The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque didn’t lose only the World Record for the largest chandelier, it also lost the record for the largest carpet.

Prayer Room at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Oman, December 2018

This prostrate work of art contains 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tonnes, measures over 70 × 60 metres and, not surprisingly, took four years to create. It was ordered in 1996,  worked on by 600 weavers, and shipped to Muscat four years later. It took a further four months to lay the carpet, which became the largest in the world, ready just in time for the inauguration the Mosque in May 2001.

The carpet was woven carpet by Iran Carpet Company (ICC) at the order of the Diwan of the Royal Court of Sultanate. The weavers used 28 colours, in a mixture of shades, and combined a number of design traditions, including Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan.

Part of the carpet in the prayer hall of Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque,  December 2018

This work of art is now, however, the second largest single piece carpet in the world, having lost its initial world record to one produced by the same company, ICC, this time for the Abu Dhabi mosque. This new record holder was created in 9 parts, and once assembled in the mosque measured 133 by 41 metres, thanks to the work of 1200 weavers producing 2.2 billion knots and using 38 tons of wool and cotton.

Copyright Debbie Smyth, 4 January 2019

Posted as part of Tuesday Photo Challenge