Produced by Julie Barkley, Sam W. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Note There is a small amount of Greek in this book; you may need to adjust your font to display it properly. Ancient Egyptian and Greek Looms BY H. LING ROTH (Keeper). WITH 38 LINE BLOCK AND ONE COLLOTYPE ILLUSTRATIONS. BANKFIELD MUSEUM, HALIFAX APRIL 1913 PREFACE. Halifax, which is situated in the heart of the great textile trade of Lancashire and Yorkshire, has been a home of the woollen manufacture since the earliest time, and it is only meet, therefore, that its museum should possess specimens of the tools used in the early days of spinning, weaving, and cloth making generally. In spite of the considerable progress made towards that end, many typical specimens are still wanting, and, while we have plenty of material for the study of weaving in various parts of the world, we are lacking in everything relating to the industry in Ancient Egypt and Greece. Failing specimens I have had recourse to illustrations, but the Egyptian ones published by Cailliaud, Rosellini, Sir J. G. Wilkinson and Lepsius, contradict each other in many important points, so that those who study them find them practically useless for an understanding of the art as carried on in the Nile lands. Fortunately, last year, Mr. N. de G. Davies, the well-known Egyptologist, hearing of my difficulty, very generously placed some of his copies of tomb drawings at my disposal, and with this invaluable help I have been enabled to complete the present paper, and to lay before Halifax students some new details of manufacture bearing upon their staple industry. H. Ling Roth. Bankfield Museum, Halifax. April 1913. I. EGYPTIAN LOOMS. HORIZONTAL LOOMS.[A] In the tomb of Chnem-hotep, at Beni Hasan, there is a wall painting of a horizontal loom with two weavers, women, squatting on either side, and at the right in the background is drawn the figure of the taskmaster. There are also figures represented in the act of spinning, etc. For the present we are concerned with the weaving only. [Illustration: Fig. 1.--Horizontal Loom, Tomb of Chnem-hotep, from the illustration in Cailliaud's _Recherches_, etc. Same size as published.]