Textile matters. It has always been important; as protection from the elements,
showing gender, personal wealth, status, rank, and group affiliation. Textile was
also a commodity to be traded, given to kings as gifts and used in ritual contexts
such as burial shrouds for humans. From the coarse piece of textile found in the
Fayoum dated c 5000 BCE to the Tarkhan tunic in fine quality dated to the end of
the predynastic period, textile production developed rapidly. At the start of
Naqada II, textile is produced in a good quality showing the textile workers’
expertise in spinning and weaving.
However, very little material evidence besides the finished result is left of the
process itself and the tools used, making textile production an invisible industry.
The only iconographic evidence is the Badari Bowl showing two elements of the
process, the measuring out the warp and the loom for weaving.
To be able to detect the textile industry, it is instead necessary to look at its
contexts, e.g., the landscape. Weaving requires a flat surface with firm earth for
securing the all-important tension. Peg holes in the ground or walls might point
to the measuring out of the warp, while collection of stones or other implements
outside villages could signify a space to clean the flax. But also, other approaches
can be used: Skeletal remains may show signs of repetitive stress of the lower back
and arms, a real problem then as now for weavers.
Of the spinning process, only the spindle whorl remains. This is a simple pierced
pottery sherd whose weight provides tension during spinning, and thereby tells
us how fine a thread can be spun with it. While in other cultures spindle whorls
were personal and often decorated, the spindle whorls in Egypt are undecorated,
and perhaps therefore mistaken for other tools such as fishing net weights. The
context of the spindle whorls excavated may tell the story of who spun, and in
what circumstances.
A better understanding of the process and the tools will secure a wider
knowledge of the textile production and its importance in relation to rituals,
administration, trade, and labour organisation.
A small-scale working model of loom and spindle whorls will be presented
during the poster session.