An authentic Oriental and Persian rug is woven by hand. There are, however, many machine-made replicas of these rugs on the market today.
Machine-made rugs do not necessarily have the same durability as handmade rugs. The natural fibers have a greater level of strength and durability than machine-made rugs with synthetic fibers. If a rug is handmade, the loops on the back of the rug will be clearly visible.
A quick check to see if a rug is hand or machine-made is to examine the rug's fringe. If the fringe of the rug is sewn on, then the rug was probably machine-made. If the threads of the rugs fringe are the rug's foundation, then the rug is handmade.