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Textile Remains from a Late Temple in Egyptian Nubia

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Textile Remains from a Late Temple in Egyptian Nubia TEXTILE REMAINS FROM A LATE TEMPLE IN EGYPTIAN NUBIA Nettie K. Adams In 1986 the Egypt Exploration Society1 discovered a collection of ex­ traordinary archaeological textiles in Egyptian Nubia (Figure 1). The textiles were excavated from a previously unknown temple found in the walled, fortress-city of Qasr Ibrim (Figure 2). Located high on a bluff overlooking the east bank of the Nile, Qasr Ibrim dominated the area before the Aswan High Dam flooded the valley. Its commanding position is gone today, but most of Qasr Ibrim still remains above the waters of Lake Nasser. Occupied continuously for more than three-thousand years, Qasr Ibrim was inhabited at least as far back as the time of Ramses the great, around 1250 B.C. Subsequent groups who established themselves were successively the Kushites, from farther south along the Nile; the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, and then the Romans, who garrisoned the site in 23 B.C. The Romans were supplanted by people from the city of Meroe, deep in the Sudan. This period is known as the Meroitic pe­ riod, and lasted at Qasr Ibrim from about 100 A.D. to about 350 A.D. Although African in origin, the Meroites shared many aspects of the general culture of the classical world. The Meroitic empire collapsed around 350 A.D., but many traits of Meroitic culture survived at Qasr Ibrim for the next two-hundred years. This period, from 350 to 550 A.D. is the time frame for the textiles found in the temple (Figure 3). Although built probably during the Egyptian twenty-fifth Dynasty, about 750 B.C., the temple remained in use for thirteen-hundred years, until Christianity came to Nubia around 550 A.D. Evidence suggests that its destruction was brief and violent. Altars were over­ turned and statues were smashed - actions consistent with Christian­ ity's commandment against idols. Pottery and stone objects, vessels of faience and glass - all were ravaged. When the destruction of the tem­ ple contents had run its course, the mud brick walls were pulled down, forming a protective cap over the damaged furnishings. The roof beams were removed and doubtless used elsewhere; smoke stained ARS TEXTRINA 8 (1987), pp. 85-124 pieces of matting from the ceiling were found in with the fill of broken brick. The remnants of the temple were then covered with additional fill and the area was used as a plaza adjoining the cathedral, which was soon to be built nearby.2 This description of the vandalism and destruction wrought upon the temple objects holds for the furnishing fabrics of the temple as well. Extraordinarily fine textiles were wilfully torn into pieces and the fragments scattered throughout the several rooms of the temple. Ul­ timately, one-hundred and fifteen textile fragments were identified as having been part of the temple furnishings; from these were recog­ nized twenty separate specimens, of which eight were assembled or reassembled. Considered as a group, there are certain features which are worth noting. First, although the use these textiles served in the temple is in question, it does not seem likely that they were garments. There are no signs of cutting or shaping, and the only sewing, except for the con­ tainers, was for the purpose of mending. Second, all but three were made of cotton. This is interesting in view of the flax and wool in gen­ eral use in Egypt of the same period, but not unusual for Nubia. All yarns are spun in the "s" direction, continuing a tradition going back to the beginning of weaving in Egypt. Where plied yams occur they are always s-spun, z-plied. The weaving techniques employed are limited to plain weave, with one, and occasionally two weft yarns passing over one warp; and tapestry weave, which permits elaborate patterns to be created. Another feature common to this collection is the limited color range. Again, with one exception which will be discussed later, the only colors found are dark blue, a medium sky blue, pale blue, and the natural color of the undyed cotton. Furthermore, the colors are so ar­ ranged that the shades of blue are almost never in direct contact: they are separated by white or undyed threads.3 This seems to be compara­ ble to the law of medieval heraldry, which forbids contact between red and blue. Finally, a condition shared by the furnishing fabrics is that they still retain a slight fragrance of the incense which must have been used in the temple. This feature provided an unexpected dimension to our reconstruction of the activities and rituals of some fifteen-hundred years ago. 86 hi archaeology, the place where each object is found is of