An early 20th century Khorassan antique rug, the blue field with an overall design of blossoming trees and shrubs, palmettes and floral vinery within a pale rust palmette and serrated leaf border. Khorasan consists of two words, “Khor” and “Asan,” meaning “rising sun” as befits a region on Iran’s eastern border. Bordering the Salt Desert to the west and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the east the Khorassan region (or more correctly, province) is home to many well-known Oriental rug workshops in the towns of Amoghli, Khamenei, Makhmalbaf, Saber, Zarbaf, and, of course, Meshad. With a good supply of soft wool, high quality craftsmen, a mix of larger city-based workshops, looms in smaller villages, and access to the Silk Road, Khorassan rug has a reputation far and wide as a source of the largest and most varied assortment of beautiful Antique Persian rugs and carpets.