Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

between the older superstructures and
a marker was erected of mud brick; it is
now only fragmentarily preserved.
Of the furnishings of the seven coffins,
all of which are heavily damaged, only the
more durable objects have survived — two
glass bottles and two copper pins for
fastening a headdress. The shrouds and
robes have all but completely disintegrated.
The founding of the mausoleum just above
the layer of burning of the early 10th
century suggests that the northwestern
mausoleum could have been among the
earliest burials made in the cemetery on
site A; its dating, however, can be fixed
roughly in the second half of the 11th
century
The cemetery in Naqlun with its well
preserved graves, the numerous textiles of

documented function in the burial rites
(coffin shrouds, body shrouds, pillows,
robes), equally numerous well-preserved
mats and fair quantities of vessels and
personal belongings, including jewelry,
contributes to a study of the burial rites
current in a Christian community of the
11th through the 13 th century, a time
when the community was becoming
a minority group in the Fayum. The
textiles discovered in the graves at Naqlun
will go far in explaining the usage of
particular kinds of fabrics and will help to
date many uninscribed textiles now in
museum and private collections. Doubtless
the documented archaeological context of
the textiles from Naqlun will make them
one of the more important sets of compa-
rative material.

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