Carpet always played an important role in culture. The ability to knot carpets was for thousands of years a sign of power and progressiveness. Carpet was ornament, insulation and status symbol at the same time. It was followed by myths such as the magic carpet and in any time a carpet was a welcome present.

Power, wealth, adulation: Why is the red carpet red?

There’s glamour in the air, luxury limousines drive up and stars and starlets in designer dresses step out onto the red carpet ...

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Caesar and Cleopatra – How a carpet changed history

Cleopatra has been a focus of attention for over 2,000 years: demonised as the courtesan of the Nile, idealised as a tragic figure whose disastrous love plunged her ancient culture ...

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Textile link: The carpet as a “bridge”

The word bridge normally conjures up the image of a huge construction linking two pieces of land that are divided by a river, a valley or a road. In German, the word for bridge (Brücke) is also used to mean a small rug that bridges a short distance ... 

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Aladdin’s flying carpet: A myth or an oriental means of transport?

Aladdin and his flying carpet – an inseparable couple, often portrayed in the stories from the Thousand and One Nights ...

Electric shock: Why does it get us on the carpet?

Most people have had this experience: You walk across a carpet and touch a door handle or shake somebody’s hand and ping! – you get an electric shock ...  

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