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TABLE OF CONTENT

6 7 7 8

Preface A brief note on the need for 14C-redating Acknowledgements Abbreviations

CHAPTER 1

EXPLORERS, FIRST COLLECTORS AND TRADERS 12

A very Victorian tourist: The Reverend Greville John Chester and 19th-century textile collecting at the Victoria and Albert Museum Benjamin Hinson

The question of “What went before?” and George Hewitt Myers: The formation of The Textile Museum archaeological collection Sumru Belger Krody

Alfred Wiedemann, Émile Brugsch, and the trade in mummy textiles at the end of the 19th century Veerle van Kersen

42 Late Antique textiles from the Robert Forrer collection in Polish museums in the context of his activities as a textile dealer. Preliminary research Anna Głowa

A survey of the “Coptic” textiles from the Hermitage collection Olga Osharina

Textiles from Egypt’s first millennium AD in Danish museum collections Anne Hedeager Krag

Sir Charles Nicholson and the Nicholson Collections at the University of Sydney Glennda Susan Marsh-Letts and Candace Richards

Collecting on the side: Textiles from the 1913–14 excavations at Antinoopolis held in three Australasian museums Rosanne Livingstone

The first discovery of figured silks in Antinoopolis: Carl Schmidt’s excavations in Egypt Kosuke Goto

112

One of the last choices of Albert Gayet in the field: A child’s tunic from Antinoopolis in Lyon Fleur Letellier-Willemin

120

CHAPTER 4

TEXTILES FROM RECENT EXCAVATIONS 180

Anne Kwaspen and Kristin South

192

202

CHAPTER 2

RECEPTION OF TEXTILES IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY 134

“Coptic” fabrics, collectors, and the Fauves Nancy Arthur-Hoskins

CHAPTER 3

FROM COLLECTIONS: SCIENTIFIC METHODS AND CONSERVATION 144

Mini-weavings from Gebel Zeit Roberta Cortopassi and Mohamed Dallel

152

Site-by-site research on First Millennium AD textiles from Egypt at the British Museum: Conservation and documentation of archaeological collections Anna Harrison, Elisabeth R. O’Connell and Frances Pritchard

166

From the Middle Ages to the Modern Era: A Coptic liturgical garment in the RömischGermanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz Petra Linscheid with a contribution by Ina Vanden Berghe

Ein Mantel für die kalten Tage Béatrice Huber

Fundort bekannt! Stoffe aus Qarara Claudia Nauerth unter Mitarbeit von Béatrice Huber

Textile finds from burial 2003-NW-39 of the Fag el-Gamus necropolis

New finds from old excavations in Western Thebes. Nineteenth-century scholars and the textiles from Deir el-Bachît Sabrina Tatz

210

The spring 2019 season at Hisn al-Bab: Care, study and general presentation of textile finds from Area 9 (6th–7th centuries) Amandine Mérat

220 234 235 236 238 239

Bibliography Index names Index places Index textile and costume terms Index museums and institutions Authors

A very Victorian tourist: The Reverend Greville John Chester and 19th-century textile collecting at the Victoria and Albert Museum Benjamin Hinson

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is home to one of the most important Egyptian textile collections in Britain. This collection, today numbering well over a thousand pieces, has been continuously developed for over a century. This paper focuses on one of the key figures responsible for helping to begin the collection in the late 19th century – the Reverend Greville John Chester. Greville Chester is not unknown to either Egyptology1 or museology.2 However, although his life and career has increasingly received scholarly attention, discussions of his association with museums tend to mention the V&A either tangentially or not at all. The specific details of his relationship with the V&A, whilst very interesting, are little known outside of the museum itself. 3 This paper aims to fill that gap. TEXTILES AND THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM What is today known as the V&A was established in 1852, in the wake of 1851’s Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. This exhibition, designed to showcase the crafts and industry of all nations, included some 100,000 objects; following its closure, plans were made to turn the concept into a permanent museum. This new museum was intended to house the United Kingdom’s national collection of design and applied and decorative art. It had a very clear mission statement – to make works of art available to all, and to educate and inspire contemporary British designers and manufacturers. As well as being of artistic merit from a design perspective, the collections were also to illustrate manufacture and technique from across history. This practical, pedagogical aspect distinguished the V&A from the ‘high art’ of other contemporary museums.4 Despite the geographical scope of the V&A’s collection, it today has certain chronological boundaries.

