Fig. 9.
Upright or Vertical Looms from the Tomb of Thot-nefer at Thebes, XVIII. Dynasty, circa B.C. 1425. From a drawing by Mr. N. de G. Davies. Size of original: Height from Base Line to top of frame at A, 11½" = 29 cm.
In consequence of this loom being represented as upright it is often spoken of as an upright or vertical loom. But it is drawn upright because the Egyptian artist did not understand perspective, and it was only by making the loom upright that he was enabled to show the details we have just been examining. For the same reason mat making is illustrated edgeways. If the loom were an upright one the two women weavers would have had their backs turned towards the onlooker as can be seen in [Fig. 9]. Any doubt on the matter has however been set aside by Prof. John Garstang’s extremely interesting discovery of a wooden model depicting a group of women spinning and weaving which he illustrates in his work, The Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt, London, 1907. After referring to the woman spinning, he continues: “The other seated figures apparently represent women at work upon a horizontal loom; the frame and the woof [sic, should be warp] threads are faintly represented upon the board. It is possible that they are making mats or, perhaps, weaving (p. 132).” He gives an illustration of the group taken from a photograph, but as it does not show the lines which indicate the loom lying horizontally on the ground nor the warp threads, I have asked him to let me have a drawing made of it and, with his kind permission, it is now reproduced here, [Fig. 10]. The threads of the warp and the finished piece of cloth at the breast beam end are clearly indicated. The whole model supports conclusively the well founded supposition that the loom we have been considering is a horizontal one. Curiously enough, Prof. Garstang does not appear to appreciate the important bearing of his discovery, for on a later page (p. 134) in speaking of Lepsius’ illustration, discussed above, he says: “the weavers are seen at work at an upright loom.”
Fig. 10.—Horizontal Loom. Outline sketch by Miss Davey of the original model of a group of one woman spinning and two women weaving, found by Dr. John Garstang at Beni Hasan. The model is in the Museum of the Liverpool Institute of Archæology.
It must not be thought that the Beni Hasan representation is the only one which illustrates a horizontal loom. A second one is reproduced by Prof. Percy Newberry from the tomb of Tehuti-hetep circa 1938-1849 B.C., see [Fig. 11]. In the upper portion the women are seen spinning and preparing the thread generally, while in the lower portion two women on the left are warping, and in the centre three apparently are “beaming,” i.e. putting the warp on to the beams preparatory to commencing to weave, the warp threads being apparently drawn over pegs to ensure the proper tension. This illustration shows the warp flat against the wall like the mat making shown at Beni Hasan.