Tehran, Iran, July 5--Me-raaj (The ascent), a fine Persian carpet with 920 knots in each 7 centimeters of its row, was named the finest carpet of the world by UNESCO authorities.
This carpet which is currently reserved in Astan Qods Razavi museum (a museum belongs to Imam Reza shrine organization) was previously possessed by Mohammad Ali Falsafin who voluntarily donated the carpet to the holy shrine.
"The 42.5-gram silk carpet, which bears 720 different colors and shades in an area of 18 by 24 centimeters, is no more than 1.5 mm thick," said Ozra Yusefi, the director of carpet section in the department of libraries, museums and documents of Astan Qods.
Me-raaj is a 920 raj carpet. In the carpet industry, raj is measured by the number of knots in every 7cm and is an indicator of the carpet’s fineness just like KPSI (knot per square inch).
"The carpet is designed by Master Moti-ee and has been woven by Master Hasan Nezami-Doust in four years," added Yusefi.
The former finest and the most closely woven carpet was a 450-raj Chinese one, which is now declined to the runner up as Iranian Meraj announced to be the finest one by UNESCO.
Falsafin, when handed the carpet to the museum, indicated that "I am really delighted to give the opportunity to everyone to look at this splendid artifact closely."
The carpet museum of Astan Qods includes numerous notable handmaid carpets among which some date back to Safavid era (16th century). The carpet museum is only a part of Astan Qods complex museum which is consisted of 10 other museums as its subordinates.