Although the museum historically acquired some objects from ancient Egypt and the classical world, antiquity is today formally beyond its collecting remit, differentiating it from the British Museum. The museum’s 2009 Acquisition and Disposal policy (Section 1.4, ‘Chronological boundaries’) states: “There are no time restrictions on objects from East, South and South-East Asia. Pre-Islamic objects from the Middle East are not acquired except for textiles.”5 As this statement shows, however, textiles form the one significant exception to the chronological boundaries, as the V&A also holds the UK’s national textile collection. The V&A’s interest in Egyptian textiles dates back to the late 19th century, when the discovery of late-antique cemeteries at sites such as Akhmim and Antinoopolis led to textiles being discovered and sold wholesale to museums across Europe and North America.6 Alongside this, the V&A’s interest was also fostered through the growing ‘Arts and Crafts’ movement in Britain, which led to a revival of interest in historic patterns by contemporary designers. Late-antique textiles, with their preponderance of Christian themes, were seen by Arts and Crafts figures as both evidence supporting Biblical narratives and as proof of the moral and ethical value intrinsic in early ‘humble’ craft, something felt to be lacking in contemporary manufacture. As many figures associated with the movement were also linked to the early V&A, there was, therefore, a keenness within the museum to add this material to its collection. A particularly good example of this intersecting of interests is none other than designer William Morris, who acted for the museum as a ‘referee’ regarding textile purchases and even made reproductions of some of its Late Antique textiles (FIG. 1A-B).7 Morris’ daughter May likewise wrote about ‘Coptic’ textiles, again making heavy reference to the V&A’s collections. 8

Dawson/Uphill 1995, 96–97. For Chester as a collector, see most recently Jefferson 2019. The most comprehensive treatment of Chester’s life and career generally is provided by Seidmann 2006a, 2006b, 2007. 3 See mainly Persson 2012, 7–8, which references Chester in the context of a wider overview of the formation of the museum’s Egyptian textile collection. 4 The early development of the V&A is covered by Burton 1999, as well as in an article series by Wainwright 2002. 5 Available online at: http:// www.vam.ac.uk/__data/assets/ pdf_file/0009/176967/v-and-acollections-developmentpolicy.pdf, accessed 30/10/2019. The section quoted here, 1.4, is listed as Appendix 1.0. 6 For the excavations of Akhmim, see Maspero 1886 and Forrer 1895; for Antinoopolis, see Gayet 1902. A useful summary of the discovery of late-antique sites is provided by Müller 2005, and the early collecting of textiles by art and design museums is discussed by Thomas 2007. 7 For Morris as an art referee, see Morris 1975. 8 Morris 1899. 2

FIG. 1 A

Tapestry woven band, V&A 1327-1888. © Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo Benjamin Hinson.

FIG. 1 B

19th-century reproduction, V&A CIRC.423-1911. © Victoria and Albert Museum.

FIG. 1A

FIG. 1B

A very Victorian tourist: The Reverend Greville John Chester and 19th-century textile collecting at the Victoria and Albert Museum

FIG. 5

Hanging, Egypt, 4th–6th centuries. Wool and linen; slit tapestry weave. 99.00 x 119.40 cm (39 x 47 in). The Textile Museum 71.14, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1928.

FIG. 6

Textile fragment, Egypt, 9th century. Wool and linen; slit tapestry weave. 38.10 x 26.67 cm (15 x 10 1/2 in). The Textile Museum 721.14, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1938.

FIG. 7

Hairnet, Egypt. 5th–7th centuries. Wool; sprang. 37.00 x 22.00 cm (14 9/16 x 8 21/32 in). The Textile Museum 72.179, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1950.

