Late Antique Textiles

Excavations led between 1903 and 1905 by Arthur C. Mace in cemeteries N 2000 and N 2500 at Naga ed-Deir resulted in the discovery of thousands of burials, divided in Mace’s notes into two groups based on their dates. Amongst the so-called Coptic tombs—in opposition to the Egyptian (or Dynastic) tombs— approximately forty-four graves provided textiles, either garments, sackcloth or furnishing items, used or reused in the preparation of the dead for the afterlife.1 Although many of the artifacts from these cemeteries were shipped to the University of California, Berkeley, there is no indication that the Coptic textiles were sent there. They are only known today thanks to Mace’s manuscript, excavation notebooks, and a few pictures and drawings made at the time of discovery. Based on the sources listed above, this chapter aims to give an overview of the textiles discovered at Naga ed-Deir, their context of production, use and reuse, and excavation, as well as, where possible, an attempted identification of the items described by Mace and his team.