DOI Heft:
Egypt
DOI Artikel:Czaja-Szewczak, Barbara: Naqlun 2003 from scraps to tunic
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41371#0165
NAQLUN
The woolen robe turned out to be a sleeve-
less tunic of the bag-shaped type (Figs. 1-
3).x> It proved possible to establish its
shape, full dimensions and the pattern of
the decoration. It was 148.0 cm long and
124.0 cm wide. Woven in balanced plain
tabby, it had the ornaments embroidered
with woolen and linen thread. Decorating
the front of the tunic was a big four-branch
cross (Fig. 4), and bands of geometric
decoration flanked by multi-branched
color crosses and inscriptions in Coptic
(Figs. 5, 6), identified as an excerpt from
Psalm 46, 2-3.3) Spread out, the tunic has
a rectangular shape; the neck opening was
a crosswise oval-shaped slit, 22.0 cm long,
set in the middle. The rectangle had been
sown together of two pieces of fabric of
different size to achieve the required
length. The part constituting the front of
the tunic is longer (152 cm) and
terminates 4.0 cm above the neck opening.
The back part is 144.0 cm long. The
resulting piece of cloth was folded in half
and sown together at the sides, leaving
openings for the hands, each 20.3 cm wide.
The edges of these openings, as well as the
bottom hem were lined with bands of
blue-dyed linen cloth, 3-1 cm wide at the
sides, 5.7 cm at the bottom (cf. Fig. 3).
This trimming also served to reinforce the
edges of the robe.
In the textiles collection of the Louvre
there is a tunic with an ornament
resembling that on the Naqlun robe.4) 5 The
Coptic inscription on the sleeves gives the
name of the owner, one monk called Apa
Kolthi from the Nekloni monastery5^
(Deir el-Naqlun); he was undoubtedly the
person for whom the tunic had been made.
The inscription on our tunic has no such
information to give, but its religious
nature is unquestionable and the cross
motifs on the tunic are also telling. The
Fig. 6. Coptic inscription on the upper left front
of the tunic (Photo T. Szmagier)
3) J. Van der Vliet, ‘In a Robe of Gold’. Status, magic and politics on inscribed Christian textiles from Egypt (in press).
4) M. Durand, Tunique liturgique et son capuchon, in: Egypte, la frame de l’Histoire (Paris 2002), 129-130, cat. 95.
5) J. Van der Vliet, “A Naqlun Monk brought Home. On the Provenance of Louvre inv. E 26798-26799”, BSAC 39, 239-
244.
163
The woolen robe turned out to be a sleeve-
less tunic of the bag-shaped type (Figs. 1-
3).x> It proved possible to establish its
shape, full dimensions and the pattern of
the decoration. It was 148.0 cm long and
124.0 cm wide. Woven in balanced plain
tabby, it had the ornaments embroidered
with woolen and linen thread. Decorating
the front of the tunic was a big four-branch
cross (Fig. 4), and bands of geometric
decoration flanked by multi-branched
color crosses and inscriptions in Coptic
(Figs. 5, 6), identified as an excerpt from
Psalm 46, 2-3.3) Spread out, the tunic has
a rectangular shape; the neck opening was
a crosswise oval-shaped slit, 22.0 cm long,
set in the middle. The rectangle had been
sown together of two pieces of fabric of
different size to achieve the required
length. The part constituting the front of
the tunic is longer (152 cm) and
terminates 4.0 cm above the neck opening.
The back part is 144.0 cm long. The
resulting piece of cloth was folded in half
and sown together at the sides, leaving
openings for the hands, each 20.3 cm wide.
The edges of these openings, as well as the
bottom hem were lined with bands of
blue-dyed linen cloth, 3-1 cm wide at the
sides, 5.7 cm at the bottom (cf. Fig. 3).
This trimming also served to reinforce the
edges of the robe.
In the textiles collection of the Louvre
there is a tunic with an ornament
resembling that on the Naqlun robe.4) 5 The
Coptic inscription on the sleeves gives the
name of the owner, one monk called Apa
Kolthi from the Nekloni monastery5^
(Deir el-Naqlun); he was undoubtedly the
person for whom the tunic had been made.
The inscription on our tunic has no such
information to give, but its religious
nature is unquestionable and the cross
motifs on the tunic are also telling. The
Fig. 6. Coptic inscription on the upper left front
of the tunic (Photo T. Szmagier)
3) J. Van der Vliet, ‘In a Robe of Gold’. Status, magic and politics on inscribed Christian textiles from Egypt (in press).
4) M. Durand, Tunique liturgique et son capuchon, in: Egypte, la frame de l’Histoire (Paris 2002), 129-130, cat. 95.
5) J. Van der Vliet, “A Naqlun Monk brought Home. On the Provenance of Louvre inv. E 26798-26799”, BSAC 39, 239-
244.
163