FIG. 8

Textile fragment with seated ruler, Egypt, 4th–5th centuries. Cotton; plain weave, resistdyed. 56.00 x 44.50 cm (22 x 17 ½ in). The Textile Museum 72.178a, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1950.

FIG. 5

One of the highlights of this group is a collection of furnishing textiles that through their materiality, colour scheme, and aesthetics form a distinct group and are believed to exemplify the prevailing Persianate taste that swept the eastern Mediterranean in the 6th and early 7th centuries. The majority of them present exotic animals in appearances that are similar to the ones seen in Sasanian architectural decoration as well as other design elements such as pearl roundels. The aesthetic preference for mirroring of motifs and infinite repeat in design compositions led scholars to associate this group with the Sasanian world and especially closely to silk drawloom-woven textiles coming from further East8 (FIG. 5). TEXTILES FROM THE EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD The Textile Museum’s collection of archaeological textiles (‘72’/‘721’) from the Christian era in Egypt – early Medieval/Byzantine period – are about 302 in number.

Myers began collecting this material in 1926 about the same time as he did earlier textiles and continued throughout his lifetime.9 This group, structurally and aesthetically, is much more diverse than the Late Antique group and spans a larger time period. Portions of this group are well known through publications, although some have never been published. Among the tapestry-woven textiles in this group, the leaping red panther and a seated man with a cup, possibly a Sasanian-inspired potentate, are well known through publications and exhibitions10 (FIG. 6). A woman’s sprang hairnet falls into the less well known group as well as the resist-dyed textile depicting baby Dionysos11 (FIGS 7–8). Another never-studied textile from this group was showcased for the very first time during the recent Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt exhibition12 (FIG. 9). Many of the archaeological textiles from Syria and Mesopotamia were also dated to this period. One of the well-known tunic roundels (11.18) in the collection from Syria contains an inscription which reads “Alexander

the Macedon.” Alexander the Great is shown, in mirror image, as the mounted emperor wearing a leather skirt and short cape with winged genii holding wreaths or crowns above.13 The other large impressive cover (31.11) exhibited in Woven Interiors shows great technical achievement with its size and complex weave. The verity and elaborate nature of each individual band is also breathtaking, indicating a highly developed patterning technique14 (FIG. 10).

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

See Kitzinger 1946, 1, 3–59, 61–72 and pl. 48; Cat. Washington 2019, 46–47, cat. 13 and 104–111, cat. 47–50; Cat. Washington 1982b, 42, cat. 20 and 39–41, cat. 17–19. Prominent examples of this textile group are in the collections of The Textile Museum (1.48, 71.14, 71.33, 71.51A and B) and the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (BZ.1939.13). They were exhibited in the recent exhibition Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt (August 31, 2019 through January 5, 2020) at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, in

collaboration with Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC. 9 Myers bought textiles that fall into this group from the same dealers concurrently with the other archaeological textiles. Additionally, for this group, he purchased textiles from Kelekian, Middleton, McClenahan, and H. Doss. 10 Leaping red panther (72.103) was published in Cat. Washington 1982b, 26, colour plate 6 and 35, cat. 35 and Sasanianinspired potentate (721.14) was published recently in Mackie 2015, 76, fig. 2.41. 11 Resist-dyed textiles were

published in Cat. Washington 1982b, 102–103, cat. 116–117; also see Schrenk 2004, 88–93, cat. 19–21, for resist-dyed textiles. A comprehensive study on Late Antique resist-dyed textiles was recently undertaken by K. Lubos, see Lubos 2021. The hairnet in the collection has never been published but similar textiles appear in Kwaspen 2009 and Linscheid 2011; sprang construction is also discussed in James 2017. 12 Cat. Washington 2019, 120–121, cat. 52. 13 Weitzmann 1979, 91, cat. 81. 14 Cat. Washington 2019, 32–33, cat. 7.

