Berenike BE98 1013 Striped twined wool textile with plied warp, Z?s/?z

Catalogue number BE98 1013 Inventory number 0550 I Description Scrap of twined textile or matting over plied warp. Wa: Z 2 ply from 2 bundles of S spun yarns (in one case 3), each 2mm thick. 3 per cm, spaced. Dark brown, undyed wool of ‘native look’. We: bands of yellow, red and green. Each is Z plied from 2 medium S spun yarns. Not simple 1/1 tapestry, but twining. Outer green in S direction, using a pair of the plied threads. Seems to be S twining throughout. Number of twinings: 4+ pairs red/ 1 pair yellow/ 4 pairs green/ 2 pairs yellow/4 pairs red/ 2 pairs yellow/ 1+ pair green Twinings seem to be over 2 warp threads, offset between each pair of weft cords by one warp thread i.e. like twined twill. Too damaged to be sure of further details.

Context

Site Berenike Context BE98 21.002 PB4 Excavation year 1998 Site phase

Basic information

Dimensions L. 35 mm W. 40 mm Preservation state organic Object type matting? Fabric structure twined Warp and weft identified ✓

	System 1	System 2
Material	wool	wool
Fibre identification method	naked eye	naked eye
Colour	dark brown, undyed	yellow, red, green bands
Yarn structure	plied	plied
Twist strength	medium	medium
Twist	Z?s	Z2s
Twist angle average
Twist angle range
Diameter average
Diameter range
Thread count average	3.0
Thread count range

FURTHER DETAILS

Colours Dark brown and undyed yarn in system 1. Yellow, red, green bands in system 2. Pattern Bands: red, yellow, green; twined in S direction Pattern element band

References

Wild, Felicity C., and John Peter Wild. “Textile Contrasts at Berenike.” In The Eastern Desert of Egypt during the Greco-Roman Period: Archaeological Reports, edited by Jean-Pierre Brun, Thomas Faucher, Bérangère Redon, and Steven Sidebotham. Collège de France, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.cdf.5254.

Data recorded by Felicity Wild and John Peter Wild Data entered by Bela Dimova Date of study 1994-2001