Use of Silk In Ancient Egypt

Silk Road Foundation ^ | Original print at NATURE, March 4, 1993 | G.Lubec, J. Holaubek, C. Feldl, B. Lubec, E. Strouhal

[SunkenCiv]

On exami[ni]ng hair samples of mummies in the scanning electron microscope we found a piece of tissue between the curls which had the characteristic appearance of silk. To show that the specimen was silk, we performed infrared studies using multiple internal reflection, allowing nondestructive identification of the material. The spectra clearly identified silk.

We performed amino-acid anaylsis of the sample according to the method in ref. 2 and obtained the typical spectrum of hydrolysed silk, with high glycine, serine and alanine peaks as originally described by Shimura. To exclude the possibility that the silk specimen could have been added later to the mummy’s hair we performed amino-acid racemization studies on the mummy’s hydrolysed hair samples and on the hydrolysed silk specimen: proline racemization was used as the marker amino acid...

The mummy, a 30-50-year-old female, was found in Thebes, Deir el Medina, at the burial ground of the king’s workmen. Based on anthropological data, the mummification method, the burial ground and amino-acid racemization, the mummy can be assigned to the twenty-first dynasty.

The silk industry had its origin in China and the material probably first reached the Mediterranean countries via Persia. Silk was not used in Egypt until later; the earliest example that can be traced is of Ptolemaic date from Mostagedda, a wollen tunic with decorative stripes with a weft of white silk...

A portion of a coloured silk fabric was found at Qustul, south of Abu Simbel, the exact date of which is not certain, though it is probably not older than the fourth century AD. From the fourth century AD onwards silk became more common in Egypt. Our work suggests that silk was used in Egypt as long as 1,000 years BC, which would shed new light on ancient trading practices.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

One of *those* topics.

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[SunkenCiv]

[ComputerGuy]

Good stuff. Thanks.

[painter]

Since we are talking about silk here. Can anyone explain why, if you have a silk shirt and you get it wet .It ruins it.

[SunkenCiv]

When I was young and pretty, or pretty stupid, I machine washed my silk shirts, Woolite, no problems. Stains? Westleys Clear Magic.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, my pleasure.

[chajin]

In “The Ten Commandments” scene where Moses first tells Rameses to let the Israelites go, right before Moses enters, the Hittites gift Rameses with a roll of shimmering cloth, supposedly woven by the gods, from the Five Rivers region in the Punjab, where the Hittite ambassador says, “they call it silk.”

[BipolarBob]

In the documentary I saw Moses brought some to Sethi in the palace as tribute.

[BipolarBob]

By two minutes. Arrgghh!

[M Kehoe]

Thanks for the ping.

Got to get a Mulberry tree and some female silkworms.

5.56mm

[Savage Beast]

Seems to me that a few years cocaine was found in ancient Egyptian mummies.

We don't know the whole story about the ancient world (or the world of yesterday for that matter) (or the world of today).

[SunkenCiv]

• The Assyrian Conquest: Libyan and Ethiopian Art & Culture
• The Assyrian Conquest: The Sequence of Dynasties

[SunkenCiv]

Hollywood doesn’t make documentaries, never has.

[SunkenCiv]

https://freerepublic.com/tag/cocainemummies/index

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[Savage Beast]

Thank you, SC. I knew I remembered it correctly.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure.

[chajin]

Hollywood doesn’t make documentaries, never has.

Oh, the movie has a ton of anomalies, which have only increased in the 60+ years since it was released; it's fun to watch as a pseudo-opera with almost perpetual overacting, still popular as proven by its annual showing on ABC.

[SunkenCiv]

Oh, I watch it, sometimes just to watch the parting sequence, but also because it's fun to listen for the "Moses, Moses" exclamations.

The Making of the Movie 'The Ten Commandments' (1956)
October 27, 2019 | Classic Clips