The question of “What went before?” and George Hewitt Myers: The formation of The Textile Museum archaeological collection

FIG. 8

FIG. 9

Cover, Egypt, 6th–7th centuries. Wool and linen; slit tapestry weave, plain weave. 236.00 x 151.00 cm (93 x 59 7/16 in). The Textile Museum 72.186, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1951.

FIG. 10

Cover with bands of geometric design, eastern Mediterranean, 5th century. Wool; weft-faced compound weave with plain weave interlacing. 239 x 125 cm (94 x 94 ¼ in). The Textile Museum 31.11, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1950.

The question of “What went before?” and George Hewitt Myers: The formation of The Textile Museum archaeological collection

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

FIG. 4

design of the second group, including allegories, mythological figures and symbols, was doubtless inspired by the traditions of Hellenistic art. Less prominent is the next group, textiles with biblical scenes. The Hermitage collection of silks, including eighty 7th- to 11th-century textiles, were brought in 1898 by Vladimir Bock after his second trip to Egypt. The first group (blue and white purple textiles) belongs to the earliest period of Late Antique textile art, dating from the 3rd to the 6th centuries. Similar items are presented in many museum collections. Often these are separate decorative inserts with geometric or floral patterns, with figures of birds and animals executed in the flying-thread technique. In the Hermitage collection there are large fragments of purple or polychrome textiles with geometric patterns – possibly covers or cushions woven in loop-pile technique, repeating the designs of paintings10 and mosaics which usually decorated the interiors.11 It is known that items with true Tyrian purple come mostly from the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, while in Egypt less expensive vegetable dyes were used imitating purple of all possible shades from dark violet to maroon.12 Of special value were textiles with gold thread, quite rare in Egypt. In the Hermitage

Piccirillo 1986, 94, fig. 81. Maguire 1998 a, 273, fig. 23. Abdel-Kareem/Alavi/ Mubarak 2010, 1–7. 13 DV 11620, see Osharina 2019, 96–97, fig. 2. 14 Renner 1981, 83. 11 12

there is the upper part of a tunic depicting Aphrodite and Eros within a rectangular frame whose figures are woven with gold thread.13 Most of these, for example two pieces from Antinoopolis, can be dated between the late 3rd and the early 5th centuries.14 Among the geometric patterns the most popular were interlace (FIG. 2) and meander. Basing upon the repetition of one and the same motif, they remind us of the texts with magic incantations, repeating the same signs and symbols and creating the illusion of infinity and eternal life. With a similar meaning was the composition of two superimposed squares (FIG. 3) originating from the Near East. Such patterns as the Heracles knot, the knot of Solomon (FIG. 4) and the swastika were believed to provide protective functions. To the most popular floral patterns belong compositions with vines, acanthus leaves, ivy, pomegranates, lotuses and roses. The vine motif appears in different versions: curling vines inhabited by birds and animals (FIG. 5), leaves growing from vessels (FIG. 6) and vines with alternating roundels.

FIG. 6

FIG. 2

FIG. 4

FIG. 6

Tapestry band with interlacing, Egypt, 5th century. Linen, wool. The State Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg DV 9339.

Square panel with the ‘knot of Solomon’, Egypt, 5th–6th centuries. Linen, wool. The State Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg DV 11457.

Sleeve bands with ribbed amphorae and vases, Egypt, 4th–5th centuries. Linen, wool. The State Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg DV 11366.

FIG. 3

FIG. 5

Tapestry with a design of two superimposed squares, Egypt, 4th–5th centuries. Linen, wool. The State Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg DV 12439.

Medallion scroll band ‘inhabited’ by running animals, Egypt, 5th century. Linen, wool. The State Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg DV 11500.

