Chapter 3

When Mr. Ling Roth suggested that some of the examples of Egyptian Mummy cloths in Bankfield Museum should be examined on similar lines, describing the construction of the fabrics and yarns, together with the characteristics of the fibres used, I undertook to carry out the work and forward to him the results for permanent reference.

Each of the fifteen cloths submitted was first examined by mounting about 3/4" × 5/8" (20 mm. × 16 mm.) of the cloth on 3" × 1" (76 mm. × 25 mm.) glass slips, and covering with thin glass, so as to find out its plan of composition and the number of warp and weft threads per linear inch. Afterwards, a little of the warp threads as well as of the weft, was untwisted and the fibres separated, and these mounted apart on another 3" × 1" slip (76 × 25 mm.), so that the kind of textile fibre used and the diameter of the fibres could be measured. These microscopical preparations will be kept in Bankfield Museum, as they may be of interest to microscopists in the locality.

The cloths are from three sources:--Nos. 1 and 2 being from the private collection of Dr. Wallis-Budge, who has given the specimens to Bankfield Museum; Nos. 3 to 8 are from the old Meyer collection in the Liverpool Museum (unfortunately the origin of them is unknown); and those marked 9 to 15 were taken from a mummy of the XXVI. Dynasty, brought to this country by Lord Denbigh, and now also in the Liverpool Museum.

A.--Specimens of Mummy cloths from Theban Tombs date about B.C. 1400, presented by Dr. Wallis-Budge.

1. A plain "one-up-and-one-down" linen cloth. The yarns in this example are more irregular in diameter than usual--the warp strands varying from 1/25"th to 1/71"st (1 mm. to ·2/8 mm.) The warp has about half its strands doubled (that is twined together), whereas the weft has only about one in twenty doubled. See Fig. 26.

2. This is a coarser fabric, has been dyed with saffron, and is somewhat brittle to tease out the fibres. Both these cloths had evidently absorbed some of the gums or balsams used in the process of embalming, and hence the difficulty of separating the fibres for identification is increased. The structure of the fabric is peculiar, and, indeed, the only instance I have seen in Egyptian cloths. A portion, near the middle of the piece sent, has the warp strands in pairs parallel to each other, a few of them being double yarns, while all the remainder are doubled. Of the weft, nearly half are double yarns. See Fig. 27.

B.--Specimens from the Meyer Collection, marked No. 11088. (Date of acquisition about 1856; date and place of origin unknown).

3. This is a beautifully soft, fine _Wool_ fabric, containing no size or balsam. From the fineness of the yarn and of the individual fibres I have no doubt that the wool has been imported from India, or, more likely, that the cloth was made in Cashmere. The texture is a plain weave, has a selvedge edge, the warp yarns are doubled, while the weft is single yarn. It is much to be regretted that the particulars of locality, of burial, and the period of time to which this interesting fabric belongs has been lost. I assume from the general characteristics that it is of a late period--probably not earlier than the Ptolemaic.

4. This linen cloth has a plain selvedge, regular weave, and contains no size. About 25% of both warp and weft yarns are doubled, and all are very even in diameter.

5. A coarse linen cloth with plain selvedge. All the yarns are single and even in diameter.

6. This is a coarse, highly-sized linen cloth. The yarns are agglutinated, are brittle, and it is difficult to separate the fibres. The sample submitted has been cut from the end of the piece and shows the warp ends.

7. A coarse linen cloth, sized and brittle. No selvedge on the piece sent. Both warp and weft yarns are single, and even in diameter.

8. This is a very coarse linen fabric heavily sized and brittle. Both warp and weft yarns are single and very irregular in diameter.

C.--Lord Denbigh's: XXVI. Dynasty.

9. A soft-spun linen cloth containing no size. Specimen has been cut from the body of the fabric, showing no selvedge. About half of the warp is composed of doubled yarns of irregular diameter; the weft is of doubled yarns and more regular in diameter.

10. The selvedge of this linen fabric is peculiar and somewhat elaborate. The outer margin is composed of four sets of ten yarns parallel to each other, forming one strand of warp; then comes a space of 1-9/10" (48 mm.) where the warp yarns are dyed red; then occurs three more sets of ten parallel yarns (the object being to strengthen the selvedge), followed by the general body of the fabric. The entire selvedge is 2-1/4" (57 mm.) wide. About half the warp yarns are doubled, while all the weft are composed of doubled yarns, both being fairly even in diameter, and not sized.

11. A fine, soft, linen cloth, with selvedge 1-1/8" (29 mm.) wide; the three outer and the two inner strands of the warp are made up of many parallel yarns, as in No. 10, with an interspace of 3/8" (10 mm.) All the warp yarns are dyed red, about 25% of them being doubled; the weft is peculiar in having five or six strands of single yarns alternating with six or seven double yarns, giving a faint stripe in the fabric.

