Linen does not take dye well and was therefore used unbleached, neither whitened nor colored. Made from flax, a plant that grows in the Palmyra region, linen was used to make clothing in antiquity very early on. Although the color of natural linen is not very showy, people developed ingenious methods for weaving it. The arms and bodice of this tunic were woven in one piece on a loom that must have been 250 centimeters wide. Decorative motifs in dyed wool were appliquéed on the tunic afterwards. This is the oldest example of a decorated tunic found in Syria.
Provenance:Palmyra (Elahbel Tower, tomb 20).
Substances: linen and wool.
Dimensions: 41 x 51 cm.
Era: 103 CE.
Text: Michel Fortin (translated by Jane Macaulay) p. 307.
Photo: Jacques Lessard.
Collection of the National Museum of Damascus.
Michel Fortin, Syria, Land of Civilization. Les Éditions de l'Homme, Musée de la Civilisation de Québec 1999.
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