FIG. 5

A survey of the “Coptic” textiles from the Hermitage collection

The body is neatly wrapped in several layers of bandages with a final shroud, bound with diagonal pattern woven bandages. The gilded and painted cartonnage mask is placed over the face and secured by the diagonal outermost layer of bandages. The wrappings are impregnated with resin, with seepage visible on the bottom surface of the mummy. Two papyrus documents were also found with this mummy. The original 19th-century translation of the papyri determined the name of the mummy as “Haranth, the daughter of a lady of the House of Ta-ur” indicating that the mummy was female.17 However, as datable Roman-era mummies with their original portrait masks intact are rare in museum collections, 18 the museum’s child mummy has been the subject of several studies, including multiple imaging analyses.19 In 1998, 2009 and 2017 the child mummy was X-rayed and CT-scanned, revealing more intricate details with every image; perhaps most significantly proving that the mummy is in fact of a boy, aged around seven years old.20 Subsequently the previous gendered translation was reviewed in light of this discovery and is now translated to be the male name Horus. These images also reveal that a significant amount of textiles were used to pack the mummy's abdominal cavity vacated by the removal of organs, consistent with mummification practices of the period.21 An Osiris shroud A portion of an Osiris mummy shroud showing the head and upper body of Osiris, NMR.40, was part of the original Nicholson donation (FIG. 4) and has been loosely dated to the Roman period.22 While Osiris shrouds are found from the 21st dynasty onwards in Egypt, Osiris is depicted on the early shrouds in profile, but from the Ptolemaic period through the Roman period Osiris is depicted en face.23 The discolouration visible on the Nicholson shroud reveals the curved outline of how the face of Osiris would have been placed directly over the wrapped mummy’s face. Osiris is depicted directly facing the viewer with the tip of his crook and his flail visible in the lower portion. A small figure of a woman adoring Osiris is depicted above a snake to the left-hand side of the fragment. The shroud is painted with black, terracotta, pink, blue, cream, and pale-brown colours which have been applied, sometimes thickly, onto thinly primed linen. The linen is a loosely woven balanced plain weave, 12 x 12 yarns per cm. Close examination of the painting showed that the thin red lines outlining the figures do not always exactly match the thicker black lines. A parallel for the painting scheme can be found on a recently re-discovered Osiris shroud in the Scotland Museum, dated to 9 BC.24 A further parallel for the style of crown worn by Osiris is seen in the shroud made for an unknown male dated circa AD 100–125, held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.25

FIG. 4

Reeve 1870, 3–4. Gessler-Löhr 2012, 6. Gessler-Löhr contends that in museum collections only “roughly 150 corpses are now datable as Roman”. 19 An overview of previous analysis and a complete list of published research on the mummy can be found via the museum’s online database: https://www. sydney.edu.au/museums/ collections_search/?record=ecatalogue.41221 – accessed 4 September 2020. 20 Davey/Stewart/Drummer 2013, 661; Fraser/Lord/Magnussen 2021. 21 Davey/Stewart/Drummer 2013, 660. 22 Richards 2016, 14. 23 Schreiber 2007, 340–341. 24 National Museums Scotland reference no V.2013.45; BBC News 2017. 25 The Metropolitan Museum, New York, reference number 25.184-20; Riggs 2005, 252–253.

Coenen 2006, 84. Identification of the spells and translation of texts related to the inscribed mummy bandages has been undertaken by Alice McClymont, Danielle Sass and Emma Magro (Macquarie University) on behalf of the Nicholson Collection. 28 Petrie 1901, 35. We wish to thank Alistair Dickey for drawing our attention to the possibility that this piece was not, as originally catalogued, of Roman date. Recent research undertaken by these authors showed that it had been sent to Sydney with Roman-era textiles, but as it had retained its original label inked with H75, we deduced that it was the textile H75, identified clearly in Petrie’s site report of 1898–99 as being from the “Late Prehistoric burial” H31, where “the bones were wrapped in cloth separately”. 29 Marsh-Letts 2019, 42–43, fig. 2a–b.

FIG. 4

FIG. 5

Osiris mummy shroud, Ptolemaic-Early Roman period, Egypt, NMR.407. © Nicholson Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum.

FIG. 5

Detail of scarab drawn on linen mummy bandages for Gemu-Hep, Ptolemaic-Early Roman period, Egypt, NMR.23.3. © Nicholson Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum.

