Ancient Egyptian tunic from Mostagedda dated AD 395 – 642

Bright red wool adult tunic of piece-dyed, nap-surfaced, plain woven wool. Weave count of 25 warp ends and 47 weft picks per inch. Single ply S-spun threads, warps with higher degree of twist than wefts. Tunic composed of three panels. Sleeves woven as continuous extensions of middle body panel. Decorative blue-green band applied on lower edge of skirt.
Woollen, plain weave, dyed bright red. As the dye has not penetrated the yarn the garment was probably dyed after weaving. Along the lower border a woven band, dull green, is stitched to the fabric. This is embroidered with rosettes etc. in a darker wool. One sleeve is preserved and a fragment of the neck band.

Object details

  • Reference: BOLMG:1930.56.11.1
  • Material: wool
  • Period: Coptic Period
  • Excavator: Guy Brunton
  • Dated: AD 395 - 642
  • Object name: tunic
  • Dimensions: Length: 1995mm , Width: 1185mm
  • Published references: Brunton Mostagedda p.142 p.145
  • Site: Mostagedda
  • Latitude: 27.083333
  • Longitude: 31.383333