Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

TEXTILES FROM NAQLUN, 1999

Barbara Czaja-Szewczak

The 81 textiles that were uncovered dur-
ing the 1999 season at Naqlun can be
divided by place of origin into two sepa-
rate groups: one coming from the

monastery buildings, the other from
burials made in the ruins of this
monastery and hence stratigraphically
younger.

STATE OF PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION MEASURES

Textiles were not found in all of the
graves. Burial practices are often at fault,
because in simple earth graves, where tex-
tiles came into direct contact with the dry
desert sand and disintegrated mudbrick,
the fabric was in many cases overly dried
and subject to gradual disintegration.
Textiles found in burials that had a pro-
tective casing of palm-leaf ribs tied
together with rope were in a better condi-
tion. The best preserved, of course, were
textiles found in wooden-plank coffins.
Fibers are very dry here, too, and the fab-
ric is liable to break and pulverize when
touched, but in most of the coffins the var-
ious garments of the deceased have been
preserved in good order. Occasionally, as
in T. 127 (wooden-plank coffin), the upper
part of the body garments is in good con-
dition, while the bottom part has com-
pletely disintegrated leaving dust or sin-
gle fibers.
All the explored textiles were treated
to remove sand, dirt and other superficial
soiling. Delicate squirrel-bristle brushes
were used for this purpose. The next step
was a water bath using Pretepon G, a sof-
tener, which also helped to remove the rest
of the soiling. After rinsing in distilled
water, the textiles were stretched out on

glass panels and swabbed delicately with
wood-wool to remove excess water. They
were then left on panels to dry.
In the case of organic fibers, the speed
of the process preparing the fabric for dry-
ing and indeed, accelerating the drying
process itself, is important, because wet
fibers of this kind become brown in
a process of oxidization.
If a fabric was found to be excessively
dry, it was additionally softened with
a 3% solution of glycerin during the water
bath.
The burial cloths bear evidence of
stains and discoloration to the point of
effecting changes in textile colors. This is
due to contact with decaying human tis-
sue; where the contact was most extensive
and long-lasting, the fibers have been
stuck together and stiffened, and are now
easily crushed and broken, as well as dis-
colored. An excellent example of this
problem is a silk shawl (Nd.99410), pieces
of which were found in T. 127 on Site A.
The original colors have been preserved on
some of the fragments, but not on all. On
a few pieces green has turned into a gold-
en brown, while a golden yellow has dark-
ened to the color of old gold. What was
initially carmine is now more brown.

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