FIG. 6

Fine linen mummy wrapping, Predynastic period, cemetery H, Diospolis Parva (Hu), Egypt, NM00.123.1.

FIG. 6

Inscribed bandages In the Late Period the inscription of mummy wrappings with texts and drawings became popular, and this custom persisted through the Ptolemaic to the Late Roman period. Sir Charles Nicholson collected several sets of inscribed mummy bandages during his 1856–57 trip to Egypt, most notably roughly 130 fragments of inscribed wrappings for a single mummy, that of Gemu-hep (Komoapis), son of Herj-Bastet.26 A detail chosen from a set of these bandages, NMR.23.3, is inscribed with spell 31 of the book of the dead, and includes a vignette of a scarab on one of the bandages (FIG. 5). 27 The vignettes and hieratic inscriptions were written with fine black ink directly on the linen. The linen appears to be faced plain weave, with 33 yarns per cm in thread system 1 and 19 yarns per cm in thread system 2. ACQUISITIONS FROM THE EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND Diospolis Parva Textiles from Diospolis Parva came to Sydney from the EEF-sponsored excavations in 1899, which were directed by Sir Flinders Petrie. Included in the textiles sent to Sydney was an exceptionally fine piece of “Late Prehistoric”, i. e. Predynastic linen from Cemetery H,

Sir Charles Nicholson and the Nicholson Collections at the University of Sydney

labeled H75 by the excavators Arthur Mace and NNN Iles, NM00.123.1 (FIG. 6),28 as well as three tapestry fragments, NM00.123.2–4, and two balls of coloured yarn, NM00.149, dated to the Roman period. Oxyrhynchos (Behnasa) In addition to the two balls of yarn acquired from Diospolis Parva, the Nicholson received a third example from Oxyrhynchos (Behnasa), NM03.16. Collected during the excavations of Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt, the ball is dated by the museum’s acquisition files as Roman. This plain ball was probably yarn to be used in weaving, or left over from weaving. The ball’s diameter measures between 2.5 and 3 cm and its colour varies between a dark brown and a dark purple. The diameter of the yarn is 1 mm or less. Antinoopolis (Sheikh Ibada) The largest group of Roman-era textiles in the Nicholson Collection come from the 1913–14 excavations at Antinoopolis, also known as Antinoë, led by John De Monins Johnson for the Graeco-Roman Branch of the EEF. They were created using a range of different weaving methods: tablet weaving (also known as card weaving), woven tapestry, plain weave (also known as tabby), a lovely sprang hairnet,29 and various forms of

ABB. 3

Tunika aus Qarara, HD Inv. 2871. © Ägyptologisches Institut der Universität Heidelberg, Foto R. Ajtai.

122

ABB. 4

Tunika aus Qarara, FRAe Inv. 266. © Museum Natur und Mensch, Freiburg, Foto E. Hofmann.

Fundort bekannt! Stoffe aus Qarara

123

FIG. 10

Roberta Cortopassi pointed to a number of distantly comparable embroideries, especially in the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the Benaki Museum in Athens, which could not have been made before the end of the 19th century because of the use of synthetic dyes and/or mercerised cotton.26 These pieces are characterised by an unusual iconography and pseudo-inscriptions. Antoine De Moor and Roberta Cortopassi noted that some of these modern embroideries were executed on a medieval fabric: the embroidery of Katoen Natie inv. 746 (FIG. 10) cannot have been produced prior to 1876 because the threads were dyed with synthetic dyes; on the other hand the base fabric of the embroidery was radiocarbon dated to AD 778–980.27 Obviously, a medieval textile, at least 896 years old, was embroidered

174

at the end of the 19th century. The reason for this might have been religious veneration of the old textile or else fraud by an art dealer, trying to embellish an antique textile in order to increase its price. Considering all these contradictory indications, scientific investigations were the best way to clarify the period of manufacture of the RGZM garment. The garment‘s base fabric was dated by radiocarbon analysis. To prove a possible late date of the embroidery, the embroidery threads had to be analysed separately. For this purpose, an embroidery thread sample from the Mainz vestment was subjected to dye analysis, as this requires a smaller amount of sample material than a 14C examination, but enables a chronological classification through the possible detection of synthetic dyes.

