For a rug of the Caucasus type, see illustration, [p. 351]; compare the Kabistan with the Persian piece—which has the floral and which the geometric figures?
CHAPTER XXX
THE IRAN PLATEAU AND ARABIA
The countries of the Iran plateau extend from the Mediterranean Sea to the valley of the Indus River. The Arabian Peninsula is not a part of it, but its climate and general character are similar. The Iran countries are exceedingly rugged, and a great part of their surface is more than a mile above sea-level. The climate is one of great extremes; the summer hot-waves and the winter hurricanes are probably unknown elsewhere in severity. The greater part of Arabia is an unhabitable desert.
The rigorous conditions of surface and climate have placed their stamp upon the population of the region. They are full of the intelligent cunning and ferocity that mark people living under such conditions of environment. In many parts the sterile soil and arid climate force the sparse population into nomadic habits of life and predatory pursuits. For the greater part, the land hardly yields enough food-stuffs for the population, and any great development of agriculture is out of the question. The flood-plain of the Tigris and Euphrates, and a few of the river-valleys are highly productive.
AN ANTIQUE TREE-OF-LIFE, KERMANSHAH (PERSIAN) RUG