Discovering the Implicit and Explicit Layers of the text Inscription in Dedicated Carpet of Zand Era

Document Type : Research Article

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Abstract

A carpet is a product of arrayed meaningful elements or arranged artistic motifs set together. The practical and spiritual applications of carpet indicate that this Persian art can deliver meanings in different aspects. Carpets have long been used in religious, rituals and funeral ceremonies. Not only are these artistic creations applied for covering various spaces, but also they are dedicated to holy places due to the strong tie they have with lives of Iranian people. Accordingly, this paper studies the carpet dedicated to the Holy Shrine of Imamzadeh Zeid that was woven by the order of Taghi Khan Dorrani, governor of Kerman. This study aims to explore the hidden layers of meaning in the text inscriptions of the carpet and find answers to the followings: What are the implicit meanings that the carpet inscriptions imply? Can we investigate the meaning of the carpet text by using a comparative study? Can we find a significant relationship between the text components and other written texts of the carpet by using an intertextual approach? Here, the research data is obtained from library researches and museum observations and studied in comparative, historical and analytical research methods. Not only does the discovery of implicit and explicit layers of the inscription describe the relation between the writing order and the pictorial order of the carpet, but also it reveals the public wisdom of the public during Zand era

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