The Manufacture And Representation Of Ancient Egyptian Patterned Textiles

Patterned textiles,as an indispensable part of human civilizations,convey information about the development in textile technology as well as revealing the expression and change of aesthetic concepts.A study of diverse patterned textiles throwing light on these two different tendencies in the long history of ancient Egypt could be carried out based on the abundant finds of both actual textiles and representations of them in painting and sculpture.This project outlined in this proposal would treat not only how the linen fabrics in ancient Egypt were manufactured and decorated,but also the relationship between representation of patterned textiles created in different forms in ancient Egypt and the techniques for making patterns on actual linen.In this paper,the relationship between decorative arts manifested by representations of fabrics on statues,reliefs and paintings in each period and the patterns made on actual linen in their same time are the main objects I’m going to deal with.Firstly,the definition of patterned textiles will be made clear from the discussion of all aspects of ancient Egyptian textile technology.Secondly,starting from this definition,the excavated remains of patterned textiles are selected and categorized in terms of their functions in daily life,which provides a useful clue for the analysis of patterns in textiles in artistic representations.Finally,based on the discussions on both aspects,a summary and conclusion are to be made.Limited by the scant and fragmentary materials available for me,the results of this paper could be rather obvious and straightforward,nevertheless providing us with some principles for the future study of textiles in the life of ancient people and comparison work between those from various civilizations.