The Characterization of Some Ancient Egyptian Funerary Linens from the Twenty-First Dynasty Discovered in the Bab El-Gasus Excavation

Abstract

The ancient Egyptians had a distinct and flourishing textile industry with diverse characteristics. The developments in archaeological textile studies over the last few decades have assisted in identifying the techniques used in the manufacture of fabrics and demonstrated the complexity of this ancient industry. The ancient Egyptians are well-known for the production of linen fabrics of varying structures and purposes for everyday use by different social classes. The Bab El-Gasus tomb at Deir El-Bahari, the tomb of the priests and priestesses of Amun, is one of the most important excavations for this subject as within the tomb several types of funerary linen textiles from the Twenty-First Dynasty (1070–945 BC) were discovered. This paper aims to characterize some of these linen pieces that were preserved and displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The pieces are of high-quality linen, were decorated, and retain their original colours. Investigations were carried out to study their main textile characteristics such as thread diameter, twist direction, thread count and weave type, in addition to characterizing the diagnostic features of the textiles such as fringes, selvedges, self-bands, hues, decoration and their state of deterioration. A Dino-Lite portable digital microscope was used to examine the linen textiles. There were various significant findings and the study revealed some of the distinctive characteristics and versatility of ancient Egyptian textiles, offering new insights for the textile production techniques used at that time.