FIG. 10

Medieval cloth with modern embroidery, Katoen Natie/ The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp, inv. 746. © Katoen Natie / The Phoebus Foundation, photo H. Maertens.

Cortopassi 2010. Cortopassi 2010, 100. 28 Laboratory-no MAMS 41787; report by Ronny Friedrich, CEZA, 14.08.2019. 27

RADIOCARBON-ANALYSIS OF THE GARMENT RGZM O.7860 In May 2019 a small sample from the edge of an area of loss on the back of the garment RGZM O.7860 was sent to the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum für Archäometrie (CEZA) in Mannheim for radiocarbon analysis. The 14C amount was measured with a MICADAS-type AMS system, resulting in a calibrated date (95.4% probability): AD 1682–1736 (27.6%) and 1805–1934 (67.8%).28

RGZM O.7860 calibration curve by CEZA, Mannheim

From the Middle Ages to the Modern Era: A Coptic liturgical garment in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz

175

Ein Mantel für die kalten Tage Béatrice Huber

English summary The object of this paper is a large fragment of a coat discovered in the context of Roman-style sleeveless tunics in the cemetery of Qarara. This unique textile originally consisted of six pieces, which formed a caftan-type garment. The outside fabric was made of wool, the lining of linen. The paper presents a detailed, precise description of the fragment, and proposes a reconstruction of the original appearance, in addition to a provisional dating.

ABB. 1

192

ABB. 1

Mantel recto: Oberstoff aus Wolle. Foto Béatrice Huber.

ABB. 2

Mantel verso: Futter aus Leinen. Foto Béatrice Huber.

Die archäologischen Untersuchungen im Friedhof von Qarara sorgen immer wieder für Überraschungen und bringen Fundmaterial zutage, das so noch nie bekannt geworden ist. So wurden durch die Grabung des Frühjahrs 2012 Funde und Befunde in einer Zusammensetzung angetroffen, die sich vollständig von derjenigen im übrigen Friedhof unterscheidet. Besonders fielen die vielen ärmellosen Tuniken römischen Typs mit Nähten an den Schultern auf und das häufige Vorkommen von purpurfarbenen Medaillons mit hellen filigranen Mustern in der Technik des fliegenden Fadens. Grabbeigaben sowie Textilien erlauben eine Datierung Anfang des 5. Jahrhunderts.1 In diesem Kontext wurde ein unförmig zusammengeknüllter Stoff inmitten der Tuniken römischen Typs gefunden. Nachdem er flachgelegt und gesäubert war, erwies er sich als Teil eines langen, leinengefütterten

Wollmantels.2 Er wurde als Leichentuch wiederverwendet, wie Abdrücke von Palmrippen sowie tiefe Falten im Brustbereich zeigen. ERHALTUNGSZUSTAND Der Mantel besteht aus einem einzigen großen, zusammenhängenden Fragment, das sich aus dem rechten Vorderteil, dem rechten Ärmel und dem Rock des Rückenteils zusammensetzt. Das Rückenteil ist bis zur Taille nicht mehr vorhanden, es wurde entlang der Taille und der Schulter abgerissen. Alle Kanten, außer am Ärmelsaum sind intakt. Das Wollgewebe des Vorderteils weist große Löcher auf. Das Innenfutter aus Leinen ist größtenteils vollständig erhalten (ABB. 1–2). MAßE Gesamtlänge: 115 cm Länge des Rocks am Rückenteil: 65 cm Spannweite des Vorderteils: 65 cm Spannweite des Rückenteils: 97,5 cm Ärmellänge: 30 cm Ärmelsaumweite: 20 cm Schulterbreite: 65 cm Taillenumfang: 80 cm

