The utility, universality, construction, texture, ornamentation and colour of textile fabrics are full of interest and suggestiveness, for in the remarkable development of textile fabrics we may trace the continuity of style and tradition, the intermingling of races and customs, and the grafting of religious ideas with the wealth and luxuriance of the past. All fabrics wrought in the loom are called textiles. They are broadly divided into three classes: 1st, plain fabrics in which the warp and weft alternate equally; 2nd, those fabrics in which a pattern is produced by the warp and weft intermingling in different proportions or colours, figured cloths and tapestries being included in this class; 3rd, those fabrics in which the plain textile NO. 1 is enriched with the needle or by printing, termed embroideries or printed fabrics. Owing to their perishable nature few remains of ancient textile fabrics are in existence. The oldest examples are found in the tombs of Egypt, where, owing to the dryness of the climate, some fabrics of the early dynasties still remain. They are usually of fine linen and without enrichment, yet upon the same tombs are many painted patterns that undoubtedly show a woven origin. The oldest figured fabrics found in Egypt are of the 6th century A.D., and they show a remarkable similarity to the early patterns of Persia and Byzantium, for it was in India, Persia and Arabia that textiles reached their perfection of workmanship and their wealth of material. This splendid tradition was carried from Persia and India to Byzantium in the 5th century, and in the 8th century the Arabians absorbed and assimilated the arts of Persia, India, Egypt and Spain and brought the art of weaving to its culmination during the 14th and 15th centuries.