packed tight with a heavy comb. Two knots are used: the symmetrical Turkish knot and the asymmetrical Persian knot, which allows finer detail.

Knot density is the main measure of fineness and labour. A coarse village rug might have under 100 knots per square inch; a fine wool carpet several hundred; silk rugs can be far finer. A skilled weaver ties thousands of knots a day, so even a modest rug represents weeks or months of work. When the weaving is finished, the pile is sheared level and the rug is washed.

Kilims are made differently: coloured weft threads are woven tightly over and under the warps to form the pattern, with no knots and no pile, which is why they are thin, light and reversible, and much quicker to make.

Handmade or machine-made, wool or silk?

Turn the rug over: on a hand-knotted rug the back shows the pattern clearly with tiny irregularities, while a machine-made rug has a perfectly even grid and often a stiff backing. A few more checks help:

• Fringe: on a hand-knotted rug the fringe is the ends of the warp threads, part of the structure. A fringe sewn on afterwards points to machine manufacture.
• Edges and shape: handmade rugs are rarely perfectly rectangular; slight waves along the edge are normal.
• Silk claims: "art silk" is usually viscose or mercerised cotton, shiny and much cheaper. Real silk feels cool and smooth and costs a great deal. Some sellers offer a burn test on a loose fibre: silk smells like burnt hair and leaves crumbly ash, while viscose smells like burnt paper.
• Colour: natural dyes give slightly uneven bands of colour called abrash; perfectly flat colour usually means synthetic dyes. Rub a damp white cloth on the pile to check the dye does not run.
• Ask for a certificate or written description of size, fibre and knot type on the receipt.

What should you know about carpet schools?

Carpet "schools" on the road between Giza and Saqqara are workshop-showrooms where you see weaving on traditional looms, often by young people, before a sales pitch. Our guide to shopping and factory stops covers how these visits work and the commissions behind them. Whether what you see is genuine apprenticeship is not something a short visit lets you judge; it is reasonable to ask how old the weavers are and how they are paid, or simply to skip the stop.

If ethical sourcing matters to you, fixed-price outlets that name their weavers, such as the Wissa Wassef centre, and fair-trade craft shops in Cairo are the clearest choices. The village of Kerdasa, north-west of Giza, also has many textile and kilim shops aimed mainly at Egyptian buyers.

Should you ship your rug or carry it home?

Carry it if you can: kilims and small rugs roll or fold into a suitcase, and a tied, rolled rug can usually be checked in as a separate bag. Ask the shop to roll the rug tightly with the pile facing inward, wrap it in plastic and tie it with strapping. Check your airline's excess or extra-bag fee, which is often cheaper than shipping.

Shops often offer shipping to Australia. Many do it reliably, but if you use it, get a receipt that describes the rug in detail with its size and a photo, states the shipping cost and delivery time, and pay by credit card. Our guide to souvenirs from Egypt has more on shipping safely.

At the Australian border, wool, goat and camel hair rugs must be declared as animal products. Clean new rugs are usually inspected and released, but anything with soil, seeds or insects may be treated at your cost. A rug over your duty-free allowance may attract duty and GST. Our planned guide to bringing souvenirs home to Australia covers the details.