ABB. 2

Huber 2013; Huber 2019. Dank an Doris Ehrath, Handweberin, und Christian Berger, Textildesigner, für ihre Vorschläge und Hilfe. 2

Ein Mantel für die kalten Tage

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Besides the finds mentioned, the heap contained a large number of textiles, some of a higher quality. During the campaigns of 2019 and 2020 it was possible to get an overview of most of the textiles and analyse a limited number of them. Their condition is outstanding and for quite a large number it is possible to identify their function (which is rather rare at the settlement). The biggest group consists of clothing textiles, which could be reliably identified by their typical seams, hems and decorative patterns. Compared to other areas of the monastery, the accumulation of clothing within this context is quite obvious and will be emphasised in the following. As usual at Deir el-Bachît, the largest number of textiles are linen fabrics without any decorative scheme. Of special interest within the monastic context is object DB11-T008, a decorated sleeve of a child’s tunic (FIG. 3). It is worked from a simple tabby weave,14 which was sewn together along the side. The hem is fixed with overcast stitches and decorated by red embroidered motifs (FIG. 4).15 The perimeter at the hemmed opening measures approx. 20 cm; the longest preserved total length is approx. 22 cm. In a central position is a red woollen Greek cross (diameter around 3 cm) worked in tapestry, which was not easily seen in the final state of wear, because of a repair. Nowadays it can be seen much better from the inside of the sleeve (FIG. 5): Around a yellow-brownish centre, the arms of the cross are worked in red and decorated with green ‘dots’ (a crux gemmata?). Remarkably, the symbol used was also found on another linen fragment with the same composition in a comparable size.

FIG. 3

FIG. 4

FIG. 5

Type Lm1 (on the typology compare Tatz 2017): medium linen product in a balanced tabby weave (S-yarn, strength of yarn 0.5–0.7 cm, thread count 10–15). 15 Compare Rooijakkers 2017 for a potential apotropaic function of red yarns. There might be two further clothing textiles from the same context with intentional red threads: DB11-T006 (a small wool fragment) and DB11-T005 (see below) with an orange-red yarn, which was knotted to the textile. 16 Textile type Wm2II: S-yarn, strength of yarn 0.3-0.5 cm, 10 wefts/cm, 42 warps/cm.

204

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

The wool textiles can be divided into two groups: tunics that are part of the monastic habit and some outstanding single finds without any comparanda at the monastery so far. Few of the latter have been analysed yet: a big fragment needs thorough treatment before any kind of technical analysis can be made. One can see ca. 4-cm-wide stripes of a fine tapestry weave with floral motifs comprised of pale linen yarns in combination with either red or blue wool yarns. Other weaves were easier to examine, e. g. two fragments of greyish wool textile with broad violet stripes (DB 11-T007).16 On the narrow fragment (30.2 × 3.9 cm; FIG. 6) the coloured stripe is 8.6 cm wide; along its long side (warp) the fragment has a seam. The second fragment (17.2 × 19.5 cm) shows a coloured stripe of at least 13 cm width, which is partly damaged (FIG. 7). The identification as a clothing textile remains uncertain.

FIG. 3

FIG. 6

DB11-T008, the sleeve of a child’s tunic.

DB 11-T007, a fragment with a violet clavus and a seam.

FIG. 4

FIG. 7

DB11-T008, red markings along the seam.

DB 11-T007 with a broad clavus.

FIG. 5

FIG. 8

DB11-T008, cross seen from the inside of the sleeve.

DB11-T005, clavus of a monastic tunic; on both long sides are clear hints of cutting.

FIG. 8

New finds from old excavations in Western Thebes. Nineteenth-century scholars and the textiles from Deir el-Bachît

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COLOPHON

EDITORS

Antoine De Moor, Cäcilia Fluck, Petra Linscheid, assisted by Danaë Emilia Vermeulen PROOFREADER

Xavier De Jonge DESIGNER

Tim Bisschop PRINTER

die Keure, Bruges, Belgium BINDER

IBW, Oostkamp, Belgium

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