12. A linen cloth, with no selvedge edge. It has been dyed red, probably _ferum_, a dye which I find uniformly associated with friable or decomposing fibres.

13. A peculiarly coloured fine linen cloth; the pattern is caused by some of the warp yarns being dyed, and occurring sometimes of four, two, or one red strands, with grey ones intermixed. A few of the warp yarns are doubled. The weft is composed of single yarns and are all in the grey.

14. A coarse soft-woven linen fabric, containing no size. Lines are indicated at irregular distances along the cloth, varying from 5/16" to 9/16" (8 to 14 mm.); these are caused by the introduction of three strands of doubled yarn in the warp while the remainder are single yarns. The weft is all of doubled yarns; both warp and weft are very regular in diameter.

15. This is a variegated linen fabric with warps coloured something like No. 13, but the red strands of warp are more irregular in distribution. Like it, a few of the warp yarns are doubled, both the red and the grey; while the weft is all of single yarns and in the grey."

[A considerable quantity of specimens of the cloths which were woven by the Ancient Egyptians has been examined both in this country and abroad. I may, however, call special attention to the results of examination published in Miss M. A. Murray's excellent little work _The Tomb of Two Brothers_, Manchester Museum Publications, No. 68, 1910.--H.L.R.]

DETAILS OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE BODY WRAPPINGS.

+-------+-----+-----++----------------------------------------- Specimen|Nature |Warp |Weft || Micro Measurements of Ten Fibres. No. | of |Ends |Picks|+-------------+-------------+------------- |Textile|per |per || Weft. | Warp. | Mean of. | Fibre.|inch.|inch.|+======+======+======+======+======+====== | | | || Max. | Min. | Max. | Min. | Weft.| Warp. ========+=======+=====+=====++======+======+======+======+======+====== | | | || in. | in. | in. | in. | in. | in. A. { 1| Linen | 44 | 32 ||1/1400|1/3333|1/1424|1/3330|1/1768|1/1786 { 2| " | 10 | 17 ||1/1786|1/3330|1/1780|1/2860|1/2020|1/1905 | | | || | | | | | { 3| Wool | 224 | 40 ||1/833 |1/2500|1/833 |1/2000|1/1351|1/1429 { 4| Linen | 64 | 32 ||1/1429|1/2500|1/1250|1/5000|1/1818|1/1754 { 5| " | 56 | 20 ||1/1250|1/3333|1/1250|1/2500|1/1754|1/1724 B. { 6| " | 48 | 24 ||1/1250|1/2500|1/1000|1/2500|1/1640|1/1594 { 7| " | 48 | 20 ||1/1111|1/2500|1/1000|1/2500|1/1408|1/1428 { 8| " | 36 | 16 ||1/833 |1/3333|1/1111|1/2500|1/1456|1/1613 | | | || | | | | | { 9| " | 48 | 24 ||1/1666|1/3333|1/1666|1/3333|1/2222|1/1860 {10| " | 32 | 60 ||1/833 |1/3333|1/908 |1/3333|1/1724|1/1613 {11| " | 80 | 36 ||1/1429|1/3333|1/1000|1/3333|1/1887|1/1784 C. {12| " | 96 | 40 ||1/1111|1/2500|1/1250|1/2500|1/1724|1/1695 {13| " | 80 | 36 ||1/1111|1/2500|1/1429|1/2500|1/1640|1/2040 {14| " | 56 | 24 ||1/909 |1/3333|1/1250|1/2500|1/1594|1/1695 {15| " | 64 | 36 ||1/1250|1/2000|1/1429|1/2500|1/1724|1/1818 --------+-------+-----+-----++------+------+------+------+------+------

THE ABOVE CONVERTED INTO METRICAL MEASUREMENTS.

