Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern & Aegean Textiles and Dress

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Textile and dress production, from raw materials to finished items, has had a significant impact on society from its earliest history. The essays in this volume offer a fresh insight into the emerging interdisciplinary research field of textile and dress studies by discussing archaeological, iconographical and textual evidence within a broad geographical and chronological spectrum. The thirteen chapters explore issues, such as the analysis of textile tools, especially spindle whorls, and textile imprints for reconstructing textile production in contexts as different as Neolithic Transylvania, the Early Bronze Age North Aegean and the Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean; the importance of cuneiform clay tablets as a documentary source for both drawing a detailed picture of the administration of a textile industry and for addressing gender issues, such as the construction of masculinity in the Sumerian kingdoms of the 3rd millennium BC; and discussions of royal and priestly costumes and clothing ornaments in the Mesopotamian kingdom of Mari and in Mycenaean culture. Textile terms testify to intensive exchanges between Semitic and Indo-European languages, especially within the terminology of trade goods. The production and consumption of textiles and garments are demonstrated in 2nd millennium Hittite Anatolia; from 1st millennium BC Assyria, a cross-disciplinary approach combines texts, realia and iconography to produce a systematic study of golden dress decorations; and finally, the important discussion of fibers, flax and wool, in written and archaeological sources is evidence for delineating the economy of linen and the strong symbolic value of fiber types in 1st millennium Babylonia and the Southern Levant. The volume is part of a pair together with Greek and Roman Textiles and An Interdisciplinary Anthology edited by Mary Harlow and Marie-Louise Nosch. Isbn 9781782977155Table of ContentsIndex, acknowledgements1. Paula Mazare, Investigating Neolithic and Copper Age textile production in Transylvania (Romania). Applied Methods and Results2. Sophia Vakirtzi, Chaido Koukouli–Chryssanthaki, and Stratis Papadopoulos, Spindle whorls from two prehistoric settlements on Thassos, North Aegean3. Richard Firth. Textiles Texts of the Lagash II Period4. Ariane Thomas, Searching for lost costumes. A few remarks about the royal costume in Ancient Mesopotamia focusing on the Amorite Kingdom of Mari5. Matteo Vigo, Giulia Baccelli, Benedetta Bellucci, Elements for a Comparative Study of Textile Production and Consumption in the Hittite Anatolia and Its Neighbours6. Eleni Konstantinidi-Syvridi, Buttons, pins, clips and belts … Inconspicuous dress accessories from the burial context of the Mycenaean period (16th-12th cent. BC)7. Valentina Gasbarra, Textile Semitic Loanwords in Mycenaean as Wanderwörter8. Agnès Garcia-Ventura, Constructing masculinities through textile production in the Ancient Near East9. Caroline Sauvage, Spindles and Late Bronze and Early Iron Age eastern Mediterranean use of solid and tapered ivory/bone shafts10. Salvatore Gaspa Golden Decorations in Assyrian An Interdisciplinary Approach11. Tina Boloti, E-ri-ta’s contribution to the study of the Mycenaean priestesses’ attire12. Louise Quillien, Flax and Linen in the First Millennium Babylonia Origins, Craft Industry and Uses of a Remarkable Textile13. Orit Shamir, Two Special Traditions in Jewish Garments and the Rarity of Mixing Wool and Linen Threads in the Same Textile in the Jewish Tradition