DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49517#0405
TEXTILES AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS 313
One of the classes of objects, moreover, was a bracelet or armlet, made like those sold at
the present time in the market at Omdurman as amulets. The other which was more
common was, I think, a fly-whisk with a wooden handle covered with a beautifully woven
case of the same hair which formed the whisk. Only one example of the whisk-part was
found, in K 430, and there the handle-cover was present but separated from the whisk.
But in K 1088 a handle-cover occurred and also a number of loose hairs which were from
the whisk, if my reconstruction is correct. It may be remarked in passing that the com-
mon fly is much more annoying in Ethiopia than in Egypt and, in modern times at least,
the nimitti-fly in its season is a pest unknown in Egypt.
(1) Armlets of giraffe-hair
A wisp of about twenty giraffe-hairs was coiled in a circle and fastened in two different
ways. In some cases, the ends were wTapped about the side of the coil and interwoven so
as to make a fixed circle. In other cases the ends were knotted and a small band of separate
hairs was wrapped and intertwined about the side of the coil between the knots so that the
knotted ends could be pulled out to tighten the armlet or shoved back against the tie-band
to loosen the armlet. All these were found on the upper arms of body PB in the sacrificial
corridor of K X. (Pl. 60, 2, No. 2.)
1. KXB: 138. On the upper left arm of body A, four or more armlets.
2. KXB: 139. On the upper right arm of body A, six or more armlets.
(2) Fly-whisks with woven handle-covers
The fly-whisk mentioned above had as a handle a wooden stick 16 cm. or a little more
in length and about 1.3 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, with a spheriod or ellipsoid knob on the end
which was about 4 to 5 cm. in diameter. This handle was encased with a fine woven cover
of giraffe-hairs, which protruded beyond the upper or small end of the stick to form the
whisk. In K 430 the stick was best preserved, but decayed remains of the stick were ob-
served inside all the woven handles found.
The weaving of these bulbs began at the bottom opposite the hollow cylinder. In one
case (3, below), seven bunches of about sixteen hairs each seem to have been laid down,
crossing each other in the middle of each bunch, thus forming a star with fourteen rays each
of sixteen hairs. This basis I will call the warp. This star was fixed by intertwining a
bunch of four hairs, which may have continued into what I call, for convenience, the woof.
Then two series of woof-hairs were inserted, one over and one under each bunch of sixteen
of the warp. Apparently this woof was formed of one continuous hair passing spirally
fourteen times round the circle and thus separating the bunches of sixteen in the warp. At
this point, or soon after, probably the hair-mesh was placed over the end of the wooden
bulb and pulled tight against it. The succeeding hairs of the woof separated the bunches
of sixteen into eight and then into four hairs, so that a circle was formed about 3 cm. from
the end of the bulb. Here a single woof-strand of two hairs separated the bunches of four
warp-hairs into pairs. These two woof-hairs not only pass singly, one over and one under
the alternate warp-pairs, but twist across each other between each two pairs. From this
circle onwards, the pairs of warp-hairs are divided, one of each pair being sloped to the
left and one to the right so that the warp forms a lattice of hairs. This lattice is then tied
One of the classes of objects, moreover, was a bracelet or armlet, made like those sold at
the present time in the market at Omdurman as amulets. The other which was more
common was, I think, a fly-whisk with a wooden handle covered with a beautifully woven
case of the same hair which formed the whisk. Only one example of the whisk-part was
found, in K 430, and there the handle-cover was present but separated from the whisk.
But in K 1088 a handle-cover occurred and also a number of loose hairs which were from
the whisk, if my reconstruction is correct. It may be remarked in passing that the com-
mon fly is much more annoying in Ethiopia than in Egypt and, in modern times at least,
the nimitti-fly in its season is a pest unknown in Egypt.
(1) Armlets of giraffe-hair
A wisp of about twenty giraffe-hairs was coiled in a circle and fastened in two different
ways. In some cases, the ends were wTapped about the side of the coil and interwoven so
as to make a fixed circle. In other cases the ends were knotted and a small band of separate
hairs was wrapped and intertwined about the side of the coil between the knots so that the
knotted ends could be pulled out to tighten the armlet or shoved back against the tie-band
to loosen the armlet. All these were found on the upper arms of body PB in the sacrificial
corridor of K X. (Pl. 60, 2, No. 2.)
1. KXB: 138. On the upper left arm of body A, four or more armlets.
2. KXB: 139. On the upper right arm of body A, six or more armlets.
(2) Fly-whisks with woven handle-covers
The fly-whisk mentioned above had as a handle a wooden stick 16 cm. or a little more
in length and about 1.3 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, with a spheriod or ellipsoid knob on the end
which was about 4 to 5 cm. in diameter. This handle was encased with a fine woven cover
of giraffe-hairs, which protruded beyond the upper or small end of the stick to form the
whisk. In K 430 the stick was best preserved, but decayed remains of the stick were ob-
served inside all the woven handles found.
The weaving of these bulbs began at the bottom opposite the hollow cylinder. In one
case (3, below), seven bunches of about sixteen hairs each seem to have been laid down,
crossing each other in the middle of each bunch, thus forming a star with fourteen rays each
of sixteen hairs. This basis I will call the warp. This star was fixed by intertwining a
bunch of four hairs, which may have continued into what I call, for convenience, the woof.
Then two series of woof-hairs were inserted, one over and one under each bunch of sixteen
of the warp. Apparently this woof was formed of one continuous hair passing spirally
fourteen times round the circle and thus separating the bunches of sixteen in the warp. At
this point, or soon after, probably the hair-mesh was placed over the end of the wooden
bulb and pulled tight against it. The succeeding hairs of the woof separated the bunches
of sixteen into eight and then into four hairs, so that a circle was formed about 3 cm. from
the end of the bulb. Here a single woof-strand of two hairs separated the bunches of four
warp-hairs into pairs. These two woof-hairs not only pass singly, one over and one under
the alternate warp-pairs, but twist across each other between each two pairs. From this
circle onwards, the pairs of warp-hairs are divided, one of each pair being sloped to the
left and one to the right so that the warp forms a lattice of hairs. This lattice is then tied