A new look at ancient

Egyptian textiles
Amandine Mrat (Curator) and Emily Taylor
(Museum Assistant), British Museum
e ha!e recently taken the opportunity to audit, document and re"
house the textiles dating to the #st millenium A$ % around #,&'' in
num(er % that are looked a)ter (y the $epartment o) Ancient Egypt
and *udan (AE*)+ The main aims o) this pro,ect are the re"
organisation and distri(ution o) the -oman, By.antine and early
/slamic textiles into a coherent and accessi(le storage system,
along with the impro!ement o) their documentation (y adding
photographs, technical analysis, iconographic and cultural
in)ormation+
*0uare tapestry panel in multi"coloured wool depicting a (ird and a cross"
within"wreath (EA 11&2')+ Egypt, Akhmim, 3th"2th century A$+ The tapestry
panel is applied on a linen plain wea!e, cut out when disco!ered at the end o)
the #4th century
As in many museums today, the British Museum5s Egyptian
textiles collection is mostly composed o) )ragmentary pieces,
ac0uired through exca!ation and purchase in the late #4th and
early 1'th century+ At that time, decorati!e elements considered as
spectacular or aesthetically pleasing were o)ten cut out )rom large
pieces when disco!ered, as only the most !i(rant and colour)ul
pieces were wanted (y European collectors+ 6owe!er, this meant
that they were also cut o)) )rom their archaeological contexts+ /t
was )or this reason that, with the exception o) two great sets o)
textiles )rom exca!ations at 7asr /(rim and adi *arga, we
decided to reorder the Museum5s collection not (y pro!enance or
date % as these are rarely known % (ut (y techni0ue+ /ndeed, a
close !isual examination o) techni0ue, and drawing on knowledge
o) their cultural (ackground, allows us to determine the possi(le
original )unction o) many o) the textiles, essentially )ragments o)
garments and home )urnishing originating )rom (urial contexts+
$etailed macro shot o) a multi"coloured tapestry panel, depicting three
styli.ed human )igures (EA 82#8#)+ Egypt, 3th"2th century A$
e (egan our audit (y classi)ying the textiles (y their primary
wea!ing techni0ue % tapestry, (rocade, em(roidery etc+ This
process helped us to work out how much storage space was
re0uired )or each group, taking into account the )ragility o) the
textiles, (ut also the need )or easy access and the possi(ility o)
new items ,oining the collection at a later date+ Each primary group
was then su("di!ided, on the (asis o) shape or iconography o) the
textiles+
9ate Anti0ue Egyptian textiles re"housed in storage drawers a)ter study,
documentation and photography
$rawer (y drawer, the technical and iconographic analyses )or
each textile were completed (y Amandine Merat, the curator
responsi(le )or the pro,ect+ *ome pieces had already (een studied
(y 6ero :ranger"Taylor in the #44's; in those cases, her detailed
notes were checked and annotated where necessary+ 6owe!er, a
great ma,ority o) the textiles had ne!er (een analysed (e)ore+ <or
these, the )i(res were identi)ied, measurements were taken,
techni0ues care)ully analysed and a complete description o) the
piece and its iconography was made+ =riginal )unction o) the
textiles and dating were re"attri(uted where necessary+
=nce the technical in)ormation was recorded, the textiles were
photographed (y Emily Taylor+ A general shot o) )ront and (ack
was taken, an arrow included to indicate the direction o) the warp
o) the )a(ric+ $etailed macro shots were then taken to record any
small details or highlight interesting elements o) design, use or
techni0ue+ The textiles were then re"housed in acid )ree tissue,
and melinex slee!es where possi(le, and then placed on Correx
(oards within their storage drawers to ena(le ease o) handling+
Amandine Mrat ()ront) and -uiha *malley ((ehind) recording technical
analyses )rom a textile, in the AE* $epartment organic store room+
All rele!ant in)ormation was recorded in a spreadsheet (y our
!olunteer -uiha *malley, (e)ore (eing standardised and uploaded
into the British Museum5s collection data(ase, through which it will
soon (e a!aila(le to the pu(lic !ia the collection online+
The post was updated on 24 June to correct a date in the first
sentence. The textiles date to the 1st millennium AD, not BC.