15. This is a variegated linen fabric with warps coloured something like No. 13, but the red strands of warp are more irregular in distribution. Like it, a few of the warp yarns are doubled, both the red and the grey; while the weft is all of single yarns and in the grey.”
[A considerable quantity of specimens of the cloths which were woven by the Ancient Egyptians has been examined both in this country and abroad. I may, however, call special attention to the results of examination published in Miss M. A. Murray’s excellent little work The Tomb of Two Brothers, Manchester Museum Publications, No. 68, 1910.—H.L.R.]
Details of the Composition of the Body Wrappings.
| Specimen No. | Nature of Textile Fibre. | Warp Ends per inch. | Weft Picks per inch. | Micro Measurements of Ten Fibres. | ||||||||
| Weft. | Warp. | Mean of | ||||||||||
| Max. | Min. | Max. | Min. | Weft. | Warp. | |||||||
| in. | in. | in. | in. | in. | in. | |||||||
| A. | 1 | Linen | 44 | 32 | 1/1400 | 1/3333 | 1/1424 | 1/3330 | 1/1768 | 1/1786 | ||
| 2 | ” | 10 | 17 | 1/1786 | 1/3330 | 1/1780 | 1/2860 | 1/2020 | 1/1905 | |||
| B. | 3 | Wool | 224 | 40 | 1/833 | 1/2500 | 1/833 | 1/2000 | 1/1351 | 1/1429 | ||
| 4 | Linen | 64 | 32 | 1/1429 | 1/2500 | 1/1250 | 1/5000 | 1/1818 | 1/1754 | |||
| 5 | ” | 56 | 20 | 1/1250 | 1/3333 | 1/1250 | 1/2500 | 1/1754 | 1/1724 | |||
| 6 | ” | 48 | 24 | 1/1250 | 1/2500 | 1/1000 | 1/2500 | 1/1640 | 1/1594 | |||
| 7 | ” | 48 | 20 | 1/1111 | 1/2500 | 1/1000 | 1/2500 | 1/1408 | 1/1428 | |||
| 8 | ” | 36 | 16 | 1/833 | 1/3333 | 1/1111 | 1/2500 | 1/1456 | 1/1613 | |||
| C. | 9 | ” | 48 | 24 | 1/1666 | 1/3333 | 1/1666 | 1/3333 | 1/2222 | 1/1860 | ||
| 10 | ” | 32 | 60 | 1/833 | 1/3333 | 1/908 | 1/3333 | 1/1724 | 1/1613 | |||
| 11 | ” | 80 | 36 | 1/1429 | 1/3333 | 1/1000 | 1/3333 | 1/1887 | 1/1784 | |||
| 12 | ” | 96 | 40 | 1/1111 | 1/2500 | 1/1250 | 1/2500 | 1/1724 | 1/1695 | |||
| 13 | ” | 80 | 36 | 1/1111 | 1/2500 | 1/1429 | 1/2500 | 1/1640 | 1/2040 | |||
| 14 | ” | 56 | 24 | 1/909 | 1/3333 | 1/1250 | 1/2500 | 1/1594 | 1/1695 | |||
| 15 | ” | 64 | 36 | 1/1250 | 1/2000 | 1/1429 | 1/2500 | 1/1724 | 1/1818 | |||
The above converted into Metrical Measurements.
| Specimen No. | Nature of Textile Fibre. | Warp Ends per Centim. | Weft Picks per Centim. | Micro Measurements of Ten Fibres in Millimetres. | |||||
| Weft. | Warp. | Mean of | |||||||
| Max. | Min. | Max. | Min. | Weft. | Warp. | ||||
| 1 | Linen | 17 | 12·6 | ·0181 | ·0076 | ·0178 | ·0076 | ·0144 | ·0142 |
| 2 | ” | 4 | 6·7 | ·0142 | ·0076 | ·0143 | ·0089 | ·0126 | ·0133 |
| 3 | Wool | 88 | 15·6 | ·0305 | ·0101 | ·0305 | ·0127 | ·0188 | ·0178 |
| 4 | Linen | 25 | 12·6 | ·0178 | ·0101 | ·0203 | ·0050 | ·0140 | ·0145 |
| 5 | ” | 22 | 7·8 | ·0203 | ·0076 | ·0203 | ·0101 | ·0145 | ·0147 |
| 6 | ” | 19 | 9·5 | ·0203 | ·0101 | ·0254 | ·0101 | ·0155 | ·0159 |
| 7 | ” | 19 | 7·8 | ·0229 | ·0101 | ·0254 | ·0101 | ·0180 | ·0178 |
| 8 | ” | 14·1 | 6·3 | ·0305 | ·0076 | ·0229 | ·0101 | ·0174 | ·0157 |
| 9 | ” | 19 | 9·5 | ·0152 | ·0076 | ·0152 | ·0076 | ·0208 | ·0130 |
| 10 | ” | 12·6 | 23·6 | ·0305 | ·0076 | ·0278 | ·0076 | ·0147 | ·0157 |
| 11 | ” | 31·5 | 14·1 | ·0178 | ·0076 | ·0254 | ·0076 | ·0135 | ·0142 |
| 12 | ” | 37·4 | 15·6 | ·0229 | ·0101 | ·0203 | ·0101 | ·0147 | ·0149 |
| 13 | ” | 19 | 14·1 | ·0229 | ·0101 | ·0178 | ·0101 | ·0155 | ·0124 |
| 14 | ” | 22 | 9·5 | ·0278 | ·0076 | ·0203 | ·0101 | ·0159 | ·0149 |
| 15 | ” | 25 | 14·1 | ·0203 | ·0127 | ·0178 | ·0101 | ·0147 | ·0140 |
It is very obvious they had no scale to work to.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] To the uninitiated I may explain that in a horizontal loom the plane of the warp is more or less parallel with that of the floor, while in an upright or vertical loom the plane of the warp is at right angles to that of the floor.