Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

Inscriptions are to be found also on
a richly decorated linen shroud (Nd.99311)
from T. 122. Two silk tapestry bands are
admirable for their rich coloring - blue,
dark blue, red, celadon, brown and cream.
Birds in medallions inserted in a plaited
ornament fill the central band, flanked
with bands of writing in Arabic. Du
Bourguet refers to these birds as "coqs sas-
samdes"n) and expresses the opinion that
the Egyptian weavers drew on Sassanid
textiles for inspiration. The birds are usu-
ally of small size, hence their schematiza-
tion and resulting deformation. Bird
motifs of this sort, inserted in a medallion
surrounded by a plaited pattern, are com-
mon on Fatimid silks.12) Linen textiles
with multicolored silk bands and orna-
ments comprising birds, hares and abstract
motifs in medallions, flanked with inscrip-
tions, actual or supposed, were produced in
Arab manufactures known as tiraz. These
textiles were executed for private users, as
well as for the royal court.13)
From a child's burial (T. 110), found on
top and in connection with T. 127, comes
a piece of tunic sleeve made from linen
cloth with a decorative linen insert sewn
onto it. The insert bears a dark blue check-
er pattern on a blue background. The body
had been wrapped in a plain linen shroud;
a surviving piece shows that it had been
executed in plain tabby weave. A wad of
textiles was found tied around the child's
head. One of these is a linen fabric resem-
bling gauze, the opposite selvages of which
were decorated with blue and red silk
bands. The most interesting piece, howev-
er, is one (Nd.99421) with decoration that
is analogous to that on the above-men-

tioned shroud from T. 127, except that it
looks like a simplified version of the piece
from the adult's burial. There is a less
intricate plaited pattern and hares in
medallions, just as on the shroud. The
undecorated part of the textile displays
balanced tabby weave, while the ornamen-
tal band is silk weft-faced tabby. The frag-
ment is too small for a precise reconstruc-
tion of the pattern, but the absence of writ-
ing is quite obvious. The coloring is limit-
ed to just red and yellow. Two blue stripes
of various width run alongside the edge of
the fabric.
Embroidery is featured on a few of the
textiles discovered this season. Burial
T. 121 was especially rich in textiles bear-
ing embroidered decoration. Under the
head of the deceased there were leaves cov-
ered with a linen piece of tabby weave dec-
orated with silk embroidery (split-stitch
embroidery) (Nd.99308), preserving the
colors of the thread in ideal condition: red,
pale green, black, yellow and pale blue.
Colored geometric patterns appear here
next to monochrome arabesques. The same
burial yielded a selvage piece of a shroud
(Nd.99307) decorated with a narrow band
of yellow-black silk embroidery (running
stitch) presenting a geometric pattern, and
a piece of tunic sleeve (Nd.99309) with an
embroidered silk floral ornament executed
in running stitch.
Another example of embroidery, cross-
stitching this time, is featured on a head-
band (Nd.99136) from T. 79- In the center
of the piece there is a triangle made up of
15 rows of smaller triangles, embroidered
with woolen thread of three different colors
— brown, dark blue and red.

u) Du Bourguet, op. cit., 24.
12) Du Bourguet, op. cit., 25.
13) A. Baginski, A. Tihdar, Textiles from Egypt 4th-13th Centuries C.E. (Jerusalem 1980), 17.

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