Historical studies

38 LINEN OF THE IIIRD DYNASTY
afterwards dark-ground illumination. This revealed
unmistakably that the warp is a " doubled " one,
while the weft is sint;le yarn.
iii. A'. Teased out the twist from the yarns of
the warp, and arranged the fibres at one end of the
slide, and afterwards did the same with some weft,
placing them at the other end, for the purpose of
identifying the particulars of the fibre. Both yarns
are spun from flax, the only difference being that
in the warp the fibres have been more effectually
separated, and consequently shew a less mean
diameter. It is remarkable that, after the lap.se of
more than five thousand years, the individual fibres
should retain the peculiar characteristics of fla.x—the
curious bamboo-structure across its cell-walls. In
order that the diameter of these fibres may be com-
pared with recent linen fibre I took micro-measure-
ments of ten of them : the warp ranged from y^'o^
inch to -nrVu. with an average of nVir inch, and the
weft ranged from ^^^ to j^ir. with an average of y^Vir
inch. As will be noticed in the prepared slide of
fibres (A'^) for ascertaining the diameter, it was no use
measuring the length of them, as upon separation they
all became more or less broken.
I failed to discover any woven selvedge. In the
cloth "A" there was, however, what might appear
a selvedge, but I found it to be a frayed edge
hemmed down with linen thread of three-ply make.
B\ Linen fibre. Coarse plain weaving : warp
doubled, weft single. The fabric was weaker, and
considerably more stained with the preservatives used
in burial than sample A. There are i6 "ends" and
32 " picks " per inch.
B^ The counts would be approximately 26s in
the warp, and 20s in the weft.
B". The diameter of the fibres composing the warp
ranged from -^^^ to xinnj '"ch, with a mean of ttjt :
the weft varied from ^^(nr to izrV^i with a mean of
TTTff inch.
C. Linen, very stained and the fibres brittle with
decomposition. Single warp. There are 20 " ends "
and 48 " picks" per inch.
C. The counts of the
and of the weft, about 30J.
warp would be about 20s,
C. The diameter of the fibres in the warp ranged
from ysVy to ijjVt? inch, with a mean of ~^js ; and in
the weft from ttsVit to tsVd. or a mean of y^Vj inch.
D^ A white Hnen cloth, much cleaner than the
others, and altogether of finer texture : the mean
diameter of the fibres in the weft indeed is finer than
that of any present-day Irish linen I have measured.
There were in this 42 "ends" and 120 " picks " pet
inch.
D^ The yarns arc very evenly spun and contain
a greater proportion of twist than the three preceding
cloths. The approximate counts of the warp (a single
one) would be 40J, and of the weft, about SOJ.
D°. The diameter of the fibres of warp ranged
from ifoViv inch to 5J3, with a mean of ts'so. and
wefts from ij^'^^ to ii'su,
only rs'iTff inch.
or a mean diameter of
E". This is a decomposing cloth, and the folds
somewhat matted together, making it difficult to
investigate the structure. The piece on the micro-
slide contains 24 " ends " and 42 " picks " per inch.
E^ The counts of both
about 24J-.
warp and weft will be
E". The diameter of fibres in the warp ranged
from 5^5 inch to xi,sji, with a mean of 7^35, and
of the weft from ^.t^Vj to t^t, or a mean of xAr
inch.
F". This is a linen cloth, dyed dark reddish brown,
and consists of a laminated mass about \ inch thick,
I inch wide, and 3 inches long ; and is so rotten
that it will not bear the slightest fle.xion. Succeeded
in mounting a film of the cloth, so as to make out
the texture, and found there were 18 "ends" and
52 " picks " per inch.
pbaiidc Separated a few bits of yarn, but uncer-
tain whether these are warp or weft, the counts of
which would be about 245'. The fibres were so very
rotten as to break into small short lengths when
touched. However, the characteristic linen fibre was
still clear. The diameter ranged from -nVr
inch to
-1TTT7. with a mean of t^Vtt- Possibly the effect of
the fibre having been dyed may account for its more
advanced stage of decomposition.
G^ Regular woven linen cloth, with 20 " ends "
and 36 "picks" per inch.
C. The warp, a doubled one, is approximately
of 20s counts, and the weft of 30J.
G°. The diameter of fibres in warp ranged from
^T^jrij inch to t^z^, with a mean of ^i^^ and the
weft from ^Vu to yaVi^i or a mean of yjVir inch.
H. This parcel contains a bit of folded cloth to
which is attached some strong linen threads. The
micro-slide shews four of these threads and some
of the fibres teased out. The thread is a hard,
twisted, single one, and has apparently been heavily
sized. The fibres of which it is composed ranged
in diameter, with a mean
from ^