New Kingdom Textile Decoration Techniques and Significance: Evidences from the Egyptian Textile Museum in Cairo

Textile decorations spread all over Egypt during the New Kingdom not only due to the prosperity of the country’s economy but also the expansion of the Egyptian Empire and the influence on textile decorations by foreign weavers. mainly Syrian, on Egyptian clothes is powerful. The present study aims to investigate the fabric’s decoration and the Egyptological analysis of three textile pieces preserved in the ‘Egyptian Textile Museum’ in Cairo that carry religious Neither surveying nor comparing the decoration techniques of the New Kingdom has been done by author. This paper aims to compare the textile decoration techniques occurred in ancient Egyptian New Kingdom depending on the decorated pieces in the newly inaugurated “Azhar Textile Museum Significance. The paper studies the morphological appearance of the pieces through visual examination of fibers by light microscopic to reveal what decoration techniques were used. Then it analyzes the religious significance of the decorations through analyzing scenes and texts they form. Eventually, technical setting about the techniques of the fabric decoration is delivered, bringing into argumentation the religious role of these pieces revealed from their decorations. The paper concluded that three different decoration techniques occurred in New Kingdom clothes encompassing Weft looping, Tapestry Weave, and coloring. It investigated reasons behind the spread of these specific techniques. Coloring techniques of the three studied pieces are also analyzed. Moreover, major similarities and differences among decoration and coloring techniques have been resulted.