Site Qasr Ibrim Context QI00 22028 Excavation year 2000

Dimensions L. 185 mm W. 180 mm Preservation state organic Object type bag Relative quality fine Fabric structure tabby

Description Piping A (on left of bag when fold is on the right): all undyed (not just faded). External edge piping: strong S spun yarns twisted Z. Piping secured through fabric by pairs of yarns (definite – no singles) at intervals of c.4mm. Piping consists of 3 pairs of yarns. Securing pair comes out of cloth, passes Z direction over the 3 pairs and returns straight into the cloth. Certain. Same pair each time i.e. there are 4 pairs in some parts of piping, in others 3 pairs. Securing thread clasps internal 3 ply core cord. Certain. Inner piping: on back of cloth, 2 lines of stitching visible as usual. Line of stitching closest to hem secures hem. Length of visible stitches on surface c.2-2.5mm long separated by a gap between holes of c.2mm. Other line of stitches secures piping. Yarn pairs securing piping appear at c.4mm intervals. Both sets of stitching yarn are 3 ply and about 0.8mm diam. Probably all same thread. On back of cloth, the 3 ply to which the piping is anchored can normally be seen to be passed over by a pair of anchoring threads from the other side of the cloth, but in one case, quite certainly, the 3 ply thread passes under not just the anchoring pair from the piping but also a yarn from the web (see drawing). This shows that the 3 ply yarn actually passes through the cloth and comes back again i.e. the 3 ply thread actively secures the piping and was attached to the needle. This accounts for the irregularities perceived in some piping structures, e.g. 1028, 1026 where the 3 ply yarn picks up sometimes a pair, sometimes a single, from the piping. Even so, the piping-maker may have been operating at the same time as the sewer using the 3 ply thread. The 3 ply thread is drawn so tight that it pulls the piping thread back through the holes, giving the wrong impression that these threads from the piping were the active elements held by a needle. Piping B, on other side of bag, identical to piping A, as is Piping C, along bottom of bag. Bag folded over and sewn down over the piped edges with large rough over-stitches in degraded Z plied 3 ply S spun cotton yarn, paler than the web (see drawing). Upper edges of bag raw, unfolded and now fraying. There are traces of repair stitching, about 55mm away from cage bobble on fold. The thread is the same as the rough sewing yarn On short edge (bottom) traces of sewing yarn holding the 2 hems together, worked Z in Z plied 3 ply thread (probably the same thread as used in conjunction with the piping. The rough sewing down the side of the bag is presumably a secondary repair along with the rent near the bottom, but no clear traces of original sewing visible. Single blue overstitch, 3mm wide, heavily degraded, looks like a band running over the two hems but excluding the two lines of inner piping. Lies over bottom hem, 45mm from corner of bag (opposite corner to bobble). See drawing for structure. Seems to consist of 2 bundles of yarns, crossed at 90º by Z plied yarns – obscure. ‘Cage bobble’, length 7mm, width 6mm, damaged. May be constructed over the two ends of the 2 lines of external piping at this point (which one might expect to have formed the loop at the fold of the bag). Yarn of cage bobble externally in blue Z plied 2 ply S spun. Looks like needlework into the internal undyed core rather than a plaiting, but impossible to be sure. Visible plied yarn mostly seems to run parallel to the length of the bobble, but there may be some criss-crossing externally. Structural ✓ Decorative ✓ Repair ✓