Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (13.2001(2002))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

TEXTILES CONSERVATION, 2001

Barbara Czaja-Szewczak

On-site conservation during this year's
brief campaign was limited to three
textiles selected from the assemblage
recovered from the graves of a cemetery
being excavated on sites A and E. Priority
was given to the pieces that showed the
most excessive dryness and fiber degra-
dation, as well as those that presented risk
of mechanical damage. Display needs were
also taken into consideration and, last but
not least, the scholarly merit of particular
textiles, e.g. the Arabic inscriptions that
appear amidst the decoration of the tiraz
textiles are particularly helpful in the
dating of the pieces.])
Damage to the textiles found at Naqlun
is largely dependent on the nature of the
burial. In pit graves, where the bodies were
buried without a coffin, textiles tend to
disintegrate. Direct contact with desert
dust and the products of mud brick decay
has led in most cases to excessive drying
and brittleness of the fibers, and sub-
TEXTILE
The first to be treated was a textile from
grave T.174, where it had been found next
to the head of the deceased. In its current

sequent gradual disintegration. Textiles
from burials inside wood or palm-leaf-rib
coffins stand a much better chance of
surviving in satisfactory condition.
Furthermore, the coloring of particular
pieces has suffered from stains and
discoloration due to direct contact with the
products of human body decay. The fibers
in these spots have been stuck together and
made stiff, becoming susceptible to
breaking and crumbling.
Much of the preparations for field
conservation were made in Poland, i.e.,
pre-shrinking and dying of the doubling
fabric. Structure was an important
criterion of choice, with the fragile textiles
being doubled on crepeline, a thin but
durable silk fabric, and the thickest of the
textiles on natural linen. In all cases the
doubling fabric provides an intentional
color contrast for the objects as the purpose
of the treatment was the preservation and
not reconstruction of the textiles.
ID.00073
fragmentarily preserved form it measures
43.5 by 38.0 cm {Fig. 1) and was woven of
silk and linen in plain tabby, tapestry

1) Tiraz textiles were known in Arab tradition from the times of the Omayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (AD 685-705). The
first tiraz weaving workshop was established in the reign of caliph Hishaam (AD 724-743). Richly embroidered in silk,
these textiles feature inscriptions in Arabic — of a religious nature or historical, mentioning the name of a caliph, his titles,
the name of the person who had commissioned the piece, as well as information about where, when and by whom it had
been made. The Naqlun inscriptions, which have yet to be studied, may turn out to be an interesting source, especially in
view of the fact that all of the textiles come from a cemetery that is Coptic, not Moslem. Most of the Naqlun textiles come
from the Fatimid period (AD 969-1171), although a few could be of Mamluk date (AD 1250-1517).

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