paramount importance: it is this provenience which permits the inferences and interpretations so vital to understanding what happened in ancient times. My organization of the textiles discussed below has been deter­ mined primarily by this principle; sub-groups are based on technical characteristics. The two major groups of textiles found within the temple are the furnishing fabrics and the textile miniatures. The fur­ nishing fabrics can be organized into five groups; curtains, containers, bordered cloths, tapestry-woven fragments, and decorative elements. The miniatures, found within the temple sanctuary, were not part of the temple furnishings. They will be discussed finally. Furnishing fabrics. Curtains Curtains, so designated because of their relatively large size and the lack of any sewing or shaping, are all of cotton plain weave, and all were dyed blue after weaving. None showed signs of wear, but all had been deliberately torn into pieces and scattered about. One dark blue specimen (Table 1,1; Figure 4) has been assembled from fifteen frag­ ments. It seems clear that only a small portion of the object was recov­ ered; just two sections of one selvedge were found, all the other bor­ ders are missing so that the original size of the piece is impossible to reconstruct. A second curtain (Table 1, 2) is similar to the first, but is a slightly lighter blue. It has been assembled from twenty-three fragments. A third specimen (Table 1,3; Figure 5) of pale blue, is a more delicate fabric than the first two, having finer yarn and a more open weave. It retains one selvedge and an end border of wrapped openwork (Figure 6). This decorative end border technique is commonly found on textiles from Meroitic and X-Group levels at Qasr Ibrim (Crowfoot 1984: 10- 17); it appears also at Karanog (Randall-Maclver and Woolley 1910: Vol. IV, Plate 108, Figure 5), at Gebel Adda (Crowfoot n.d: 5) and at Qustul (Thurman 1979: 40-41)4. Like the other two specimens, the 87 thirty-two fragments identified as part of this curtain are mute evi­ dence of wanton vandalism. Although we have no idea where in the temple this curtain originally hung, it seems possible that it may have been a parapetasma , which has been described as the "precious curtain which forms an essential part of the setting for a ritual sacrifice" (Weitzmann 1972:6). Such a cur­ tain appears in the upper right corner of a carved ivory plaque of an Isis cult scene, now in Dumbarton Oaks (ibid. 5-7, Plate 1). The plain weave of our curtain does not seem very special to our eyes, but to the ancients, a solid blue cloth must have been precious indeed, since most of their fabric was undyed. Fabric containers Three objects, principally of textile construction, which were found in the temple fill, can be identified as containers. The most structurally complex is a double-chambered case (Table 1,4; Figure 7), which may originally have been fitted with glass vessels or other fragile objects. This case was constructed of two cylindrical basketry structures cov­ ered by plain blue cotton cloth and joined together side-by-side. Each cylinder was originally provided with a round bottom, and also with a now-missing lid which was attached to the case by a decorative plait, which served as a hinge. These attachments are still present; the hinge is anchored to the case at the back with a stout knot, and on the front, a second knot is present which would have secured a loop on the missing lid. (A lid, probably similar to the ones for this case, was found in ex­ cavations several meters south of the temple.) The case was decorated with an all-over couched pattern resembling netting, and with decora­ tive plaits similar to the hinge strip. The second container is a long, narrow bag (Table 1, 5), found in one of the temple crypts. Its top is very deteriorated from long handling and possibly from being rolled or folded down. It is made from a sin­ gle piece of cloth, folded and stitched along one side and across the bottom. The fabric is a complete piece - that is, it has both side and both end borders intact. Decoration was rendered in bands of medium blue and dark blue on an undyed ground. 88 The last, and most problematic fabric container is a linen-lined leather fragment (Table 1,6). One long edge appears to be finished; the other edges are ragged and incomplete. The lining was composed of three layers of plain-weave undyed linen, attached to the leather by bold decorative stitching in flax thread. Elaborate patterns created by the decorative stitching mark it as a cover for a valued and important ob­ ject: it might have been a bag or case to hold a sacred or precious item. The flax lining is one of only three exceptions to the use of cotton in the collection of temple textiles.
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