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Sampul tapestry


The Sampul tapestry is an ancient woolen wall-hanging found at the Tarim Basin settlement of Shanpula (Chinese: 山普拉) also known as Sampul, in Lop County, Xinjiang, China, close to ancient city of Khotan. The object has many Hellenistic features, linking it to the Greek settlements of Central Asia, which existed from 180 BCE until the 1st century CE.

The full tapestry is 48 cm wide and 230 cm long. The centaur fragment is 45 cm by 55 cm, warrior's face fragment is 48 cm by 52 cm. The recovered tapestry only constitutes the left decorative border of what would be a much bigger wall hanging.

Made of wool, it comprises 24 threads of various colours.

The tapestry depicts a man with Caucasoid features, including blue eyes, and a centaur. If lost fabric is accounted for, the soldier would be about six times as tall as the centaur. The subject is identified as a warrior by the spear he is holding in his hand as well as a dagger tucked on his waist. He wears a tunic with rosette motifs. His headband could be a diadem, a symbol of kingship in the Hellenistic world – and represented on Macedonian and other Greek coins.

The centaur is playing a horn while wearing a cape and a hood. Surrounding him is a diamond-shaped floral ornament.

Due to heavy looting at the location, the dating of the material is uncertain. It has been assigned dates from the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE.

The tapestry was excavated in 1983–1984 at an ancient burial ground in Sampul (Shanpula), 30 km east of Hotan (Khotan), in the Tarim Basin.

The tapestry was, curiously, fashioned into a pair of man's trousers (all the other trousers found in Sampul had no decoration).

It is uncertain where the tapestry was made, although the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in Central Asia has been suggested to be a possibility. The technique used for the tapestry, with more than 24 threads of different colours, is a typically western one. The centaur's cape and hood are a central Asian modification of the Greek motif. The fact that he plays a horn also distinguishes him from the Greek prototypes. Flower diamond motif on the warrior's lapel are of central Asian origin. Certain motifs, particularly the animal head on the soldier's dagger, suggest that the tapestry originated in the kingdom of Parthia in northern Iran.


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