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Throughout her career, Eva Andersson Strand has built a cohesive picture of past landscapes of textile production, creating a model for different scales of manufacture from household basic output to fully developed workshops. By combining information from different sources, she reconstructs the different facets of an industry at the heart of past economies. In the Nile valley however, an extensive questioning on the nature of the textile economy has not yet been conducted. Using Eva Andersson Strand’s approach as a starting point, we will examine diverse modes of manufacture, focusing on two contexts: 1) New Kingdom Egypt (c. 1550–1070 bce) and 2) Meroitic and Postmeroitic Sudan (c. 350 bce – 550 ce). We will question the existence or absence of different levels of textile production in the ancient Nile valley.

Funerary masks played a crucial role in ancient Egyptian burial practices, as part of the rituals to ensure a successful afterlife. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of a gilded mummy mask from the Roman period in Egypt from the collections of The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Portraying a young female, the mask belongs to a distinctive group of mummy masks, whose origins can be identified to be coming from the Dakhlah and Kharga oases. The construction of the mask (plaster, textiles) and the constituents of its polychromy (pigments, binding media) was analysed using various non- and micro-destructive methods: imaging, cross-section analysis, optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Additionally, samples were taken for palaeoproteomic analysis with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. A wide range of pigments such as yellow and red ochre, carbon-based black, and Egyptian blue were identified, reflecting common materials in polychromy in Egypt during the Roman period. Notably, indigo was detected, suggesting its usage in mixtures to render purple hues. Analysis of adhesives and media identified plant gum and collagen-based animal glue. Proteomic analysis identified Equus asinus (donkey) as the predominant protein source for the collagen-based glue. The results shed light on the materials and techniques employed in ancient polychromy in Egypt in the Roman period, further enriching our understanding of artistic practices at the time.

This paper exploits the rich but little-studied corpus of archaeological textiles found in modern Sudan and Nubia and dated to the Meroitic and Postmeroitic periods (c.350 BCE–550 CE). It allies current approaches developed in the field of mortuary archaeology with an in-depth analysis of textile artefacts discovered in situ in the graves of the ancient Sudanese people. Going beyond the simple description of textile items and their potential place in the tomb, the concept of funerary chaîne opératoire is used to trace and interpret textile gestures around the deceased. Through many examples and the detailed case study of an ‘archer’ grave from Gebel Adda (Lower Nubia), this article aims at demonstrating the active and important role of textiles in the transformation of the dead, from an inert body to a revered ancestor.

Overview of the Fashioning Sudan project (ERC 101039416)

Project report. Presentation of the project's aims, approaches, and methods, as well as description of planned activities. Complete version of ATR 64 available at https://www.atnfriends.com/download/ATR_64_complete_webversionFINAL1.pdf