+-------+--------+--------++----------------------------------- | | | || Micro Measurements of Ten Fibres Specimen|Nature | Warp | Weft || in Millimetres. No. | of | Ends | Picks |+-----------+-----------+----------- |Textile| per | per || Weft. | Warp. | Mean of | Fibre.| Centim.| Centim.|+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+===== | | | ||Max. |Min. |Max. |Min. |Weft.|Warp. ========+=======+========+========++=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+===== 1 | Linen | 17 | 12·6 ||·0181|·0076|·0178|·0076|·0144|·0142 2 | " | 4 | 6·7 ||·0142|·0076|·0143|·0089|·0126|·0133 3 | Wool | 88 | 15·6 ||·0305|·0101|·0305|·0127|·0188|·0178 4 | Linen | 25 | 12·6 ||·0178|·0101|·0203|·0050|·0140|·0145 5 | " | 22 | 7·8 ||·0203|·0076|·0203|·0101|·0145|·0147 6 | " | 19 | 9·5 ||·0203|·0101|·0254|·0101|·0155|·0159 7 | " | 19 | 7·8 ||·0229|·0101|·0254|·0101|·0180|·0178 8 | " | 14·1 | 6·3 ||·0305|·0076|·0229|·0101|·0174|·0157 9 | " | 19 | 9·5 ||·0152|·0076|·0152|·0076|·0208|·0130 10 | " | 12·6 | 23·6 ||·0305|·0076|·0278|·0076|·0147|·0157 11 | " | 31·5 | 14·1 ||·0178|·0076|·0254|·0076|·0135|·0142 12 | " | 37·4 | 15·6 ||·0229|·0101|·0203|·0101|·0147|·0149 13 | " | 19 | 14·1 ||·0229|·0101|·0178|·0101|·0155|·0124 14 | " | 22 | 9·5 ||·0278|·0076|·0203|·0101|·0159|·0149 15 | " | 25 | 14·1 ||·0203|·0127|·0178|·0101|·0147|·0140 --------+-------+--------+--------++-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

It is very obvious they had no scale to work to.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] To the uninitiated I may explain that in a horizontal loom the plane of the warp is more or less parallel with that of the floor, while in an upright or vertical loom the plane of the warp is at right angles to that of the floor.

[B] To avoid indistinctness through over reduction, I have endeavoured to keep all reproductions in this paper as large as possible, and think I have succeeded in not losing any detail in the necessary reduction.

[C] Hay's drawings are not published but can be seen in the Brit. Mus., Add. MSS. No. 29823, Fol. 32.

[D] Olafsson, to be referred to later on, remarks that while in Ovid's time the _spathe_ was used for beating-in the weft, in Seneca's time the weft was beaten in by a toothed instrument. In other words a weaver's comb--the embryo reed--had been introduced.

II. THE GREEK LOOM.

We have now to say a few words about an upright loom which differs very materially from the Egyptian loom already described. Whether the horizontal loom is a later product than the vertical loom, or was evolved from it, or whether both were independent inventions cannot be discussed here, but I may point out that there is an intermediate form between the two. It is doubtful as to whether this is a transition form. It was first brought to my notice by Mr. T. A. Joyce, as in use amongst some negro peoples in Central Africa possessing an old, high and possibly introduced civilisation, and is figured in Messrs. Torday and Joyce's Notes _Ethnographiques ... Bakuba ... et Bushongo_ (_Annales du Congo_) pp. 24 and 182. In this loom the warp is stretched between an upper beam and a lower beam at an angle of about 90 degrees, and the weaver sits underneath at his work, Fig. 28. It is not at all uncommon to meet with illustrations showing the warp stretched at an incline, and apart from the fact that in many the weavers are posing for illustration, and therefore, are most probably not exactly in their natural positions, the tilted arrangement has this advantage, namely, that the work of beating-in is improved by the fall given to the "sword" which, with less exertion by the weaver, drives the weft home more effectively. In all these cases, however, the weaver sits or stands in front of the loom, but in the case of the Bushongo the loom is tilted to such an extent that the weaver finds it more convenient to sit underneath the warp.

The discovery by Messrs. Alan Gardiner and N. de G. Davies of illustrations of Egyptian upright looms, confirms Wilkinson in his statement and illustration that the Egyptians had this class of loom as well as the horizontal one. The vertical loom is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and is, probably, ethnically as old if not older than the horizontal loom.[E] But this Egyptian upright loom differs from another, the Greek, or Central European, or Scandinavian form of the upright loom, in having an upper and a lower beam so that the warp is made taut between two beams, while in the Greek loom there is only _one_ beam. The warp hangs from this beam, the warp threads being made taut by means of weights attached at the lower ends.

