COTTON OF THE ANCIENTS. 



269 



be supposed to know the appropriate name for the material 

 used in Egyptian rites, represents one of his female characters 

 as attending a procession to the grave of Artemis in a tunic 

 of byssus. 



But if we are in doubt as to the native names for the various 

 sorts of Egyptian linens, the mummy wrappers leave no 

 uncertainty as to the excellence of the workmanship. The 

 interior swaths are indeed coarse ; but some of the exterior 

 bands vie with the most artistic productions of the modern 

 loom. 



The peculiarity of the Egyptian structure is a great dis- 

 parity between the warp and the woof; the warp generally 

 containing three or even four times as many threads as the 

 woof. This disparity probably originated in the difficulty of 

 inserting the woof when the shuttle was thrown by hand. To 

 give an idea of the fineness of the Egyptian muslins, we may 

 remark that the yarns average nearly 100 banks to the pound, 

 140 threads in the inch to the warp, and about 64 to 

 the woof. Some of the cloths are fringed at the end, and 

 remind us of the garments prescribed to the Jews in the 

 Mosaic law. (Numbers, xv. 38.) Several specimens are 

 bordered with blue stripes of various patterns. Had the 

 patterns, instead of being confined to the edge, been extended 

 across the structure, they would have formed a modern 

 gingham. The Nubians at the present day rejoice in similar 

 shawls. The dresses in the Egyptian paintings, descriptive of 

 women of rank or of deities, resemble our chintzes. 



Such was the ancient linen, the staple commodity of Egypt. 

 She exported it in Phoenician bottoms to the Mediterranean 

 ports. It was not all made of Flax. Both Pliny and the 

 Rosetta stone testify that the calico was in especial favour 

 with the priesthood ; but their partiality for the more modern 

 material was not strong enough to break through ancient 

 customs. The experiment on the mummy cloths corroborate 



