Textiles (Rosalind Janssen)

Work on the textiles was begun with examining sample bags of linen from the excavations this season. The first was from Shaft I, Room 3, layer 2. The linen was in four perceivable grades (`royal linen' was absent), with weaves of the types `tabby', `s-spun', `z-spun', and `2-plied'. Six exceptional pieces were extracted, labelled, and wrapped in acid-free tissue. The features observed on them included a typical New Kingdom twisted knotted fringe, a rolled hem secured with whipping stitches; the same weaver's mark was noted on two samples, and one sample was naturally crimped. The second sample was from shaft H layer 12. This produced a greater range in weave from a thick basket weave to a relatively fine one. Another set of samples from Shaft G layer 6 was examined; these were extremely fragmentary, but two interesting samples were extracted. One has a continuous rolled hem, and another has an extensive darned area.

I also examined a relatively undamaged sample of linen from Shaft I Room 3 layer 3. It included three grades of linen, plus a tiny fragment of `royal linen'; typical New Kingdom long twisted plied fringes were observed. The most spectacular piece was a fragment 70 cm long by 12 cm wide with a 15 x 7 cm patched area made from a finer linen, secured on two faces with rolled hems and careful whipping stitches. Patching has previously been stated to be a Coptic phenomenon, so a firm New Kingdom context would make this very important.

I further examined a bag of samples of decorated linen from the 1993-1996 seasons. The plain mummy linen is without doubt of Pharaonic date, and shows evidence of dying with samples in red (madder?) and yellow (safflower?). However, the large majority are within the Coptic-Islamic range (including various blue striped cottons) and thus they are out of the range of my expertise.