The Greeks were, however, acquainted with the tapestry loom, for there exists in the British Museum a small lekythos with an illustration, Fig. 29a, of such an article resting on the knees of a lady weaver.[F]

It has been described by Mr. H. B. Walters in _Jour. Hellenic Studies_, XXXI., 1911, p. 15, who says: "In front of her, Fig. 29a, is a white wool basket (_Kalathos_) and on her lap is a frame somewhat in the form of a lyre, being formed by two upright pieces with knobs at the top, diverging slightly towards the top, across between which are stretched two threads at the top and two at the bottom, seven vertical threads being also visible. Her hands are placed on the threads, which she is engaged in manipulating. This object can only be intended for a hand loom, though there is apparently no evidence for the use of such objects in ancient times or among Oriental races either in the past or the present day. The only other parallel to the representation on this vase is one published by Stackelberg, Fig. 29b, where a woman holds a similar frame and is similarly occupied with her hands. The writers of the articles _Sticken_ in Baumeister and _Phrygium Opus_ in Daremberg and Saglio, misled by the likeness of the object to the modern crewel-frame, interpret the process as embroidery. But this kind of work implies cloth or other textile substance already woven, on which patterns are worked in, whereas in both vase paintings the textile is obviously in course of construction." He is right in so far as he goes, but both representations are those of _tapestry_ looms which fact is indicated by the warp threads in both cases, and by the design marked on the warp threads of Fig. 29b--a method of preparing their work in use to this day by tapestry weavers. Some authorities consider that tapestry weaving is more closely related to mat making than to true weaving. In other words, I take it tapestry is an early stage in the development of weaving. From this we get some idea as to how far the Greeks had progressed in the textile arts.

As pointed out by MM. Daremberg and Saglio, _Dic. des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines_ pt. 46, p. 164, "illustrations of Greek or Roman methods of weaving are very rare, they are much reduced and in so far as the art is concerned purely diagrammatic." On the other hand if there are numerous references in the texts of classic authors, these references seem rather to obscure than elucidate the method of working. However, there are three illustrations--the Penelope loom, Fig. 31, and two Boeotian looms, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 15--quite sufficient to explain the principle of the upright loom as used with warp weights by the Greeks, and the discovery of numerous articles, considered to be the warp weights, confirm the illustration.

The principle is the same throughout, viz.: the looms are vertical, there is a warp beam on top, there are two cross rods one of which is a laze rod and _possibly_ the other is a heddle; and the warp threads are all kept taut by means of attached weights. On one of the Boeotian looms a bobbin or spool is shown. Along the top of Penelope's loom there are indications of nine pegs, on six of which balls of coloured thread have been placed, evidently for working out the designs, very much the same as shown on the rug loom in Bankfield Museum already referred to. The warp weights on this Athenian illustration are triangular in shape, and perhaps resemble the pyramidic weights found in Egypt and attributed to Roman times. Assuming these pyramids are Roman warp weights it would appear that both Greeks and Romans had vertical looms on which the warp threads were kept taut by means of weights. In one of the few clearly expressed technical classical references, Seneca speaks of the warp threads stretched by hanging weights.

In the above classical illustrations which are after all only rough diagrams, the warp weights appear to hang from a _single_ thread only, but this can not have been correct. The warp threads must have been bunched, because a single suspended thread with a tension weight immediately begins to unravel, and so loses the advantage of its having been spun, as any one can ascertain for oneself. As regards the same point on the Lake Dwellers looms, Cohausen was the first to surmise that the warp threads were bunched to receive the weight, and Messikommer proved it by practical experiment.[G]

As can be surmised with this class of loom the weaving begins at the _top_, working _down_wards, and the beating-in of the weft is _up_wards--the exact opposite to the method adopted with other looms--for the pendant warp ends, although weighted to keep them taut, do not appear to have been further fixed in position, so that to commence weaving at the lower end made the operation so extremely difficult as to be almost impossible.

The Scandinavian form of the "Greek" loom from the Faroes Fig. 32, is made known to us through the article itself in the Copenhagen Museum, illustrated by Montelius, _Civilisation of Sweden in Heathen Times_, Lond. 1888, p. 160, and through the very clear illustration and description given us by Olafsson in his _Oeconomische Reise durch Island_, 1787, translated from the Danish edition of 1780. The loom figured by Olafsson, Fig. 33, shows an advance on that of Montelius, in being provided with heddles.[H] Upright looms with a lower beam instead of with warp weights and furnished with heddles, are not uncommon. There are the well known Indian and Persian rug looms, and Du Chaillu figures one in his _Journey to Ashango Land_, London, 1867, plate facing p. 291. Randall-Maciver and Wilkin illustrate a vertical loom in use among the Kabyles, _Libyan Notes_, London, 1901, Pl. IX., and although the details of the illustration are not clear the text indicates the existence of one heddle: "The warp is decussated by means of a horizontal rod and leashes." Dr. Washington Mathews figures several Navajo looms with heddles, _Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, p. 291; Ancient Peruvians also used them, as shown by Dr. Max Schmidt, _Baessler Archiv, I. pt. 1_, and so on practically _ad. lib._ But to work an upright warp-weighted loom with heddles is attended with great practical inconvenience, and this difficulty has, no doubt, been one of the chief causes of the complete discardance of this class of loom.